Brock Lesnar is a bonafide crossover star when it comes to the professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) worlds.
Before he ever decided to take the plunge into the Octagon, Lesnar found himself as “the next big thing” inside the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ring. Lesnar went on a run that saw him become the youngest WWE champion in the company’s history at age 25. Ultimately, “The Beast” wound up wanting to try other ventures like American football where he had a very brief stint with the National Football League’s (NFL) Minnesota Vikings.
Lesnar debuted in MMA in 2007 with a first-round TKO win over Min-Soo Kim at Dynamite!! USA. A year later and he was working for the most powerful man in MMA, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White.
“Dana’s all right,” Lesnar said on The Pat McAfee Show (h/t MMA Fighting). “I’ve got a lot of money from him. I probably should have got paid more, maybe.
“I really can’t compare [White and WWE CEO Vince McMahon]. Honestly, my relationship with Vince is so different than it is with Dana over the years. Vince and I have had a love-hate relationship for the last 20 years, but it’s been good. We have a lot of water under the bridge. I have a lot of respect for both.
“But dealing with Dana, it’s just a totally different business approach,” Lesnar added. “I met Vince when I was younger. I look at Vince more as a father figure actually. Because I’ve learned a lot of things from him, and I was able to carry those things over and handle business with Dana. Vince is a self-made person, so is Dana. Took the company and made it public.”
Lesnar, 44, returned to WWE after his third and final career loss when taking on Alistair Overeem in 2011. It was the former Heavyweight champion’s first fight after dropping the crown to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 the year prior. In 2016, Lesnar would come back for a one-off with Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
It was certainly a rare run in MMA for the Webster, South Dakota native. Just 1-0 after his win over Kim, Lesnar fought former champion, Frank Mir in his UFC debut. Needing only a minute and 30 seconds, Mir forced Lesnar to tap with a kneebar. The loss still sticks with the current WWE champion.
“I was so mad at myself,” Lesnar said of the loss. “It just built another thing that the people ram down your throat and say you can’t do something. Love those people. Love them. I get goosebumps for that.
“I had a one-fight deal [with the UFC], and I was like, ‘Please give me another shot at this.’ Boom, then it took off. I fought Heath Herring and then I got Randy Couture and won the belt.”