Brock Lesnar Update

Brock Lesnar Update
March 16th 2007 Posted to K1, News


For those of you, like me, who used to watch the WWE and Brock Lesnar, you know how much of a monster this guy is. He left there to join the Minnesota Vikings as a back-up linebacker. Within the last year he gave that up and went on to mixed martial arts which is more dedicated to his wrestling background, as a Heavyweight Collegiate Champion for the University of Minnesota.

He is currently signed on to K-1/Hero’s as of April of last year, but has not competed as a MMA fighter yet. The recent news is that Royce Gracie has seen his potential and is currently training Brock in MMA. The question is not weather he can be physically dominant, but weather he can gain the experience and mental discipline that it takes to be the best in this sport. I think only time will tell on this one. Brock Lesnar is scheduled to fight in a K-1/Hero’s Las Vegas show on May 19th according to WrestlingInc.

How did his fight go?

more info

Brock Lesnar is a former NCAA wrestling champion who went on to great success as a pro wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment. On June 2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, he makes his mixed martial arts debut at Dynamite USA.

The muscular amateur wrestling standout was heavily recruited by WWE coming out of college, and signed with them in 2000. At that time he was offered a large contract by WWE.

"I left college because I had a quarter-of-a-million dollar contract in front of me and I had twenty-five cents in my pocket," Lesnar says. "[MMA] couldn't offer me that."

Would he have gone straight into MMA if he was offered the same amount of money as WWE gave him?

"Absolutely, for sure," Lesnar said.

Lesnar views pro wrestling as his past, and is now training to be a full-time MMA fighter. Unlike fellow pro wrestler Josh Barnett, he does not view himself as a representative of pro wrestling in MMA.

"I'm representing amateur wrestling," he said.

Nor does Lesnar see himself returning to pro wrestling, "Never say never on anything like that but I highly doubt it."

Lesnar's opponent on the card is the 7-2, 355-pound Hong Man Choi. Lesnar is preparing for Choi's size by working out with a couple of 6-8 fighters, but he acknowledges that it is difficult to find individuals that can replicate Choi's size.

Lesnar said that in spite of Choi's size, he is encouraged by the style match-up and asserts, "They couldn't have picked an easier opponent for me."

Lesnar has been training at the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. He is working on all aspects of his game, including wrestling, jiu jitsu and standup.

Lesnar notes, "I'm not going to focus on one thing. I want to be a well-rounded fighter."

As for the future, Lesnar says that he doesn't have any goals. For his first fight, Lesnar says, "I just want to come out and prove to myself that I can fight." From there, he is open to any future fights. He currently weighs 265 pounds, so he could fight at heavyweight as well as super-heavyweight.

Former amateur wrestling superstar and WrestleMania opponent Kurt Angle has also talked of getting into MMA. Lesnar isn't sure how serious he is: "I've spoken to Kurt a few times but I don't know. If he chose to do that I think he's good for a couple fights."

Lesnar would consider taking a fight with Angle, which could be a marketable pay-per-view attraction.

The June 2 show will be the American debut for Japanese kickboxing and MMA outfit K1. At a news conference Tuesday, K1 announced an organizational alliance with many other fighting companies including Elite XC, Bodog Fight, Strike Force, Cage Rage and Korean promotion Spirit. These organizations will need to demonstrate collective strength in order to compete with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which now also controls Pride Fighting Championships.

Dynamite USA will feature a unique promotional arrangement. At 9 p.m., Showtime and Elite XC will televise a one-hour fight card including fights with Jake Shields, Antonio Silva and Gina Carano. Then at 10 p.m., there will be a live pay-per-view event headlined by Lesnar vs. Choi. Also fighting on the pay-per-view will be MMA legend Royce Gracie and former USC and Detroit Lion standout Johnnie Morton. The rest of the card has not been filled out, but promoter Sadaharu Tanikawa mentioned the names of Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Katsuhiko Nagata and Caol Uno.

When asked about facing the daunting task of filling a 100,000-seat arena, Tanikawa said the promotion would draw on the large Korean and Japanese communities in Southern California. He predicted that the promotion will fill the Coliseum.

Mauro Ranallo, Bill Goldberg and Jay Glazer will do commentary for both the Showtime special and the pay-per-view. To promote the event, Showtime will air six individual specials at 8:30 on Monday nights, beginning April 30.

that would be badass

i read somewhere that his debut was canceled.. supposed to be on june 1st or 2nd ..