No. Lesnar was a national champion wrestler who decided to act for a few years. The company that he acted for is called WWE. Now we uses his wrestling ability along with his athlethism to fight.

(I'm sick and tired of people only talking about his couple years in pro wrestling without a mention of the 20+ years he spent training in MMA's most dangerous base: wrestling)

As one of the "purists" it pisses me off to see the direction the UFC has taken over the last several years. I honestly cannot stand the promotion of the TUF athletes over so many top guys in the sport. Sure several guys have climbed their way to the forefront from TUF, but most have just faded into MMA obscurity. UFC and Zuffa had such an amazing opportunity to improve the sport when they bought up Pride, but they squandered it away. Now we are left with so many mid card fighters as the main events it is just ridiculous. As for Lesnar, the guy is a total freaking joke! He is no better, in my opinion, then a guy like Kimbo. Yes, he may have some assets that Kimbo does not, but he is not a mixed martial artist, he is a steroid monster with a collegiate and professional wrestling background who is all power and NO skill (Mir proved that in their first meeting). It will prove insanely difficult for anyone to stand up to Lesnar's massive fists and explosive power, but that does not make him an MMA champ! It would be like putting a 7' tall 350# guy in an NHL goal mouth, sure he is going to stop a ton of pucks because of his size, but it does not make him a great goal tender. I for one think it was a total sham and an insult to true MMA fans that Lesnar got a title shot after going 1:1 and looking bad in doing so. The true main event that night is GSP vs. Thiago. Any true fight fan is going to tell you that. As for Lesnar, I hope that Mir ankle locks him into submission again and he can go back to the WWE where he belongs. He is an insult to the sport of MMA and true fans everywhere.

Let me preface this with the fact that Lesnar would kill me if we fought. But, it is not good for this sport in the long run if it wants its heavyweight champion to be labeled as "the baddest man on the planet" and replace boxing as the main pugalistic sport in this country to have a champion who participated in scripted contests. That and the fact that a 48 year old Ray Mercer knocked out a former champ in Tim Slyvia and MMA should be rooting for Mir to re establish it as a fighting form.

What does it say that he won the title after a handful of matches? Says a lot more than having a petty grudge over his career background... lets not forget he was a fantastic wrestler at American college level

I don't know if you'd call me a purist but I've been watching for a long time. The UFC is all about whatever brings the biggest draw and that's Lesnar. They always have been and always will be about the biggest draw. It's just good business. So no it doesn't cheapen rather it enriches the event. Unless Fedor is available there's nobody better than Lesnar to fill the spot.

I'd like to point out that nobody gave Matt Serra as much credit after his quick destruction of GSP. Until Lesnar whips at least 3 qualified opponents he's nothing more than a novelty in my book.

Yes, it does cheapen the view of the UFC. I have been following the UFC since the beginning and MMA has grown to become a very respected sport....and the UFC is on top. Lesnar is a great athlete. No denying that, but I was very upset that he got a title shot with a 1-1 record. Yes, the UFC is a business and Lesnar bring hug $$ with his name, but there are so many fighters that have to fight numerous fights with no losses to PROVE that they deserve a title shot. I hope Mir puts the hurt on Lesnar again, just so a statement can be made that you need to earn your way to the top of the UFC.....

The UFC heavyweight division was in pretty bad shape when Lesnar came on board, and it still seems pretty shallow. There are obvious standouts and some good prospects, but there's something about watching two guys in that weight class gas in the second round then spend the next several rounds hanging on each others' necks like long lost drinking buddies that has me reaching for a book until I hear Bruce Buffer's voice again.

Lesnar might be as much a sideshow attraction as a mixed martial artist, but he's a menace to anyone in striking distance and he's aggressive. Unless Mir has something he didn't have last time, and unless that something involves him running away from Lesnar for five rounds, I doubt I'll be reaching for a book on this one. If nothing else, he's an interesting problem for someone like Mir to solve. Maybe we'll get something along the lines of a super-sized Penn vs. Sherk.

All that aside, I'd rather have Mir bearing the standard for the heavyweight division. It's a lot easier to make the case for MMA being a sport of some depth when someone like Mir's the champion, vs. a wrecking ball like Lesnar.

If you purists remember correctly, Frank Mir was in Big trouble the first time these two fought and would have lost if Lesnar had known any type of ground defense. Now a year later I am sure he's put the work in on that facet of his game, now he won't be an expert but if he has Mir in the same postion I would bet he finishes him or is smarter while attempting to do so.

Lesnar ends this fight RD 1 with a Knockout

F No!!!

Come on Shane... comparing lesnar to kimbo? Wow.

Kimbo has no MMA base other than street fighting... which is really not a martial art.

Cain Vasquez showed what happens when a wrestler gets in there against someone who is just a striker.. ie Kongo. Kongo got dominiated.

Lesnar is a NCAA CHAMP. People outside the wrestling world don't understand how F-ing difficult that is.

Besides that... what makes him scary is that fact that he totally destroyed each person he fought on his feet. Mir and Herring didn't even punch him once.

Lesnar 2ed round TKO. I think the fight will start slow... and lesnar will take him down and pound on him. Second round I think lesnar will start picking him off standing up. Lesnar will there head kick mir.. just kidding :) I think it will be simular to the couture fight. He will knock him down with a strike and then finish him on with hammer fists. (he seems to like those)

Brock Lesner sucks. He is suppose to have some years of real wrestling skill but I have yet to see even that. All he does is charge in with tons of power and his size and smash. He sucks even more than Tim Sylvia. May Mir break his hip and end his career permanently.

Lesnar is for real! I'm a true MMA fan. I own over 6,000 hrs. of fights on DVD. Someone mention about Pride fighters. Pride fighters were great, but many were on steroids. Brock is going to ground and pound Frank Mir and win this fight by the second round. The big question is...who's next for Brock Lesnar? I thought maybe Mirko Cro Cop or Josh Barnett. How about putting up the cash and bringing in "The Man" Fedor Emelianenko.

wow-some of these posts:

1) If a 7'5" guy would be the best goaie and have a competitive advantage then there would be 7'5" goalies. Guess what-being huge doesn't help-obviously.

2) So it's hard for anybody to stand up to Lesner but that doens't make him an MMA fighter. Hmm-that's pretty stupid too. Brock has knocked down every fighter he fought including Mir. He makes weight.

"he's a sterorid monster"-so what. How many other guys including Royce Gracie have been caught on roids?

If a fighter can come out and take a "well rounded fighter" -and either pick him up and throw him on his head and beat him senseless with hammer fists, or punch him in the face and knock him out-then the better fighter is the guy standing.

This fight is very itneresting. We will get to see how much Lesner has impprved because Mir sure has.

About Tuff fighters-Forrest Griffith-is he a "real fighter"? TUF. Florian? Tuff. etc etc. etc....

If it wasn't for that show there would barely be a UFC. I am not a fan but Dana White has done a great job of growing this industry and business. My only objection is I think undercard fighers if not all fighters should be getting much more money.

I'm gonna bet that PURISTS say yes he does cheapen it because he is the stereotype MMA fighter to random people on the street. Big, hulking, freakshow body, tackles you and beats the crap out of you. He mainly relies on strength and doesn't have the technical skill that many of the top fighters do. Should be a hell of a fight tho.

Adam I agree with you 100%. Shane what are you talking about? Kimbo Slice is a bum who beat up people in street fights that 99% of the time he was bigger than. Brock Lesnar is a freakish athlete and NCAA Champion.

Case for athlete: Wrestled in college, tried out for NFL and almost made it with almost 0 football experience, and was incredibly agile in WWE. The WWE is fake, but some of the moves he did in the WWE showed how powerful and athletic this guy ever is. Steroids? What do you base that upon? The fact he's big and strong. There are 2 things that work for Lesnar, work ethic and genetics. Every person/athlete who's ever been around Lesnar says he is insane in the gym and what he puts his body through is unlike any workout regime anyone else is willing to do.

Case for MMA fighter: The guy was an NCAA champion and almost unbeatable as a wrestler growing up. Time and time again people talk about, probably the best base for an MMA figther is a wrestling background. He has that background. If Lesnar didn't went to WWE and instead wrestled professionally in let's say the olympics would anyone have a problem with him? Probably not.

I agree he got a title fight way too early because of being famous. However, if you owned the UFC or were UFC president wouldn't you give a guy like that a title fight if you knew it would make you lots of money? If you say no your either an idiot or a liar. Do I think Lesnar's a fluke? No I dont. Do I think he needs to get better? Absolutely. However, Lesnar does not lack strength, talent, athleticism; he lacks experience. He's been in the UFC for over a year now. He's gotten much better as an MMA fighter and will only continue to get better. I think he will beat Mir and I think he will dominate the heavyweight division for awhile. If so, does that mean he's bad for sport, a fraud, etc? It means that he is a great MMA fighter.

purist my azz. A real mma fan would reconize the skill that lesnar has. 106-5 in collage and national heavyweight champ. If Lesnar is a disgrace than so is Dan Serven, Randy Couture and every single fighter with a wrestling back ground. it's a real shame Ufc has disgrced its name with fighters like that. think how great ufc would be withouth them. Please learn about the sport first. your just another zuffa world fan. Ufc didn't start with fertittas and dana. do you even know who Bob Meyrowitz even is?

The purists should be pissed by the fact that Mir had the chance to fight Noguiera. His got his title shot by beating Hardonk and a 1-0 Brock Lesnar. You all want to talk about how Lesnar doesn't deserve it because of his record, but what about Mir? Before Hardonk, he was embarassed by a lazy light heavyweight in Vera. Everyone wants to forget about that. Honestly, had Mazzagatti not pulled a Mazzagatti, Mir wouldn't have gotten the kneebar. You could argue that Lesnar didn't deserve Couture, but he just came off of smashing Herring, who was the closest thing to a #1 contender at the time losing to Big Nog and beating Kongo. You can't argue that he doesn't deserve the fight with Mir after beating Herring and Couture, where you can't make the same claim about Mir. Either Mir doesn't deserve his shot because he only beat Lesnar, or Lesnar doesn't deserve his shot because he is green. You can't argue that Mir deserved his shot if you say that Lesnar did not.

Lesnar is a tough guy, but his success is due to the huge weight range in the UFC heavy weight class. In every other weight class the top fighters are cutting weight, but it is rare with the heavy weights. At some point size does matter.

Look, the majority of the "purists" aren't going to like Lesnar because he was a WWE wrestler and that wrestling is fake. It's an ego thing more then anything. The bottom line is more fans = growth = more money for the fighters and the company. Lesnar brings more fans then any one currently in MMA. The good news is unlike Kimbo, Lesnar actually has some skills. The best thing that can happen for MMA is that Lesnar wins and stays on top for a while. The reason he gets a title shot after going 1-1 is because you have to capitalize on his popularity while you can. If he turns out to be a flop at least you utilized him to try and increase the fan base. Just like they did with Kimbo. Yes, Kimbo sucked but he brought great publicity and in this business that's the most important thing. If Lesnar can prove to be a good fighter and dominate the heavyweight division he could help take MMA to a new level.

All i have to say to all Lesnar haters is, you had better hope in this past year nobody showed him how to apply an armbar, kamura, americana, ankle lock or kneebar. You're all so quick to critisize yet give him the fact that he's freakishly strong. If this guy aplies all that strength to a limb it could be his opponents last fight,"ever!" he is "the baddest man on the planet", because , he'll put a hole where your face used to be standing up, if he wants to wrestle, he'll pick you up and drop you on your head, he'll subit you to his willand ground and pound the hell out of you and as i pointed out above "SNAP!", like a twig .....that's scary. chew on that haters, (who can't even get fighters names correct) Lesnar wins 1st round TKO. Can't wait for Lesnar vs. Carwin or Lesnar vs. Emelianenko

Are you for friggin real? Do you even have a life? Have you ever slept with a woman? Do you still live in your parent's basement? Those are the question I have for Mark Chalifoux. Oh by the way, nice picture: you look like a total dork. Real Salamander looking bastard aren't you?

And answers, from Mark Chalifoux

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Many times
4. I'm a blogger, so by definition, yes. I had my dad finish the basement after I got married so my wife could live there too.

Thanks for the compliment on my picture. It's old though. Now I look more like Denzel Washington if he lost 15 pounds.

Saying that Lesnar is a joke because all he is a beast is like saying that any other fighter who cuts weight to be dominant in a weight class is a joke because he is a beast.

Lesnar is a sick wrestler who has sick reach and power, and who trains like a champion in a division that is sparce at best. How does he not deserve the title?

Lesnar is to the UFC what Shaq is to the NBA, boring! Like Shaq, massive size delivers overwhelming results, but it aint pretty.

With Shaq, the competition learned that all you needed to do to was " hack a Shaq" and put him on the free throw line where he shot a horrific %.

If Mir isn't the guy to figure Lesnar out, certainly a Fedor Emelianenko will find his achiles heel in short order and expose Lesnar as only slightly more talented than Kimbo.

The good news, wrestling will welcome him back.

"his destruction of Randy Couture"

Lesnar didn't destroy Randy Couture. Couture was easily winning until Lesnar got lucky and landed a wild punch... He had to get lucky to beat a man twice his age and 60 pounds lighter.

As others have stated, Lesnar is a joke. Newcomers with 1-1 records aren't supposed to get title shots, they're supposed to prove themselves first and *earn a title shot. Lesnar didn't, still doesn't and probably never will have the skill or experience to actually earn a legimate title shot.

Barring another lucky punch Mir will beat him again.

Couture was easily winning against Brock? I must've been watching a different fight, and must've been more intoxicated than I thought.

I thought I read that all three judges had Lesnar ahead on the Couture fight for the 1st round.

Lesnar has an incredible base in wrestling, and certainly has the natural ability and tools to be a dominant MMA fighter. He is a BEAST.

That being said, he did not deserve a title shot. Most prospects fight for a while in smaller organizations, and then spend a year or two (or three or four) compiling a respectable record before they are granted a title shot. Lesnar was 2-1 as a MMA fighter and 1-1 in the UFC. Not nearly enough experience. I'm not saying he didn't beat Herring and Couture impressivley - he did - but keep in mind that styles make fights. Herring has never been good against dominant wrestlers. As much as I like Couture, he's a light heavy and well past his prime.

As for Mir not deserving a shot, give me a break. If you believe Lesnar should be there, how can you belive Mir shouldn't be when Mir won their last fight. Mir has the history and experience in the UFC. If he hadn't had the accident on his bike, Arlovski and Sylvia would never have been more than challengers for the belt, Couture probably wouldn't have come out of retirement, and Lesnar wouldn't have gotten a shot at the title yet.

Before their last fight, Lesnar said that his fight with Mir was like round 1 of the NCAA tournament. I agree. Those tournaments are grueling, and if you lose, it's better luck next year. You don't win one fight and get to the finals. Do I think Lesnar would eventually get there? Heck, yeah. Should he be there now? No.

Shut your mouth, son!

The only thing Randy proved was that he can take a punch from Brock. he was not nor was he ever winning the match, much less "easily winning"...

I kind of wish someone would "lucky punch" your sorry face....

After reading through the posts here, there seem to be some Brock haters. I live in Minneapolis and I am more familiar with him than the most peoplein the country. This guy is 100 percent freak. There is not a ounce of steriod in his body. He has been big since his mid teens. I know people who haved worked out with him, and these are ex football players, and he kicks their butts. He has been training on his weak areas for the past few months. People will be suprised by his style on Saturday. In a closing comment, the UFC would have been crazy not to bring him in. The UFC 87 fight here last year had the town packed. He is marketers dream. Brock in 2 rounds

Who cares if he was in WWE? Just because it's pre-determined and more entertainment doesn't mean it's easy. Lesnar left the WWE for that very reason, the fact that it is tough on the body and you get more rest with MMA. Pro Wrestlers are probably perfect for MMA, they take a lot of beating year round every single week, sure they could handle it once in a while. Especially the ones with amateur wrestling background.

I just wish Lesnar wasn't such an asshole prick.

I have been a fan of UFC and MMA in general since before Chuck Liddell was new to the sport. If Lesnar is on a card I WILL NOT watch it. Simple.