Patrick Clarke | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Brock Lesnar: Former UFC Champ Should Be Applauded For Taking Overeem Fight

Brock Lesnar deserves credit from UFC fans and peers alike after stepping inside the ring with powerful striker Alistair Overeem at UFC 141.Lesnar took a beating. He was pronounced the loser just over two minutes into the main event in Las Vegas Friday…

Brock Lesnar deserves credit from UFC fans and peers alike after stepping inside the ring with powerful striker Alistair Overeem at UFC 141.

Lesnar took a beating. He was pronounced the loser just over two minutes into the main event in Las Vegas Friday night.

The fact that he took the whipping like a man and a professional—after recovering from a crippling intestinal disease for the second time in as many years—is truly astonishing.

Lesnar has struggled with diverticulitis for some time now. He had to have a foot of his colon removed because of the condition. Asking a heavyweight brawler to step inside the ring with another 265-pounder after such a dramatic procedure is, without question, asking too much.

Some will argue that Lesnar failed to show up to the fight. I said as much upon watching two and half minutes of the former UFC heavyweight champion backpedaling into the cage and looking like a deer in headlights.

The reality is that these were no ordinary circumstances for the 34-year-old.

In fact they were far from ordinary. There is arguably no more feared striker in MMA today than Overeem. Lesnar stood up to him, despite having physical shortcomings from his medical condition and the fact that he has never been a fighter as much as he was a wrestler.

Lesnar was fighting an uphill battle the second he agreed to take on Overeem. His previous fight was an embarrassing first-round defeat to Cain Velasquez. A second loss to a heavyweight newcomer was all but guaranteed to make Lesnar irrelevant.

His sudden retirement following the loss was inevitable. The cards have been stacked against Lesnar’s MMA career, so it has ended early and quietly.

Lesnar never ducked a fight though. He took on the sport’s best and wasn’t afraid of getting beat, even if he did look scared at times inside the Octagon.

For that simple fact Lesnar should be applauded—both by those who have watched and those who have seen first-hand what he is capable of.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Brock Lesnar: Former UFC Champ’s Brutal Loss and Retirement a Win for MMA Fans

Brock Lesnar’s TKO loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 Friday night, and shocking retirement from MMA, was a win for fans of the sport worldwide.Lesnar was the goat in yet another prime-time dud that ended before fans were even in their seats, and now …

Brock Lesnar‘s TKO loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 Friday night, and shocking retirement from MMA, was a win for fans of the sport worldwide.

Lesnar was the goat in yet another prime-time dud that ended before fans were even in their seats, and now his career is set in stone.

For as decorated as Lesnar was in his short four-year MMA career, his style was designed to bore, and his attitude to incite.

Nothing about Lesnar made fans want to root for him.

Not when he flipped the bird to the crowd following his revenge beating of Frank Mir, and certainly not when he looked as helpless and out of place as he did in his three UFC losses, all ending in the first round.

Lesnar failed to produce a non-scripted personality that fans could identify with, or root for. He came across as a jerk to a lot of fans, and still does.

As well as he transitioned from the WWE to the UFC, Lesnar was never cut out to be a real entertainer in a sport as tough and rugged as MMA.

His style of surviving opponents’ strikes just long enough until he could get them to the mat was painful on the eyes and hardly the marking of a true heavyweight champion.

Lesnar seemed almost afraid to get hit; not that anyone’s instinct is to take a punch or kick from another man, but for a fighter there has to be some disregard for injury.

It would be absurd to call Lesnar soft, but he was—without a doubt—one of the most flawed champions in UFC history.

He wasn’t a striker, but maybe if he was his personality wouldn’t have mattered. Fans of fighting want to see just that, fighting, and Lesnar didn’t deliver as often as he should have.

His bouts turned out like Denver Broncos games with Tim Tebow under center, but with way less excitement. He won and you didn’t always know how.

Lesnar’s career ended far sooner than he would have hoped. But the simple fact that UFC fans will no longer be subjected to his hopeless style of fighting is a win, and an exciting one at that.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Brock Lesnar Retires: Why Career Will be Remembered as a Disappointment

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar’s career will be looked back upon by many as a disappointment.Lesnar’s sudden retirement after getting pummeled by feared striker Alistair Overeem on Friday night at UFC 141 came as a shock to many, but will…

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar‘s career will be looked back upon by many as a disappointment.

Lesnar’s sudden retirement after getting pummeled by feared striker Alistair Overeem on Friday night at UFC 141 came as a shock to many, but will hardly provide a quick turnaround for the former WWE superstar’s legacy.

The 34-year-old looked as if he had stumbled into the Octagon on accident and wanted no part in what Overeem was dishing out.

That superior flaw in Lesnar’s game is what fans and fellow fighters will remember as most disappointing. Overeem landed 19 of 24 strike attempts in the bout, while Lesnar connected on just six of 18. Even more mind-blowing was the fact Lesnar only attempted one takedown and missed.

It’s no secret to anyone who follows UFC that Lesnar’s only shot at victory comes on the ground where he can reverse the aggressor role on his opponent.

His last two fights now have ended in brutal defeats, specifically first-round TKOs via strikes.

Again, a flawed fighter who could hardly defend himself at the sport’s highest level, Lesnar was a disappointment.

Lesnar held the UFC heavyweight crown for nearly two years and that can’t be taken away from him, but his career overall reflected exactly what it was: a wrestler attempting to be a fighter.

He steps down from the cage with a 5-3 record overall in MMA and a 4-3 mark in the UFC.

Lesnar had bright moments but they were clouded in controversy and doubt. He defeated the previously undefeated Shane Carwin in July 2010, but Carwin seemed to have Lesnar finished before he fell on Carwin and choked him out like a python.

Also consider that the UFC heavyweight division was hardly what it is today, given the emergence of guys like Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.

Lesnar did indeed have a legitimate struggle with the intestinal disease diverticulitis over much of his MMA career, but that doesn’t change how his career should or will be remembered.

It started a little late, but it ended far too soon.

The reality is that Brock Lesnar will be remembered as a disappointment and a guy who just wasn’t tough enough to get it done.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Lesnar vs. Overeem: Brock Lesnar’s Return to UFC Will End in Triumph

Brock Lesnar’s first UFC bout in over a year will result in a thrilling victory over Alistair Overeem.Although Lesnar is at a distinct disadvantage, having been out of the sport for a significant amount of time because of his battle with diverticulitis…

Brock Lesnar‘s first UFC bout in over a year will result in a thrilling victory over Alistair Overeem.

Although Lesnar is at a distinct disadvantage, having been out of the sport for a significant amount of time because of his battle with diverticulitis, his unmatched wresting talent and ability to put opponents away once on the ground cannot be outdone.

Lesnar and Overeem are scheduled to touch gloves on Friday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC 141.

Lesnar’s last bout resulted in a brutal defeat to Cain Velasquez via TKO in the first round. That was over 14 months ago, back in October 2010.

In that time, Overeem is 2-0, but none of the fights have come in the UFC.

While Overeem has more mixed martial arts experience than his opponent, Lesnar owns the more valuable Octagon experience and has gone 4-2 in six career UFC fights.

The former UFC heavyweight champion has made a living over his short fighting career of taking opponents to the mat early on and ultimately using his overwhelming size and strength to wear them down.

It’s no surprise that Lesnar is not a stand up fighter given his wrestling background, but his ability to get guys like Shane Carwin and Frank Mir to the ground says a lot.

Overeem will be no exception on Friday night.

Lesnar will go for the takedown early. Once he gets it, Overeem will be in a losing situation. No heavyweight can match Lesnar’s ground skills, especially underneath nearly 270 pounds of wrestler.

He’s belt-less and motivated. At age 34, Lesnar is once again an underdog in the sport, and after his successful return to the UFC on Friday night, he’ll once again be a challenger for the heavyweight crown.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com