Entering a bout with Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, many fans believed Brock Lesnar would turn around his floundering career. It wasn’t much of a surprise when he was knocked out in the first round, but it was a bit surprising when he decided to retire from UFC following the fight.
As shocking as it might have been, it was also the right decision for Lesnar. I think it was pretty clear from Lesnar’s second professional fight that he was over-hyped. In that fight, Lesnar was upended by the unheralded Frank Mir, and it looked like his career might have been on shaky ground.
Lesnar rebounded, however, with four consecutive wins, including a triumph over Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight championship. While you could say it was impressive that Lesnar reached the pinnacle of his sport so quickly, beating an old Couture was to be expected.
Since then Lesnar has lost his past two fights via first-round TKO against Cain Velasquez and Overeem. For a guy with his type of amateur background, Lesnar simply didn’t use his skills to his advantage, so there is no reason for him to continue getting pummeled.
It has become quite obvious that Lesnar can’t matchup with the biggest and strongest heavyweights in the company. Because of that, stepping away from the Octagon was the best move for him. Had Lesnar developed his takedown skills a little more then he could have been a threat, but he was either unwilling or unable to make those adjustments.
There is no question that Lesnar has drawing power, so UFC founder Dana White probably hates to see him go. Lesnar simply isn’t competitive any longer, though. UFC fans have been excited about his past two fights, but they were disappointed each time as Lesnar was knocked silly in the first round.
It didn’t make sense for Lesnar to be touted as an elite talent or the next big thing in UFC any longer as he just couldn’t hang with the big boys. Lesnar had his moments, but deciding to retire is a very respectable move from Lesnar since he clearly knows he doesn’t fit in any longer.
Lesnar’s retirement has prompted some to speculate that he might return to where he first made a name for himself, that being the WWE. It has even been said that perhaps Lesnar has been behind a series of cryptic promos the company has shown, touting the return of a superstar on Jan. 2.
That would be interesting to say the least, but I’m not sure the logistics really make sense. If Lesnar was the person behind the promos, then he would have had to be planning his UFC retirement for a couple months. It’s possible he could have retired regardless of the result against Overeem, but it’s hard to imagine he would step away after such a big win.
Ultimately, it’s hard to say what the future holds for Lesnar. It appears as though he is forever done with UFC, however. While the move may disappoint some fans, Lesnar wasn’t the fighter he was made out to be, so sparing himself another crushing defeat was the smartest move he could have made.
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