Congratulations to Lesnar . Not that it matters but I have to wonder if Lesnar could have beaten Couture in his prime . Let's face it Couture is 45 years old and past his prime ( like Shamrock ) , ring rusty to boot . I'm not sure what it says for the sport when someone like Lesnar who has seemingly " not paid his dues " gets a title shot . It seems to me if he wasn't a " name ", he would not have had a title shot so early .
I don't follow the sport , I'm sure there's more to it , so kudos to Lesnar .

I watched the show last night. It was one of the better MMA events as of late. Seeing Lesnar with the UFC belt was kind of surreal, but I guess not too surprising considering how much of a phenom he was in WWE. Like you said, hopefully wrestling will get some respect from this, since Lesnar's victory dispels the myth that wrestlers aren't real athletes.

Now the only thing wrestling fans can hope for is a UFC vs WWE match at Wrestlemania with Lesnar vs Batista!

I didn't see it but the pictures made it look to easy for Brock. I was in DC for the AC/DC show and It Kicked Butt!!!!! Cmon Smackdown/ECW and Raw in DC and Baltimore!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rock on Kevin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations are in order! I knew that he could do it! That said, he can do professional wrestling even prouder by defeating Butterbean.... Just kidding.

To the first comment, the answer is simple - Yes. Couture in his physical prime was not as skilled a fighter as he is now. He was stronger, younger, but not as technically sound. In fact, I dare say Brock would have beaten Couture easier than he did last night.

Did someone honestly just compare Randy Couture to Ken Shamrock?

Are you kidding me?

Prior to the Lesnar fight Randy beat Gabriel Gonzaga for the UFC HW championship.

Shamrock is 1-7 in his last 8 fights.

To compare those two is just shameful and ignorant.

Let's get one thing straight. Lesnar's pro wrestling stint has absolutely nothing NOTHING to do with his win last night. Without his REAL college wrestling experience he would've had absolutely no chance of winning.

Pro wrestlers are stunt men that learn how to fall right and while it takes a considerable amount of charisma, durability and athletic prowess to make it in an org like the WWE it doesn't equate to actual fighting skill.

I was afraid that a win by Lesnar would start a buzz like this. Respect for Pro Wrestling?? from ACTUAL fighters??? Please.

Lesnar's win doesn't garner respect for pro wrestling, because pro wrestling had nothing to do with his win.

Oh BTW, I like how the this poster wrote that Lesnar is the only person to hold both the UFC belt and a Pro wrestling belt.....as if a belt in pro wrestling means anything in regards to actual competition or skill. Hell Hulk Hogan held the belt for years with just a leg drop. He wasn't even a decent technical pro wrestler.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: No one said Lesnar's pro wrestling stint had anything to do with his win over Couture. Obviously, it didn't. The point is that some MMA fans want to denigrate pro wrestlers for not being athletic, tough, skilled, whatever, and then a guy who was a star in WWE enters UFC and beats a big-name fighter. I'll again bring up Kurt Angle. He won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling. Does he deserve respect? Or is he just a stunt man who knows how to fall right?

Not to start trouble, but here is a quote from Lesnar himself:

"I am here to represent amateur wrestling and not professional wrestling. Are there other pro wrestlers who can come into UFC like me? Absolutely not. They just don’t have the background that I do. Even top UFC fighters wish they had more wrestling experience in their background."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article1905384.ece

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: You're not starting trouble. It's no secret that Lesnar, like many amateur wrestlers, never was and probably never will be a pro wrestling fan. I have interviewed him, so I know that to be true.

When he says there probably isn't another current pro wrestler who could come into UFC and compete at his level, I agree with him. That's why I said Lesnar is a genetic freak. Going back to the mid-1990s, however, Ken Shamrock went from being a no-name pro wrestler to an MMA champion. He then returned to wrestling, capitalizing on the name he made for himself in MMA.

One more thing about Lesnar. While he isn't a pro wrestling fan, he does respect what pro wrestlers put their bodies through. He said that on the YouTube clip I linked to, and he also said it when I interviewed him five years ago when he was in WWE. Here is a direct quote from Lesnar in that interview:

"I hurt every day. I've been dealing with broken ribs that are giving me trouble. I've got some inflammation in my elbow. I got a concussion at WrestleMania and some neck problems from landing on my head, and that created a lower back problem. It all adds up.

"It's entertainment, but it's very brutal."

it is a sad day when a champions biggest skill sets are being big and fast. lesnar has no real martial arts skill. he is just too darned big (roids) and fast. while he can pass a drug test now....there was a time that he could'nt. that is where he gained his mass. i cant wait to see this freak leave the picture.

Thanks for the response! I would have to say the becoming the WWE champion and ultimately a much more well known name in the American public is what put Lesnar in a title fight after just three UFC fights. There is no question that Pro Wrestling played the biggest role in his marketing within the UFC.

Know nothing about MMA, but did consider and had an interest in Lesnar's match this weekend. Besides Angle, are there any other wrestlers (Batista?) that have considered or legitimately could be a factor in MMA? I remember an urban legend of how the British Bulldog beat the snot out of the Barbarian in an off site altercation, and the Barbarian on TV looked as tough as they got. Are there more Bulldogs or Barbarians in wrestling?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Bobby Lashley is scheduled to make his MMA debut next month.

"To compare those two is just shameful and ignorant."

Not to pick nits, Elevation, but in comparing Shamrock to Couture with Win/Loss records, their percentages are just about equal.

Shamrock has 26 Wins, 13 Losses and 2 draws, giving him the following percentages:

63% wins, 32% losses, and 5% draws.

Couture has 16 Wins and 9 losses, giving him the following percentages:

64% wins and 36% losses.

Couture's recent fights have been more successful for him, certainly. Shamrock has seen more fights overall, inclusive of a stint in the WWF. Couture has had a total of 25 fights since 1997 and Shamrock has had 41 since 1993. The fact remains, however, that the sheer numerical values to wins and losses say that Ken Shamrock can be compared to Randy Couture, even if it is to say that while both men are older and technically past their prime, Couture seems to be the more successful of the two in his later years.

There is nothing shameful or ignorant in comparing two men who hold similar win/loss percentages.

Elevation, you may be referring to me re: Shamrock / Couture comparison . Sorry if I "offended " . I'll plead ignorance ! I said I was just a casual observer of MMA or MEM , no that's TNA , anyway .

Kev , in your interview of Lesnar from several years ago where he spoke of injuries at WrestleMania , he couldn't possibly have been talking about that sleepwalk Goldberg match .

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: No, he was talking abou the shooting star press gone awary at WM XIX vs. Angle.

Mina , what is the square root of 4,967 ??? :-)

Mina,

Anyone who has watched Couture and Shamrock within the last 5 years knows that Couture still has a little game left. Shamrock has been done for the last 5 years. Shammy needs to be stopped for his own health's sake.

Jack - 70.48, rounded up. :-)

Hey John. Yeah, I know that Shamrock really needed to leave the game 5 years ago and Couture has been amazing for the last 5 years and could probably still go for a bit. That not withstanding, however, the two have similar W/L records overall and are roughly the same age. So the comparison that was made wasn't necessarily that "shameful and ignorant." But that could be a personal pet peeve. It seemed overly harsh when a logical comparison could conceivably be made.

Sorry Kevin, but you're way off here man. I like pro wrestling, but I like MMA more. I'm a green belt in BJJ, a blue belt in Judo in a short amount of time and I've been in tournaments, so it's more of a connection to me. To esstentially say that MMA fighters and fans should think pro wrestlers aren't just stuntmen is ridiculous.

Lesnar was a national champion. He's a natural 300 pound freak of nature. The only reason he went to the circus, or WWE, was because of the money. He got the competition he wanted when he started training for an MMA debut, and thats the end of it.

Kurt is all talk IMO, even tho he would of been a good MMA fighter 10 years ago. For Kurt and his plastic neck to say he could knock out Chuck Liddell or Couture but never sign the contract is hilarious.

The only current guy I can see maybe having a chance in MMA is Shelton Benjamin. Other then the top collegiate wrestlers who go to pro wrestling, WWE guys should have no business even considering mixed martial arts.

Still love your blog man, but you're off on this one.

PS: I'm a Ken Shamrock fan in MMA, and a huge mark when he was in WWF. Probably the first time in a while I've seen his name while reading a wrestling site. Thanks!

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Good points. And I agree with you about Angle. At one point I think he could have done MMA, but that ship has sailed -- and he knows it no matter what he says publicly.

Mina , correct ! LOL .
Now , going back to percentage values , what percent do you perceive we've lost the argument .

Do you think Haku in his prime would have been good in MMA?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Possibly. His toughness is legendary, but whether or not he is skilled enough would be the question.

To Matt: Yes, when Bobby Lashley hits the scene its gonna be all about Lesnar Lashley. It'll draw in money drooling wrestling fans. And, you have this.
Brock is a Freakish Big country boy. Not all of that is roids. He had the frame and was astonishingly strong as a young teen. These days it's more about Andro/DHEA and other stacks.
Lashley is a trained killer. End of Story.
I have to pick Lashley on this fight, unless Brock just plain hits harder and has more recent activity.
Bobby's been training months straight, so, i can't imagine this will be lopsided in either case.
If you don't know, Lashley is the former 2 times Armed Forces Wrestling champion, go look at the t ype of people he had to beat for that.