I've heard so much crying about Brock Lesnar and "if it had been anyone else they would have stopped it" and etc., that it prompts me to do some writing about the subject. Lesnar is a wrestler. I don't believe his skills have been greatly improved beyond his base, but they have in fact improved (I admit as much, but really don't care for him).
If they hadn't, he wouldn't win fights, simple as that. He has shown standup (Couture, Herring, etc.) a great ground and pound game (Mir) and now shows his ability to weather a storm and a little bit of submission work. He hasn't been the best at any of those, and his size, muscle mass and athleticism gets him farther in those areas than his actual skill from my point of view.
Lesnar is a massive individual. Even though Carwin weighed the same, there just seemed to be such a large visual difference in the two men that it made me want to question the official scale. Carwin, for his part, executed the exact same game plan he has executed for every fight he has been in. And it always has been and almost was successful again. Carwin was smashing through Lesnar.
A bit too tense, and I noted he wasn't breathing at times causing further muscle exhaustion, but he was close, in my opinion, to bringing that fight to an end. And, on a pre Shane Carwin fight note with Lesnar's antics and actions ("Mir has a horseshoe up his a$$" and "I'll be drinking me a Coors Light") made me have a disdain for him as a person, and a fighter. Luckily, or unluckily, he nearly died due to his recent illness. Luckily, or unluckily, it seemed to have made him more humble. Luckily, or unluckily, I think it also made him a better fighter.
So although my jury is still out at this point on whether or not I like and respect Brock as a fighter, his stock was greatly improved by his post fight comments, along with those at the post fight press conference. Being a former WWE entertainer, I pray he isn't making a pretend switch to "good guy", but time always tells the makeup of a person. I will bide my time on Lesnar.
Love him or hate him, he is the current undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World. But, Carwin showed exactly how to beat the current version of Brock Lesnar...so stay tuned as the Heavyweights start changing the tools out in their toolbox and focus directly on Carwin's highly successful first round. If Brock doesn't improve the backing up with his hands up and running from the punches, it's merely a matter of time
before the belt changes hands.
But, to Lesnar's credit, I truly don't believe he will stop learning and training in Mixed Martial Arts. Which, if you are a heavyweight looking to garner UFC gold, should be a daunting reality. Finally, if Brock continues to improve, even the haters will have to say he truly is "The Baddest Man on the Planet".
On a PS note, no I wouldn't have stopped that fight either. People seem to really care about the "protection of the fighter" nowadays. I don't
see that rule anywhere in the unified rules. It is a combat sport. A sport that is brutal and that two people enter into knowingly and willingly
realizing that only one can be victorious by any number of methods. If people don't want to get punched in the face for a living, don't do MMA.
Pro fighters get paid to get beat up, or to beat someone up, or to do enough damage to their opponent to have them say "I quit". It is always
best to let the fight come to it's natural conclusion, with one clear winner causing the loser via unconsciousness or pain to say "I can't take
anymore, I'm done" either verbally or by tapping out. That is how a fight is supposed to end.
Finish your fight in convincing fashion, and there's no need for the ref to intervene. We don't want to as we ourselves are some of the biggest MMA junkies around and want to see a clear winner, and a clear loser. It's up to the fighters to finish the fight, not the ref, so the lesson learned...FINISH YOUR FIGHTS!
