Brock Lesnar may be the real deal.  Even though I was willing to give him a fair chance and keep my mind open, I did not think I was going to say this prior to the fight against Frank Mir.

Although it was a quick submission, Lesnar showed some promise.  I also thought it would have been a completely different fight had the referee not given him the warning for hitting the back of Mir’s head.  Mir got a second chance with that warning.  Mir seemed to be taken by surprise by Lesnar’s charge and was not handling the hammer fists well.  Usually, I did not think a warning was given until a fighter violates that rule a few times.  Also, Mir suddenly turned his head while Lesnar was raining hammer fists on his face.  Lesnar is athletic, but we cannot expect him to be able to stop his arm in a split second while swinging it full force to pummel Mir’s face.  As a result of the warning, Mir had at least a minute and half to recover and Lesnar lost his dominant position, because the referee made them stand up.  Even though Lesnar took him down immediately as soon as they resumed the fight, with the minute and half recovery time minus the element of surprise of charging as soon as the bell rang, the fight probably turned to Mir’s slight advantage.  Lesnar may have been a little too charged up, which combined with his inexperience resulted in his mistake of possibly trying to pull his leg out prematurely.  Perhaps a more experienced fighter would have used his weight a little better to get out of Mir’s hold (rather than trying to pull out and falling down, which made him lose any leverage he may have had while standing).

Either way, I hope to see Lesnar succeed in the UFC.  For starters, he’s good for the sport because he will bring more fans (i.e., WWE fans).  More importantly, however, I like his attitude after the lost.  Lesnar has the warrior mentality with a good blend of humbleness and respect for the sport of MMA and his opponent which are qualities that I think fans like about UFC and MMA.  Sure, some pre-fight trash-talking builds excitement.  But, at least for me, the post-fight embrace or respect that fighters show to each other is what makes the sport different.  I think Lesnar has those qualities.   I would not say this to Lesnar’s face, but to be honest, when I first saw him I thought he looked like an arrogant meathead without much substance.  However, his post-fight words, at least to me, showed that his pre-fight interviews were not just a show.  I think there may be a lot more to him and I am willing to believe him until he shows otherwise.  I cannot wait till his next fight.

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