Lesnar, Dos Santos to Coach Season 13 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

Ending months of speculation, UFC President Dana White today revealed that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and top prospect Junior dos Santos will coach the upcoming 13th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” after which they will square off to determine the heavyweight division’s No. 1 contender.

“These two will coach, and then they’ll fight, and the winner will fight [UFC heavyweight champion] Cain Velasquez when he’s healthy,” White said during a media conference call to promote the UFC’s Jan. 22 UFC “Fight for the Troops 2” event.

In late December, it was reported that Velasquez would be sidelined for six to eight months with a torn right rotator cuff which required surgery. White said that the UFC’s original plan was to match Velasquez against dos Santos at UFC 129 on April 30 in Toronto, but that the “TUF” idea simply fell into place after learning of Velasquez’s injury.

“It made all the sense in the world once we knew how long Cain was gonna be out,” said White, who stressed that no interim title would be created in the champion’s absence.

“I literally hadn’t made any phone calls yet and we hadn’t contacted anybody about coaching... I was driving to work one morning and I thought, ‘You know what? That makes sense. Let’s see if we can do this.’”

Filming for the series is set to begin in the last week of January, with the season premiering March 30 on Spike TV. The latest iteration of the UFC’s long-running reality television series will feature a cast comprised solely of 170-pound competitors. Welterweights have previously been featured in the show’s second, fourth, sixth and ninth seasons, which yielded current UFC fighters Joe Stevenson, Matt Serra, Mac Danzig and James Wilks, respectively.

The season’s tournament winner will be crowned at the “TUF 13” live finale, which MMAJunkie.com reports will take place on June 4 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

No date was announced for the bout between the heavyweight coaches, but White said that Lesnar and dos Santos would “definitely, 100 percent” meet at a June UFC pay-per-view event. UFC 131 is rumored to take place on June 11 -- one week after after the finale -- at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Lesnar was handed the second loss of his nascent MMA career by Velasquez in October, when he had his belt taken in a brutal first-round TKO loss at UFC 121. Prior to that match, the former pro-wrestling star had rattled off four straight wins, including stoppages of such UFC luminaries as Randy Couture and Frank Mir.

One of the heavyweight divisions brightest prospects, dos Santos is undefeated in his six Octagon outings. After bursting onto the scene with a knockout of Fabricio Werdum in his UFC debut, the 26-year-old “Cigano” tore through Stefan Struve, Mirko Filipovic, Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga, stopping all four with punches. Dos Santos went the distance for the first time in his career last August, when he took a unanimous decision over Roy Nelson to become the No. 1 heavyweight contender.

View the original article here

Dos Santos Talks Lesnar, ‘TUF 13’ Coaching Staff

Junior dos Santos | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

A few weeks ago, Junior dos Santos received the frustrating news: UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was out of action, sidelined for six to eight months with a torn rotator cuff. Dos Santos, the division’s No. 1 contender, would have to wait for his shot at gold.

Rather than sitting on the shelf and awaiting Velasquez’s return, however, “Cigano” agreed to serve as one of the coaches on the 13th season of UFC reality television program “The Ultimate Fighter.”

The 26-year-old Brazilian will coach opposite former champion Brock Lesnar on the show, after which the pair will square off on June 11 at UFC 131, an event expected to take place at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The winner of that match, according to UFC President Dana White, will become the next challenger for Velasquez’s belt.

Despite the chance that he could lose his spot in the title queue, Cigano is taking the change in stride.

“My next fight would have been for the belt, but this one will be welcome, too. It will enhance my résumé a lot,” Dos Santos told Sherdog.com. “I liked the choice and the opportunity to be a coach on the reality show [and] it will be a great challenge. My English is not 100 percent, but I’ll do my best and I’m sure I’ll be good.”

While his involvement with “TUF” has helped ease the frustration of being unable to face Velasquez, Dos Santos ensures that he remains focused on capturing the heavyweight belt.

“I’ll do my job and keep after that belt. This has always been my goal,” said Dos Santos, who shared some thoughts on his upcoming opponent and rival coach.

“Lesnar is a tough guy. He’s great. He’s very different from Cain Velasquez, because he’s larger, but a bit slower. But he’s just as dangerous as Cain. It will be different, but I’ll keep working on the same things, which are my takedown defense and boxing.”

At the moment, the Brazilian heavyweight is in the process of assembling the crew of trainers who will assist him during “TUF 13,” which begins taping in Las Vegas on Jan. 26.

“I’m still picking my team. Luiz Dorea will be the boxing coach. Billy [Schiebe], an American friend, should be the muay Thai coach. I’m thinking of someone else for jiu-jitsu, and the wrestling coach could be Rodrigo Artilheiro, who is very good, and speaks both Portuguese and English, which helps with communication. I think early next week, we’ll have the full team.”

View the original article here

Velasquez Dethrones Lesnar at UFC 121

In a word, annihilation.

The undefeated Cain Velasquez tore through Brock Lesnar in a career-defining performance, as he captured the heavyweight championship in the UFC 121 “Lesnar vs. Velasquez” main event on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The end came 4:12 into round one, as Velasquez reached the mountaintop just nine fights into his professional career.

“I trained for a five-round fight,” Velasquez said. “I’m always ready for that. You can’t expect an early stoppage.”

Velasquez weathered an early attack from the hulking former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, kept his composure and picked his spots with power, precision and resolve. Lesnar took down the challenger twice in the first two minutes, and Velasquez answered the challenge seamlessly on both occasions. Velasquez scored with his own takedown 2:48 into the first period, took a dominant position in back of the champion and pummeled him with punches and hammerfists. From there, it was all downhill for Lesnar.

“We expected him to come out, go hard in and go for the takedown,” Velasquez said. “We were ready for that. We worked on positions, on worst-case scenarios.”

Lesnar twice returned to his feet, only to be met with more strikes from the American Kickboxing Academy standout. A two-punch combination dropped the champion near the cage, and Velasquez pounced. Lesnar fought valiantly to defend himself but ate too many punches, forcing Herb Dean to step in on his behalf. He rose to his feet beaten, battered and bloodied.

“I expected nothing less,” Lesnar said. “I knew there was a great challenge in front of me. He’s a great fighter. What can I say? He was better than me tonight.”

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields out-grappled Martin Kampmann on the ground and survived his strikes on the feet, as he earned a split decision in his Octagon debut. Two of the three judges sided with Shields by 30-27 and 29-28 scores; a third saw it 29-28 for Kampmann.

Shields took down and mounted the Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts standout in each of the first two rounds but tired noticeably as the fight advanced, perhaps hindered by the weight cut to 170 pounds. Seemingly in position to spring the upset, Kampmann -- who popped Shields with a pair of knees from the clinch earlier in the fight -- got caught playing to his opponent’s strength in the third. Ultimately, Shields trapped the Dane in a body triangle and threatened him with a rear-naked choke as the bout came to a close.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie, Shields has won 15 consecutive fights. The 31-year-old Californian has not tasted defeat in nearly six years and will likely find himself on a short list for potential contenders to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre’s throne.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner Diego Sanchez returned to form as an elite welterweight, as he dominated the world-ranked Paulo Thiago en route to a unanimous decision. All three judges scored it for “The Nightmare”: 30-26, 29-28 and 29-28.

Sanchez rebounded nicely from a slow start and forced the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt to wilt underneath his relentless pace. Having returned to Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in his native Albuquerque, N.M., the mercurial 28-year-old scored with a pair of takedowns in the second round and another in the third. His attack did not end there, as he battered Thiago with punches and elbows from the top. He finished with a champion’s kick, as he mounted the exhausted Brazilian and unleashed a series of punches in the final 10 seconds of the match.

The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Sanchez.

“I was really humbled by these last few losses,” he said. “I worked really hard for this.”

Matt Hamill gave former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz a bitter taste of his own medicine.

Hamill damaged Ortiz with power punches in the first round before he turned to takedowns and ground-and-pound in rounds two and three, as “The Ultimate Fighter” 3 semi-finalist took a lopsided unanimous decision from his former mentor. Scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27, all in Hamill’s favor.

Winless in five appearances (0-4-1) since his October 2006 victory over UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock, Ortiz’s moments were few and far between. Once on the ground, Hamill neutralized his underrated guard with elbows and punches from the top. Ortiz, long known for his supreme conditioning, faded as the fight drifted into the third round. There, Hamill delivered a takedown with 1:26 left and battered him with strikes from above.

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 finalist Brendan Schaub leaned on his superior speed, conditioning and striking technique, as he cruised to a unanimous decision over Gabriel Gonzaga in a featured heavyweight duel. All three judges scored it 30-27 in Schaub’s favor.

Spawned by the Grudge Training Center in Colorado, Schaub overwhelmed the plodding Brazilian with his athleticism. The 27-year-old pumped a left jab into Gonzaga’s face from the outset, stuffed his only takedown attempt with 90 seconds left in round one and dropped the former heavyweight title contender with a right hook. The punch punctuated a combination at the end of the first round.

“That was kind of our game plan,” Schaub said, “to mix it up, get him frustrated and pick him apart.”

Gonzaga was never the same. He scored with three thudding leg kicks inside the first minute of the second period but largely abandoned those attacks as the battle deepened. Schaub, a former Golden Gloves champion, attacked both the head and body and had Gonzaga on his heels for much of their 15-minute encounter.

“Gabe’s one of the top heavyweights in the world,” said Schaub, who has rattled off three wins in a row. “It’s a big step up for me. I’m just glad to get out of here with a victory.”

View the original article here

Pros Pick: Lesnar vs. Velasquez

Brock Lesnar (right) file photo: Sherdog.com

Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will defend his title against unbeaten American Kickboxing Academy thoroughbred Cain Velasquez in the UFC 121 headliner on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

The UFC marketing train has been in high gear for months in advance of one of the most anticipated bouts of 2010. Will Lesnar handle the cardio and tenacity of the smaller challenger? Can Velasquez deal with the sheer strength and agility of the champion?

Sherdog.com recently caught up with dozens of professional trainers and fighters to gauge their opinions on the fight:

Junior dos Santos: Both are very dangerous. Lesnar is the most dangerous in the early rounds but, like Cain, has a lot of gas. I think he will set the pace and manage to win by TKO after the third round.

Adam Singer: This is a hard one. I get the feeling that whichever way I pick I’m going to be wrong (think about that for a little while). A good big man always beats a good smaller man, right? I’ll take Brock by TKO via ground-and-pound in round three.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Velasquez is faster and a better wrestler, so he has the advantage in this fight. I think he wins.

Roli Delgado: This is such an exciting fight. Lesnar is a huge monster, and Cain is a slick heavyweight with great footwork. I realize that Brock is the better wrestler technically, but with strikes, I really believe the wrestling will be neutral. I hope that we see some great wrestling transitions and both fighters fight to get back up to their feet instead of playing from the bottom if they’re taken down. I don’t think Brock will be able to submit Cain, but he brings so much heat with the ground-and-pound. Which fighter can keep the pace longer? I’m going to go with Cain. I think he gets on top of Lesnar late in the third and gets a TKO stoppage.

Sam Hoger: From the shores of a sunny beach in Hawaii, the Brock versus Cain match will be a fight of two wrestlers who have heavy hands. The better wrestler will win. Once either of them is on their back, it is over. The one who can control the top position will win. Brock has shown some Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is rare from wrestlers who are usually too proud to change their style at all. Cain has fast and heavy hands, but so did Shane Carwin, until he ran out of gas and got beat by Brock. Unless Cain can fight off his back, I can’t see this going any other way but for Brock.

Marvin Eastman: Cain will let Brock get tired. Cain will win by KO in the third round [by] left hook.

Juanito Ibarra: Cain [wins].

Matt Hamilton: I’m picking Brock by TKO in the second. I think people hate on Brock’s boxing too much, and I think it will be much improved for this fight. Even if it isn’t, Brock has power and reach, and those two things will get you far. Brock just keeps getting better and better. Cain is a beast, and watching him hit mitts backstage at the UFC once was very impressive, but until someone whips Brock’s ass, he’s still the man.

Rob McCullough: I think “Brocktober” is about to be over.

Travis Lutter: I think Lesnar is going to be too much for Cain. He is so fast, so big and too good at wrestling.

Josh Thomson: Cain! Cain! Cain! Cain! Cain! Cain! By any way he wants!

Cung Le: Cain by TKO.

Micah Miller: Cain should win. He has better skills and conditioning. But Brock is bigger. As sad as it is, that counts for something these days.

Phillipe Nover: Cain is a beast. If you want to see Brock lose the belt, this is the fight to watch. I’m all about underdogs, and this one I’m quite sure of. Cain has superb wrestling, striking and power. He is undefeated for a reason.

Gabe Ruediger: Although they look like they are in different weight classes, I’m going with Velasquez. Brock’s size will play a huge part but as the rounds get deeper, I think it’s going to be harder to maintain the strength that has been his greatest asset.

James Zikic: Lesnar to overpower Velasquez via fourth-round TKO.

Ray Sefo: I’m going with Cain because he’s a good fighter and has better striking than Brock. He’s also a good wrestler.

Martin Kampmann: I think Cain will take it. Better cardio, better boxing.

Kultar Gill: If Cain can stop Brock’s takedowns [which I think he will], I can see Cain winning by TKO in the fourth round.

Josh Burkman: Cain runs around a bit until he commits too much. Then he gets beat up by a dude that is just too much man. Lesnar is bigger, stronger and too athletic to control.

Stav Economou: Brock is just too big and too strong. He will take it in the second round via ground-and-pound.

Tom Gavrilos: I’m taking Cain by decision.

Michael Guymon: I think Cain is a much better and [more] well-rounded fighter by far, but Brock has got just too much size and strength over Cain. Brock by being a big bastard -- TKO [in the] second.

Keith Berry: Brock is just a beast of a man, plain and simple. With that being said, he will show who is the true heavyweight by giving Cain a good old farm boy beatdown. I say Brock by second-round TKO.

Ron Foster: Brock showed a ton of heart in his last fight but was also badly exposed by Carwin. After not being able to get the fight to the ground early and taking a few punches, Brock’s defense was to basically go to the fetal position until Carwin punched himself out. He won’t have this option in this fight. Velasquez is a cardio machine with great striking and world-class wrestling. Cain will use angles to easily avoid Brock’s takedown attempts and then batter him on the feet. The amount of punishment Brock will take when he goes down will force the referee to stop the fight this time. Winner by TKO in round two and new heavyweight champion of the world, Cain Velasquez.

Bobby Southworth: Obviously, I’m biased being an AKA fighter myself. That being said, people who train with either man all say, “I’ve never seen anything like this guy.” It’s true that both guys are on a different level, in different ways, than the other fighters in their division. However, Brock only beats Cain in one department: sheer physicality. We’ve seen time and again in MMA that size just isn’t enough. In striking and submission savvy, Cain is by far the superior fighter. In wrestling skill, the one point or riding time that separates an All-American from a national champion doesn’t make one the superior fighter in MMA. Cain will not tire, he will not falter, and he will not fail in becoming the next UFC heavyweight world champion by TKO in round three or four.

Robin Black: Man, how can you not be a fan of the smaller, quicker, more technical heavyweight? A guy like Velasquez is everything that’s great about the UFC. He comes from obscurity, armed with crazy skills, heart and desire and becomes the number one contender. But Brock is a monster, a demon from the depths of hell. If Velasquez can go 12 or 13 minutes without making a single mistake that puts him on his back eating fists from Lesnar, he has a chance to win in the championship rounds. Sadly for Velasquez and his fans, like me, I don’t see it happening. Lesnar by TKO, smashing from half guard in round two.

View the original article here

UFC President Predicts Quicker-Than-Expected Turnaround for Lesnar

Dana White file photo: Sherdog.com

UFC President Dana White thinks former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will find his way back into the Octagon much sooner than previously expected following his one-sided technical knockout loss to the unbeaten Cain Velasquez in the UFC 121 headliner on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

The indomitable Velasquez stopped the former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar with heavy ground-and-pound 4:12 into the first round. Prior to the bout, Lesnar vowed to take a break from MMA in order to pursue other pastimes: hunting and spending time with family and friends. White foresees those plans being altered.

“We’re going to find out the real competitive side of Brock Lesnar here,” White told ESPN’s “MMA Live.” “I have a feeling, knowing him, his plans are going to be cut short. I think obviously he’s going to go hunting and spend some time with his family, but I think we’ll see him back a lot sooner than what we had planned.”

White does not believe Lesnar’s image will suffer much of a hit publicly. As the sport’s top box office draw, he has been at the heart of the promotion’s two most profitable pay-per-view events: UFC 100 in July 2009 and UFC 116 three months ago.

“This is mixed martial arts. Every dog has his day, and today was his day,” White said. “We’ll see what happens. I think people will always be interested in Brock, and now they’ll be interested in Cain, too.”

Velasquez survived two takedowns from the imposing champion and attacked him with clean, accurate power punches to the head. White pointed to Lesnar’s inexperienced stand-up skills and believes they may have led, at least partially, to his undoing.

“He has been working on his stand-up,” White said. “He’s only fought five times in the UFC. We’ve seen fights where his stand-up looks good. He’s not going to win any boxing titles, but it looks good when he’s doing the punching. When he starts getting hit is when his hands start to fall apart. It’s not a matter of working on his hands enough. It’s a different ballgame when you’re getting punched in face.”

White also addressed questions regarding whether or not Lesnar verbally submitted to the assault being inflicted upon him by Velasquez.

“I was watching the monitor, and I thought he yelled ‘Stop!’ White said. “From what I saw, I thought he did, too.”

View the original article here

The Blueprint: Brock Lesnar

What's Brock Lesnar's best chance to foil Cain Velasquez' challenge for his UFC heavyweight championship belt on Saturday night in Anaheim? Read on to find out... Brock Lesnar is one of those once-in-a-generation athletes.  Think about his accomplishments for a moment.

Lesnar was a two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota and won the NCAA National Championship in 2000.  He followed that up with three-year hiatus from real competition while performing World Wrestling Entertainment.  Lesnar then decided that he wanted to play professional football.  Keep in mind that he did not play football in college.  Yet, he secured a tryout with the Minnesota Vikings and made it to one of the last round of cuts.  His potential was clear to everyone, so the Vikings invited him to play in NFL Europe to develop his skills for a potential future opportunity in the NFL.  

Lesnar declined and instead decided to toss his hat into the world of mixed martial arts.  It took him all of four fights to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship.  That is downright absurd.

Most elite mixed martial artists are excellent athletes.  There is no heavyweight mixed martial artist on the planet who can hold an athletic candle to Lesnar.  I'm certain about that statement.

Lesnar's successes have largely been due to his amazing blend of size, explosive speed, strength and general coordination.  The guy is a mere cheeseburger away from tipping the scales at a very lean, extremely muscled 300 lbs, has hands the size of a catcher's mitt, can deadlift a small car, explodes into takedowns and rolls around on the mat like a middleweight, and has yet to show any deficiencies in the size of his gas tank.  There aren't many guys alive who can match him in each of those areas.  Lesnar can basically do whatever he wants in the world of sports.

But, alas, fighting isn't just about athleticism.  It is also about technique, conditioning and heart.  Lesnar will have all three of those things tested when he defends his UFC crown for the third time against what I believe to be the toughest challenge of his young career:  Cain Velasquez.

For all of Lesnar's athletic accomplishments and freakish physical gifts, Velasquez brings to the table one of the most well rounded games that we have seen in the heavyweight division in quite some time.  I remember first hearing about the guy through Javier Mendez, his head trainer and the founder of the American Kickboxing Academy.  

Velasquez had no professional fights under his belt at the time, and Mendez, who is brutally honest when giving his opinion about a fighter, said without hesitation that Velasquez had more potential in the sport than anyone he had ever met.  His description was something along these lines:  he kicks like Cro Cop, punches like Liddell, was an All-American wrestler at Arizona State University and never, ever gets tired….oh yeah, and he is addicted to training.

Eight unbeaten fights later, there are many who believe that Velasquez is the best heavyweight in the world, despite the fact that Lesnar is the champion.  He will have the opportunity to definitively answer that question on Saturday night when he collides with the most dominant athlete in the UFC.

If Lesnar wants to continue his reign as champion, he needs to remain committed to a game plan that heavily relies on takedowns and ground control.  That isn't to suggest that his standup game is rubbish, because it certainly is not.  Nevertheless, there is a stark contrast between his wrestling and striking games.  

Lesnar's wrestling proved to be the difference in each of his wins, other than his bout with Couture where he won after landing a circuit-shorting right hand on the temple.  Shane Carwin, who is a behemoth former college wrestler, much like Lesnar, enjoyed some early success avoiding the takedown by not sitting down on his early punches and keeping his hands low enough to effectively sprawl.  But that didn't last long.  As soon as he tired just a bit, Lesnar was able to take him down with ease.  

Velasquez was a more accomplished amateur wrestler than Carwin--by a wide margin, actually.  And he has a much deeper gas tank, so I don't see him tiring early in the fight.  Yet, the size and strength differentials are so great that Lesnar should be able to basically bull rush him to the ground, something he couldn't do against Carwin, who isn't quite as big or strong as Lesnar, but is one of the bigger, stronger heavyweights in the sport.  

On the other side of the equation, it is Velasquez who holds all of the advantages in the standup realm.  All except for the sheer force behind the blows, where Lesnar takes a back seat to nobody, other than Carwin.  Lesnar is the kind of guy who can land a shot on a covered-up opponent's forearms and still knock him down.  That is only relevant if he is able to squarely land against Velasquez.  Otherwise, the challenger's edge in technique, hand speed and foot speed will lead to Lesnar getting sliced and diced on the feet.

Team Lesnar knows all of that, but I still suspect that Lesnar will come out early and see how he stacks up with Velasquez on the feet.  That is a mistake, in my opinion.  One that could be fatal to his title reign.  But Lesnar is the type of guy who wants to make a statement each time he steps in to the Octagon.  Tell him that he is weak in an area, and Lesnar will seek to prove you wrong.

I would much prefer to see him come out and use a lead right hand as a Trojan Horse to change levels and explode into a double-leg takedown.  Velasquez will probably look to counter in the opening seconds, so he will plant his feet and try to time a Lesnar lead right with either a left hook or by slightly changing angles and firing his own right.  Either way, if Lesnar's right is nothing more than a feinting arm punch that corrals Velasquez into a double-leg, he should be successful in taking the fight to the ground.  

If not, try again.  Don't get frustrated.  And don't decide to recklessly stand and bang.  Commit to the takedown and it will come.

Once the action hits the ground, the champion knows what to do.  He must remain calm and focus first on maintaining the position.  That means keeping a wide base with his hips down and his upper body low to Velasquez's chest so that there isn't room for the challenger to post up on his arms and stand or work for submissions.  

From there, Lesnar can fire short right or left hands, just like he did when he had Frank Mir on the ground in their second fight.  None of the individual punches are designed to bring the fight to an instant end.  They are instead designed to wear down an opponent, and that is precisely what will happen.

Velasquez won't be comfortable carrying all of Lesnar's weight and getting punched in the face.  His Energizer Bunny gas tank will take a hit.  Trust me on that one.  And after a full round of getting pounded on--assuming he doesn't succumb to the punishment sooner--he will become more desperate on the feet, which will make him that much easier to take down for however long the fight lasts.  

Rinse.  Repeat.

Cain Velasquez may be the most difficult challenge of Brock Lesnar's career to date, but this is a very winnable fight for the champion.  It starts and ends with takedowns and ground control.  If Lesnar remains fully committed to those two notions and executes, he should walk out of the cage the same way that he entered it--as the UFC Heavyweight Champion.  

QUICK FACTS:

Brock Lesnar
•    33 years old
•    6'3, 265 lbs
•    81-inch reach
•    5-1 professional record (4-1 UFC)
•    83.3% of fights have ended inside the distance (4-1 in those fights)
•    Last 3 fights ended in the 2nd round (3-0 in those fights)
•    2 wins by submission, 2 wins by knockout
•    3-0 in championship fights
•    Two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota (1999 and 2000)
•    2000 NCAA National Champion in wrestling
•    1999 NCAA Runner-Up in wrestling
•    1998 Junior College National Champion

View the original article here

Lesnar - The Present, The Future

“I just feel blessed and honored to be the champion. This is my second chance of reinventing myself. I’m a former amateur wrestler, a former professional wrestler, a wannabe NFL football player. And here I am a UFC heavyweight champion." While much of the attention of the history-making sort has been centered on Cain Velasquez’ quest to become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a world heavyweight title in combat sports, the man he will be challenging for the UFC crown in Saturday’s UFC 121 main event, champion Brock Lesnar, is quietly approaching some milestones as well should he defend his title successfully in Anaheim’s Honda Center.

That alone is an amazing feat, considering that the big man from Minnesota’s fighting career consists of just six pro fights. But with a win over Velasquez, Lesnar will tie Tim Sylvia for most successful heavyweight title defenses with three, and set the record for most successful consecutive defenses (again, with three), while a knockout or submission of his unbeaten challenger will put him atop those UFC heavyweight championship leader boards as well.

It’s been an amazing run to say the least for one of only seven men to hold unbeaten records in UFC championship bouts, but for Lesnar, it’s not about accolades or records anymore – if it ever was. Following a 2009 bout with diverticulitis that nearly ended his career, Lesnar is just happy to be here, to be able to fight and to have the belt around his waist.

“I just feel blessed and honored to be the champion,” he said during a recent media teleconference. “This is my second chance of reinventing myself. I’m a former amateur wrestler, a former professional wrestler, a wannabe NFL football player. And here I am a UFC heavyweight champion. So do I look at it any differently? No. Do I go to bed holding on to my UFC title every night? No. I go to bed, I tuck my kids into bed every night. I don’t have any added pressure on myself. I’m doing what I love to do.”

And that’s the scary part about the 6-3 ½, 265 pounder. Unlike some professional athletes who are content to simply pick up a check and show up on game night, Lesnar has developed a reputation as one of the hardest workers in the sport, with an all or nothing attitude to go with it. So when he got the call to compete against Velasquez just three months after his battle with Shane Carwin in July, he bit down on his mouthpiece and got back to work.

“This is what I do for a living,” Lesnar told me in August. “I’m a fighter, and I can't wait to get back in the Octagon.  I'm still in great condition from the last camp.  I took a week off, and I was right back in the gym.  You have to be smart and know your limits, but right now I feel great and I'm hungry.  No reason to wait around.”

If Lesnar’s plan is to strike while the iron’s hot, there’s no better time for him to do it than now. Sidelined for a year following his UFC 100 win over Frank Mir, Lesnar had tons of question marks circling him before his return against Carwin, a Colorado KO king who was eager to make Lesnar another victim. In terms of easing a fighter back into competition, this wasn’t the guy you wanted, and Carwin made that evident immediately, as he stuffed Lesnar’s early takedown attempts and drilled him with shots to the head that stunned and dropped the champion. Shockingly, Lesnar, dazed and bleeding, survived the onslaught, got up, and after catching his breath between rounds, smiled at Carwin before the start of round two, as if to say, ‘you got yours, now I’m gonna get mine.’

He did, taking Carwin down almost immediately and submitting him with an arm triangle. It was an improbable comeback, both in the fight, and in general, considering what Lesnar had gone through to get back in the Octagon, and if anyone doubted the validity of his claim to be the top heavyweight in the sport, they were drowned out by the cheers that almost lifted the roof off of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Yet the beauty of this sport is that there is little time to bask in past glories. Unlike boxing, where tough challenges are followed by mandatory mismatches or ‘keep busy’ fights, Lesnar is back in the Octagon against an opponent who may be even more formidable than Carwin, Mir, or the man he beat for the title, Randy Couture. So while Lesnar does have the advantage of coming into this fight sharp and in shape after his July bout, he will need to be firing on all cylinders against Velasquez, and to amp things up even more, he’s added fighters like Pat Barry to a camp that already includes standouts Cole Konrad, Chris Tuchscherer, and Jon Madsen.

“Everything’s in line,” he said. “I feel I’m right on and I’m as lean as I’ve ever been. Guys say they’ve had good camps and I can go back and say every camp has been my best camp, but I really think so. I’ve gotten better and better and better and I really don’t think I’m still the best that I can be, but on October 23rd, on that night I’ll be the best.”

It’s a champion’s confidence, but part of what keeps a champion at the top is the idea that you never look past any opponent, while approaching every fight as if you are the challenger. Lesnar has that part down, admitting that Velasquez is unlike anyone he’s faced thus far in his pro career.

“He poses some different challenges,” he said. “He's a smaller, quicker fighter with good hands, and he was never a national champ, but he was a Division I All-American wrestler.”    

And to many, the talented and hungry Velasquez is the future of the heavyweight division. That’s okay with Brock Lesnar, as long as he proves on Saturday night that he’s still the present, and as he put it after the Carwin bout, “the toughest SOB around.”

View the original article here

Yes He Cain - Velasquez Stops Lesnar, Wins Heavy Title

Too small, they said. Cain Velasquez had other plans in the UFC 121 main event Saturday night at the Honda Center, and despite giving up more than 20 pounds to Brock Lesnar, he held off an initial charge from the 6-3, 265 pounder to take the Minnesotan down, knock him down, and then finish him off in the first round to win the UFC heavyweight championship. ANAHEIM, October 23 – Too small, they said. Cain Velasquez had other plans in the UFC 121 main event Saturday night at the Honda Center, and despite giving up more than 20 pounds to Brock Lesnar, he held off an initial charge from the 6-3, 265 pounder to take the Minnesotan down, knock him down, and then finish him off in the first round to win the UFC heavyweight championship.

“I expected nothing less,” said a gracious Lesnar. “He’s a great fighter. What can I say? He was better than me tonight.”

The crowd at the Honda Center was standing before the opening bell even sounded, and they remained there for the entirety of the ensuing battle.

Lesnar attacked with a takedown attempt immediately, but Velasquez met it with a flurry of punches. Lesnar eagerly fired back and even shot off a flying knee, and the crowd erupted. With less than 30 seconds of frantic action gone, Lesnar got his takedown, but Velasquez shot up quickly. Lesnar immediately bulled his foe into the fence and got another takedown, but Velasquez got up almost immediately and bloodied Lesnar’s face with more shots. At the 2:53 mark, Velasquez scored with a takedown of his own, and amazingly the crowd got even louder. Lesnar made it back to his feet, but his balance was off and Velasquez took advantage with more accurate blows that sent Lesnar scrambling face first to the mat. The champion weathered the initial storm, but after getting up again, Velasquez made sure he was not to be denied, as he dropped Lesnar again. This time, the humble kid from San Jose finished what he had started years ago on a wrestling mat, and after a barrage of strikes, referee Herb Dean halted the bout at the 4:12 mark and Cain Velasquez began a new reign atop the heavyweight division.

With the win, Velasquez, the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a major heavyweight title in combat sports, improves to 9-0; Lesnar falls to 5-2.

UFC 121 main card results * UFC 121 prelim results

View the original article here