Could Brock Lesnar's victory over Alistair Overeem make him one of the greatest Heavyweights ever?
Posted on December 29, 2011, 10:17 PM by Trent Reinsmith
Brock Lesnar has had a funny UFC career, not “ha ha” funny, but more scratch your head and wonder funny. He started his MMA career with a win over the then 2-5 Min Soo Kim and apparently that was enough to warrant a UFC contract and a shot against a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir. It’s almost as if the UFC were saying “all right, you think you can just come in here and be an ‘ultimate fighter,’ let’s see what you got.”
Funny thing is Lesnar did have something. Whether it was his strong wrestling background or his strength and size, he showed potential in that Mir fight. Sure he lost, leaving himself exposed for the BJJ black belt to take his leg and earn the submission, but he still showed something.
Lesnar would go on to defeat Heath Herring and quickly earn a shot at Randy Couture’s UFC Heavyweight crown. Lesnar would take that title via second round TKO and then go on to pummel Frank Mir in their rematch at UFC 100. By this time Lesnar was also establishing himself as pay per view gold for the promotion.
And then came Shane Carwin and a huge chink in the armor of Lesnar appeared. Sure the “Baddest Man on the Planet” could take a punch, but when Carwin put the bungalows to him Lesnar showed that he really, really hated getting punched in the face. True, very few people (maybe just Clay Guida?) enjoy getting hit so hard that they lose focus, but that’s part of the game, learn how to hit and be hit back. Lesnar had learned how to hit, but not how to hit back. His saving grace was Carwin’s lack of cardio and his own ability to absorb punches without going out.
When he faced Cain Velasquez it was clear that he still had not become comfortable getting punched and it cost him dearly. When Velasquez tore into him he went cartwheeling across the cage and showed little defense while Velasquez picked his spots and landed crushing blows that opened a huge gash on Lesnar’s face and brought his reign as champion to an end before the first round came to a close.
Lesnar took the loss in stride vowing to come back because that’s what champions do. On Friday he will get his chance to do so.
His opponent is another accomplished striker, who can hurt you with fists, knees and elbows. The advantage Lesnar has is that Alistair Overeem is not an accomplished wrestler like Carwin and Velasquez were. If he can gain the take down and avoid a choke in the process, he has a good chance of coming out of the fight with a win. If Overeem gets the jump and lands strikes before that takedown occurs, well, it could be a short night.
So, we’re back to the question, will a win make him one of the greatest heavyweights ever? The answer to that is no. He’s going to need to grow as a fighter and show more than one dimension. The days of the dominating one trick pony are over. Even with a win, Lesnar will remain a bit of a curiosity, a fighter that is good at one and only one thing. He needs more tools or a dominating reign as champion to have the honor of being considered an all time great bestowed upon him.
Further Reading: UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem LowKick.com Staff Predictions
Photo: CombatLifestyle.com
Comments
I hope that it was a joke.
If you read the article instead of just the headline it says, the answer is no.
OK, so I read the headline AND the article. So my question is . . . why was it written again? He gave us an answer to a question we all knew before reading the article. I want my 60 seconds back.
I've smoked some good shit in my life but never enough to think off the things in this article man
im usually one to pick on stupid articles, but I actually agree... alistair overeem is easily one of the best heavyweights in the world. Regardless of his lack of well rounded ness as a fighter... if he beats alistair hes definitly one of the top heavyweights in the world. IMO
No, not from just this one fight. If he beat's Overeem,Dos Santos, and defends his title then yes.
Well up to this point no one has matched Fedor's legacy, so, if Brock goes undefeated for say, 10 years, then you can say "yeah he's the greatest."
Respectable HWs Fedor's beaten:
-Big Nog
-Cro Cop
-Randleman
-Arlovski post-chin
-Fat and Old Tim Silvia
Respectable HWs Brock's beaten
-Carwin
-Mir
-Couture
Add a win against Overeem and then JDS or Cain and I think we can safely say Brock's matched Fedor's legacy.
Arlovski's chin was OK until Fedor knocked into the next millenium and he hasn't been able to find it since.
Fedor in his prime dominated heavyweight mma......not the modern style of mma where you can lay on your back and take a break if you are good at bjj and not so good at striking...in Fedors day there was nowhere to hide for a fighter with a weakness....soccer kicks,stomps and knee's to the head of downed opponents stopped this practice but were brutal and dangerous ....to compare Fedor to today's fighters you would have to try and see what they would be like under the same rules...I am not saying the "pride" type rules were better ..just different and so were the styles of the fighters.
Ok that's a fair point actually. Even so, my point is that Fedor's legacy isn't insurmountable. I still think Fedor's probably the top heavyweight in history in terms of legacy but I don't really think Brock or JDS needs to put together many more wins to topple him seeing as Fedor spent so much time beating nobodys.
Wow you answered your own question in your article. Its almost as if this article never needed to be published.
Do Provocative MMA Titles Justify Lack of Substance In The Article?
No.
Then Werdum is one of the greatest that ever lived also since he beat Fedor and Fedor wasnt UFC tested either. Bad analogy but you know what I mean. Give him time, if Brock beats Overeem and Overeem afterwards clears out the division, then maybe yes.
Skillwise I don't believe he'll ever come close to any great heavyweight. Let's just give him time to prove he deserves to be called Great.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but judging from the responses so far, a lot of you did not actually read the article.
There is no could, Lesnar is one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time
funny trend here, if you take any kind of negative stance at all about Reem many members get all butt hurt.
F*ck no!
good article, people read it all not just the headline,
Нельзя сравнивать Федора с Броком или наоборот. Федор легенда ММА, также как и Тайсон в боксе. Времена меняются, люди стареют. И нет ничего удивительного в том что Федор стал проигрывать. Это естественно и нормально. С возрастом мы теряем все, в том числе и здоровье, хотим мы этого или нет.
I think I'll go to a Russian site today and make a bunch of illegible posts for them to gaulk at. by typing English
Not at all!This wwe fat stupid guy will never be one of the greatest.He will never ever reach the Royce Gracie legacy,who at that time he was also one dimension fighter.
He will be something like Mark Coleman.Just a powerfull HW with a belt once...
On the other hand,Overreem will be one of the greatest not only HW but fighters in general if he grab the ufc belt.BUT NEVER NOONE will reach the kingdom of the GREAT FEDOR!
lmao "this wwe fat stupid guy?"
Does your mom know your on the interweb?
Leave my mom away from this.
If you see me you're gonna cry from fear.
Well so far I'm crying from laughter, thanks!
I cry from laughter also from your idol Lesnar!hahahahahahah
He would have a ways to go.
At the moment, this article has 57 "poor." That doesn't reflect on the article, but on the laziness, and possibly illiteracy, of many of the Lowkick users. Anyway, Brock could be considered the best should he beat Overeem, avenge the loss to Velasquez, and take the belt from Dos Santos.
Oh, so we're lazy. That's it, I get it now. Couldn't be because those who read it found it to be a waste of bandwidth since all it did was answer a question that had no business being asked . . . cause we all knew the answer to it. Had to be that we're lazy, right.
Had no business being asked? Why not? Many regard Lesnar as top tier, many also don't. Questions like this is what this site is about. The first post on this was "I hope that it was a joke." So yes, lazy.
Top tier? Are you modifying the article after the fact to make it readable? It was about "greatest HW ever", not top tier. Name one person, other than Dana White and Brock's publicist, who thinks he is positioned to be one of the "greatest HWs ever" if he beats 'Reem . . . crickets.
Even if we all just read the headline, which is NOT the case (despite your trying to insult us all as "lazy"), the article would still suck ass. Sorry, but sometimes a pig is still a pig regardless of how you dress it up.
First of all, I said many, not all. So unless you didn't read it either, this doesn't apply to you. Second, I'm not a Brock fan at all. In fact, I think he was over hyped by Dana to make money; however, the fact is he beat many of the "best" heavyweights on his way to the title. Not to mention, he is fighting Overeem, who by a lot of people is considered top 3, and no I don't agree with that either. So lets recap, Brock faced many of the best on his way to the title, he came back from a life threatening condition (twice), and if he beats a guy many consider one of the best, does it make him ONE of the best heavyweights of all time? Basically, just because you have some personal vendetta with Lesnar, doesn't make it an invalid question.
Keep diggin . . .
one of the dumbest articles ever! guys get a clue please,thanks!!!
Bad day sexipapa? Did one of your daughters escape?
lol screw all u lesnar nut huggers,oh and the diaz haters to. lmao
And now we have an explanation point for this pointless question. Thank you 'Reem. Back to reality guys.