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- Bobby Lashley
Record: 4-0
Notable wins: Bob Sapp, Jason Guida
Similar to Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley is a converted WWE product who has been fairly impressive in his young MMA career -- so impressive that many people think that he’d be a stiff challenge for Lesnar already. For starters, he’s as big as Lesnar and he’s as good of a wrestler, which sets the table fairly evenly. Lashley has great athleticism, but he still lacks some experience. While Lashley has demolished some punching bags from small promotions to start his career, Lesnar has fought some of the top heavyweights in Randy Couture, Frank Mir and Heath Herring. The difference right now is experience, but as that gap narrows Lashley stands as a looming hurdle for Lesnar.
Brett Rogers
Record: 10-0
Notable wins: Andrei Arlovski, James Thompson
After knocking out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski in all of 22 seconds in his last fight, Strikeforce’s Brett Rogers is one of the few non-UFC fighters who would present an intriguing challenge to Lesnar. Rogers is a big boy at 265 pounds, which means he won’t be giving way as much weight as some of the other fighters Lesnar has manhandled (like Couture and Mir). More importantly, Rogers has plenty of punching power and is capable of dropping Lesnar with one shot. Of Rogers’ 10 fights, nine of them have ended via knockout. There are also rumors that Rogers has already knocked out Lesnar a couple of times during sparring, which gives a good indication of what he’s capable of if the two meet in a real fight and if Rogers can keep the fight standing.
- Junior dos Santos
Record: 8-1-0
Notable wins: Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve
A lot of people question whether Lesnar’s chin can hold up against some real power and we’d find out very quickly if he matched up with a world-class striker like Junior dos Santos. Dos Santos, who is trained by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Anderson Silva, is a knockout artist and neither of his last two UFC fights have lasted past the 1:21 mark of the first round. At 25 years old, he is still one of the up-and-comers on the scene but he has been impressive enough to merit consideration. With a win over Mirko Filipovic at UFC 103, dos Santos will be in line for a title shot in the near future.
- Alistair Overeem
Record: 29-11-1
Notable wins: Vitor Belfort, Paul Buentello
Since it’s clearly tough to overpower a 285-pound monster like Brock Lesnar, maybe what it takes is speed. Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem may not have the ground game to compete with Lesnar, but the “Demolition Man” is a big kickboxer who has quickness. He would put up a good fight standing if he avoided the takedowns. Overeem has thrived since moving up to heavyweight and has yet to lose in five fights at his new weight class. With size, length and speed, he is capable of triumphing over Lesnar.
- Cain Velasquez
Record: 6-0
Notable wins: Cheick Kongo
Cheick Kongo rocked Cain Velasquez a couple of times at UFC 99, but outside of that match, which Velasquez ended up winning by unanimous decision, he has sparkled throughout his MMA career. Until Kongo, no fighter made it past the 2:34 mark of the second round against Velasquez. Velasquez is among the best wrestlers in the UFC -- if not the best -- and his striking is also on point. His fast ascent has earned him the chance to be the No. 1 contender. He will fight Shane Carwin at UFC 104 for the right to face Brock Lesnar.
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Record: 31-5-1
Notable wins: Dan Henderson, Josh Barnett, Mirko Filipovic
When he isn’t injured, when he isn’t battling staph infections, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is among the best heavyweights in the world. “Big Nog” took a beating at the hands of Frank Mir in his last fight, which cost him the Interim Heavyweight Championship at UFC 92. But keep in mind that Nogueira also fought just 20 days after laying in a hospital bed because of a staph infection. He might be past his prime, but no one can deny that he has gone toe-to-toe with the best in the sport. That type of experience is invaluable. Lesnar has already proven to be vulnerable to submissions and “Minotauro” has 19 on his resume. Among the suspects out there, Nogueira is a prime candidate to take away Lesnar’s belt.
- Shane Carwin
Record: 11-0
Notable wins: Gabriel Gonzaga
Shane Carwin is 11-0 in his MMA career and to give you a taste of how dominant he has been, take note of the fact that none of his opponents have made it to the second round. Carwin has impeccable power in his fists, evidenced by his last four wins, which have all been via knockout punches. If he connected fist-to-face against Lesnar, it might be lights out for “The Next Big Thing.” Another big plus for Carwin, who is one win away from facing Lesnar, is that he’s one of the biggest heavyweights. We’ve seen what Lesnar does to smaller heavyweights like Frank Mir -- throwing him around like a teddy bear -- but he won’t be able to do that to the 260-pound Carwin. With a tough chin, a solid frame, polished wrestling skills, and more knockout power than Lesnar, Carwin stands as Lesnar’s biggest threat in the UFC.
- Fedor Emelianenko
Record: 30-1-1
Notable wins: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman, Mirko Filipovic, Andrei Arlovski.
It doesn’t take much convincing as almost everyone is in agreement that Fedor Emelianenko is not only the top heavyweight fighter in the world, but he is also the top pound-for-pound king. While Lesnar has had a quick ascent up the MMA ranks, Emelianenko has been at the top for a long time. “The Last Emperor” is 30-1-1 in his MMA career and hasn’t lost in his last 27 fights. To contrast, Lesnar’s MMA record is 4-1. Emelianenko is a smart fighter, he’s quick, he has plenty of power, he’s lethal with submissions -- for the pound-for-pound king there are endless compliments. He has dismantled big fighters like Lesnar before, so Lesnar wouldn’t be anything he hasn’t seen. Given how raw Lesnar’s MMA skills still are, he is in line for a good lesson from Fedor if the two were to meet up.
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