Post by mike2005rulz on May 9, 2009 17:08:23 GMT -5
By Michael DiSanto
Pound-for-pound discussions are great. Record-setting winning streaks are even better. Winning titles in two divisions is spectacular.
Ruling over the UFC heavyweight division is priceless.
The UFC Heavyweight Champion is a killer whale, Bengal tiger, African lion, salthingyer crocodile, and Kodiak bear all rolled into one. He is the king of the UFC food chain, a man with no combat equal. He is the sport’s apex predator—one who isn’t preyed upon by any man other than fellow heavyweights.
Think about it for a moment. Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre are universally recognized as the two best fighters in the UFC. But it’s probable that neither of them would last more than a few moments inside the cage with Brock Lesnar. The size and power disparities are so great that they overcome any skill deficiencies Lesnar might have when facing such smaller foes. He would basically maul them into submission.
It may not be the deepest division in the UFC, but there are plenty of current, future and former superstars competing. Let’s take a look at the land of the giants.
THE CHAMP
Brock Lesnar: Lesnar is a scary human for several reasons. Chief among them is his freakish combination of size and athleticism. The 6’3 former collegiate wrestling champion must cut upwards of 15 lbs from his massively muscled frame in order to make the heavyweight limit of 265 lbs; yet he moves with the nimbleness of a 230 lb NFL football player. Lesnar is such a great athlete that he was able to win the heavyweight championship in his fourth professional fight, tying Hall of Fame inductee Randy Couture for the fewest professional fights before donning UFC divisional gold. Appropriately enough, he accomplished that feat by defeating none other than the legend himself by second round TKO last November at UFC 91. Next up for Lesnar is another significant career milestone, as he squares off with the only man to defeat him, Frank Mir, at UFC 100. The champ is not shy about admitting that his need to avenge that loss burns white hot in his gut. He will have the opportunity to permanently stamp out that flame in July.
FORMER CHAMPS
Frank Mir:
Before the flood of emails begins, I know full well that Mir is the current “interim” heavyweight champ. But there can only be one true champion at any point in time, and that distinction belongs to Lesnar until someone pries the title from his kung fu grip. Mir may be just the man to do it. Not so much because he already owns a 90-second submission victory over the champ. More so because Mir appears to have finally evolved into the elite fighter that the world expected him to become back when he first broke onto the scene with an impressive submission win over Roberto Travern at UFC 34. His win over Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira at UFC 92 was a career-altering performance. It forever erased the notion that Mir is incapable of getting into great shape. It shattered the prevailing misconception that his standup skills were rudimentary. And it finally put to rest questions about his commitment to the game. A focused, well-prepared Mir is at worst even money to defeat any heavyweight in the world.
Randy Couture:
It’s not often that an athlete returns from retirement and a Hall of Fame induction to soar back to the top of the food chain in his particular sport, but Randy Couture is no ordinary athlete. In fact, he holds so many UFC firsts that he has rightfully become a living legend. But there is no hiding from the fact that Father Time is pounding on the door. Couture turns 46 on June 22, and his next bout will be his 20th trip to the Octagon. Thus, age and accumulated mileage could be a factor. In fact, Couture’s critics will point to the fact that the five-time former champion, is a mere 6-6 over the last seven years. That may be true, but Couture has risen from his athletic grave more times than I care to recall. His permanent fall from grace will happen sooner rather than later. There is no doubt about it. The adverse affects of age will be both sudden and extreme. One day, Couture just won’t “have it” anymore. Will his next bout be that night? If this were any other 46 year old on the planet, I’d give him no chance at defeating any truly elite heavyweight. But this is Randy Couture we’re talking about. Beating down Father Time while simultaneously handling a world class opponent inside the Octagon is right in his wheelhouse.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira:
When it is all said and done, Minotauro will go down as a legend in the sport. He remains the only man to win heavyweight titles in both PRIDE and the UFC, assuming one considers the “interim” heavyweight title to be a legitimate championship. But mixed martial arts is a “what have you done for me lately” sport. Fans and pundits alike quickly forget a combatant’s pedigree after a bad loss. Minotauro faces that reality today after getting thoroughly dominated by Mir in his last bout. The bout raised questions about the amount of mileage on the ex-champion. Despite the fact that he is only 32 years old, Minotauro has been in far more than his share of drop-down, drag-out wars. And fights like that take a toll on even the best fighters, accumulating over time to age a man far more rapidly than Mother Nature intended. Was Minotauro damaged goods when he stepped into the Octagon to face Mir last December? Or was it just a bad night brought about by injuries suffered in training and longest layoff of his career? He has a golden opportunity to answer those questions in his next bout in the Octagon.
Source
www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=19666
Pound-for-pound discussions are great. Record-setting winning streaks are even better. Winning titles in two divisions is spectacular.
Ruling over the UFC heavyweight division is priceless.
The UFC Heavyweight Champion is a killer whale, Bengal tiger, African lion, salthingyer crocodile, and Kodiak bear all rolled into one. He is the king of the UFC food chain, a man with no combat equal. He is the sport’s apex predator—one who isn’t preyed upon by any man other than fellow heavyweights.
Think about it for a moment. Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre are universally recognized as the two best fighters in the UFC. But it’s probable that neither of them would last more than a few moments inside the cage with Brock Lesnar. The size and power disparities are so great that they overcome any skill deficiencies Lesnar might have when facing such smaller foes. He would basically maul them into submission.
It may not be the deepest division in the UFC, but there are plenty of current, future and former superstars competing. Let’s take a look at the land of the giants.
THE CHAMP
Brock Lesnar: Lesnar is a scary human for several reasons. Chief among them is his freakish combination of size and athleticism. The 6’3 former collegiate wrestling champion must cut upwards of 15 lbs from his massively muscled frame in order to make the heavyweight limit of 265 lbs; yet he moves with the nimbleness of a 230 lb NFL football player. Lesnar is such a great athlete that he was able to win the heavyweight championship in his fourth professional fight, tying Hall of Fame inductee Randy Couture for the fewest professional fights before donning UFC divisional gold. Appropriately enough, he accomplished that feat by defeating none other than the legend himself by second round TKO last November at UFC 91. Next up for Lesnar is another significant career milestone, as he squares off with the only man to defeat him, Frank Mir, at UFC 100. The champ is not shy about admitting that his need to avenge that loss burns white hot in his gut. He will have the opportunity to permanently stamp out that flame in July.
FORMER CHAMPS
Frank Mir:
Before the flood of emails begins, I know full well that Mir is the current “interim” heavyweight champ. But there can only be one true champion at any point in time, and that distinction belongs to Lesnar until someone pries the title from his kung fu grip. Mir may be just the man to do it. Not so much because he already owns a 90-second submission victory over the champ. More so because Mir appears to have finally evolved into the elite fighter that the world expected him to become back when he first broke onto the scene with an impressive submission win over Roberto Travern at UFC 34. His win over Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira at UFC 92 was a career-altering performance. It forever erased the notion that Mir is incapable of getting into great shape. It shattered the prevailing misconception that his standup skills were rudimentary. And it finally put to rest questions about his commitment to the game. A focused, well-prepared Mir is at worst even money to defeat any heavyweight in the world.
Randy Couture:
It’s not often that an athlete returns from retirement and a Hall of Fame induction to soar back to the top of the food chain in his particular sport, but Randy Couture is no ordinary athlete. In fact, he holds so many UFC firsts that he has rightfully become a living legend. But there is no hiding from the fact that Father Time is pounding on the door. Couture turns 46 on June 22, and his next bout will be his 20th trip to the Octagon. Thus, age and accumulated mileage could be a factor. In fact, Couture’s critics will point to the fact that the five-time former champion, is a mere 6-6 over the last seven years. That may be true, but Couture has risen from his athletic grave more times than I care to recall. His permanent fall from grace will happen sooner rather than later. There is no doubt about it. The adverse affects of age will be both sudden and extreme. One day, Couture just won’t “have it” anymore. Will his next bout be that night? If this were any other 46 year old on the planet, I’d give him no chance at defeating any truly elite heavyweight. But this is Randy Couture we’re talking about. Beating down Father Time while simultaneously handling a world class opponent inside the Octagon is right in his wheelhouse.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira:
When it is all said and done, Minotauro will go down as a legend in the sport. He remains the only man to win heavyweight titles in both PRIDE and the UFC, assuming one considers the “interim” heavyweight title to be a legitimate championship. But mixed martial arts is a “what have you done for me lately” sport. Fans and pundits alike quickly forget a combatant’s pedigree after a bad loss. Minotauro faces that reality today after getting thoroughly dominated by Mir in his last bout. The bout raised questions about the amount of mileage on the ex-champion. Despite the fact that he is only 32 years old, Minotauro has been in far more than his share of drop-down, drag-out wars. And fights like that take a toll on even the best fighters, accumulating over time to age a man far more rapidly than Mother Nature intended. Was Minotauro damaged goods when he stepped into the Octagon to face Mir last December? Or was it just a bad night brought about by injuries suffered in training and longest layoff of his career? He has a golden opportunity to answer those questions in his next bout in the Octagon.
Source
www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=19666