Although the biggest news on the UFC on FOX conference call was the announcement of the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, the news that may have been the most encouraging was that the promotion’s biggest star Brock Lesnar is not retiring.
There were rumors earlier this week that Lesnar may be forced to hang up his gloves after a second tough bout with diverticulitis. But UFC President Dana White sounded encouraged in announcing that not only were the rumors of the former champion retiring completely untrue, but that he would be returning to training in just a few weeks.
But after nearly a year out of the sport, is the former champion going to be ready to get his title back when he finally does return to the cage?
Lesnar was the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in the world the last time he stepped into the Octagon for his fight with Cain Velasquez. With an estimated 30-pound weight advantage at the time of the fight, he was also considered the favorite going into the contest against his undefeated opponent.
But it was Velasquez, on that night, who became the new top dog in the heavyweight division when he became the first fighter to earn a TKO victory over Lesnar. The mystique of Brock Lesnar, it appeared, was deeply damaged.
Now 34 years old, Lesnar is already one of the oldest fighters in the heavyweight division. Even worse, he is still relatively inexperienced in his short, seven-fight MMA career.
Though he has fought only the best competition, Lesnar has still been criticized as being a one-trick pony by many analysts. His wrestling has admittedly been the core of his technique in the cage and although he certainly has the power to land some punches and finish fights on the feet, he has opted to bring his opponents to the ground and pound them out.
However, many believe that Cain Velasquez exposed Lesnar during their fight at UFC 121. By utilizing striking technique and unexpected strength, he stifled practically everything that the former NCAA Division-I national champion tried to do while inflicting maximum damage on a fighter whom many had previously deemed to be almost unstoppable.
Oh how quickly one fight changes things…
MMA fans can often times be too quick to count someone out after a loss. When Georges St-Pierre lost to Matt Serra at UFC 69, there was a group of fans who believed that the Canadian’s time at the top had already come to an end and that a new era was beginning in the welterweight division. But that proved to be short-lived as St-Pierre took care of Serra just over a year later and has been on perhaps the most dominant winning streak in the organization’s history ever since, winning nine fights in a row.
Though Cain Velasquez is not Matt Serra, it is equally absurd to count Brock Lesnar out of the heavyweight division as it was to count Georges St-Pierre out of the welterweight division. These are two of the most physically gifted athletes on the planet and there is a reason that they have achieved the level of success that they have—the combination of skill and hard work.
Lesnar has assembled one of the most impressive fight camps in North America and he regularly brings in top-level training partners with the sole intention of getting him ready for his next fight. There are other camps around the country that have been successful, but few have the level of commitment to improve a single fighter that Lesnar’s DeathClutch Gym does for him.
Anyone who knows him would tell you that Lesnar is one of the most competitive people they have ever met. The guy simply loathes losing. His last fight went terribly wrong and he will be preparing diligently to fix the mistakes he made against Velasquez and become a better fighter.
Given all of the resources and physical attributes that he has at his disposal, Brock Lesnar has the ability to beat anyone, including both Velasquez and dos Santos. But he has to get back to that level first.
It is expected by most that his first fight back will likely be against a borderline top-10 opponent; someone the likes of Roy Nelson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira or Cheick Kongo. With a victory in that bout, he may already be back in the picture for another shot at the UFC championship.
2011 was a rough year on the Lesnar family with surgery and rehab, but if he can return to the shape he was in prior to UFC 121, 2012 is poised to be his best year yet. Come December of next year, we may be calling him champion once again.
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