Brock Lesnar: The Sad Truth Behind His Cowardly Instincts
Posted by James in The SportswriterOct 27th, 2010 | 10 responsesSo, there I was, drinking a Creemore Springs Premium Lager (seeing as how Bud Light won’t pay me nothin’) and chowing down on a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in honour of Cain Velasquez’s amazing victory over Brock Lesnar this past weekend at UFC 121, thus becoming the new UFC heavyweight champion.
And that’s when I realized the sad truth behind my initial concerns with regards to Lesnar.
When I was a young boy growing up in the 1980’s landscape of Ontario, Canada, I fell in love with a little sport called “hockey.”
Maybe you’ve heard of it?
Truth be told—I never actually played hockey on anything more than a backyard ice rink with the neighbourhood kids, but I sure loved to watch it on the television, and at the local sports arena.
I especially enjoyed the fighting.
Who wouldn’t?
After all, how many other sports out there could boldly claim that they actually condoned and encouraged fist fighting between its athletes?
Not very many.
In fact, one of the greatest and most influential hockey fights from that era ended up being between two fearless heavyweights named John Kordic (Montreal Canadians) and Jay Miller (Boston Bruins).
I had witnessed many hockey fights up to that point in my youth, but these warriors left a permanent impression on me that still lasts to this day—never give up, and never back down.
Imagine, two very large men standing toe-to-toe, relentlessly trading bare-knuckle punches square into the other man’s face for what seemed like an eternity of punishment.
Punch after punch after punch—these men were both violent and fearless.
It was awesome!
But not all hockey fights ended up that way.
No-Sir-Ree-Bob.
Some men felt so intimidated and over-matched by their adversary, that they actually curled up on the ice in a fetal position—head tucked between their knees, with their arms covered up over their head and face area.
Sound familiar?
They called this defensive strategy—the “Turtle” and it was (and is) a sacrilege to the great sport of hockey, and to the fighting culture that I grew up with.
There’s nothing to respect about the “Turtle,” because it ultimately demonstrates a man’s true character—his cowardice.
I have always been a Brock Lesnar supporter and I have the articles to prove it (I wouldn’t go so far as the call myself a “fan” though), but I have to admit—that all changed the moment that Lesnar displayed his horrific defensive skills against Shane Carwin at UFC 116.
It was during that fight when I realized that Lesnar just wasn’t the fighter that I had initially given him the credit for being.
I had sincerely hoped that when Lesnar ran away and cringed in fear against the side of the cage against Carwin, that it was a completely isolated incident.
Velasquez then proved otherwise, and I was forced to admit my own state of denial.
It would be difficult for anyone to be successful in combat sports without proper defensive skills, but with Lesnar, the issue appears to be much greater than that.
The problem isn’t just with Lesnar’s inexperience or his inability to counter back at his opponents while he’s being attacked.
The problem lies in his instincts—his reaction to getting hit.
Lesnar simply couldn’t run and hide fast enough, and that, fight fans, is completely unacceptable behaviour from a man claiming to be the “Baddest Man on the Planet.”
Incredibly, the “Viking Warrior” isn’t the unstoppable Dungeons & Dragons fantasy character that we all imagined him to be.
Instead, he’s just an over-sized athlete who doesn’t like to get punched in the face.
[This ain’t the WWE!]
Sorry, but Lesnar doesn’t deserve to be the UFC Champion and looking back on what we now know about him—he likely never did.
I imagine that Lesnar will still have a pretty decent MMA career in front of him, but unfortunately, while he’s resolved to bullying the gatekeepers with his size, speed, and strength—the real fighters will be duking it out Kordic-Miller style in the centre of the cage.
Think—Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos.
Now that’s gonna be an epic fight!
Sorry Brock, but I won’t miss your arrogance, your awkward fighting style, your telegraphed takedown attempts, your “unnaturally” large muscles, your constant need to refer to yourself in the third person, or the media’s ridiculous fascination with you.
Hey Brock! Why don’t you and the media do us all a favour and get a frickin’ room already?!
Personally—I’m all Brock’d out.
Go Leafs!
.
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James, nicely done here. I would, however, disagree in your comparison and not label Brock Lesnar a coward. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the hate for someone who is definitely not the most over-the-top character to grace the octagon canvas. He has, by far, more balls than any one of us here discussing the matter for actually doing what all of us just talk about. I think that in the beginning Brock might have brought this unnecessary hate on himself, however in the last year he’s done nothing to justify it, again, my opinion. As he said in his post fight interview, Cain was just the better fighter and a tough, TOUGH opponent. According to some top 10 world numbers, Cain is the toughest possible opponent for Lesnar right now. I’m going to walk away from last Saturday’s fight with the impression that Brock has a lot to learn in the way of MMA, something I’ve always thought and not sure why anyone else would have thought differently (Joe Rogan )
Thanks Guru. I suppose I find it a bit humorous that Brock would label himself as the “Baddest Man on the Planet” and then run and hide.
I don’t think I would have been so hard on him, were he not so full of himself.
When Brock fought a washed up Heath Herring and he landed the punch that Heath (very much on purpose) rolled over his shoulder to better position himself is when this all began. All the WWE fans came out of the woodwork and said he hit him so hard he flipped him over. Everytime Brock fights someone and they land a big punch he pulls his head back in his shell and calls it quits. The same thing happened with Carwin only Shane didnt have the gas tank to finish him and Brocks arm triangle was impressive. But he is going to have to face the fact that this isnt smaller training partners that dont hit back its MMA these guys want blood. I think James hit the nail on the head with this one Brocks reverse cartwheel while running backwards to avoid being punched anymore while defending his belt was a little soft IMO.
I hear ya dude, I totally see where you’re coming from. I just decided a long time ago to ignore out of ring shit because it just made me hate people unmerited. Like Randy Couture, okay, so there’s a big fight scene here in Utah obviously with Jeremy Horn and his gym and Matt Hughes and on and on. So, I know and associate with lots of guys who fight out of Utah but pro around the country. For the longest time between Mrs. Couture 2 and Mrs. Couture 3 the guys would come back from events whee he cornered or fought at that they fought at and talk about what a pimp he was at the club and la la la and then you’d see the UFC show his family in the crowd still cheering him on at every fight up until Mrs. Couture 3. Well, for all the amazing things people thought about Randy Couture I thought he was complete trash personally. That’s when I decided I had to separate personality from fighter, as hard as it is in some cases (Frank Shamrock v. Bas Rutten anyone?) So I get it, I really do, but I don’t think I’ll find myself being quite as judgmental toward things said rather than things done. BJ Penn can talk all the shit he wants but until he does a Paul Daley in the ring, he’s cool in my book – fighters can’t be role models just like athletes can’t be either. Luckily for most, we don’t see what most athletes are like in reality because we only see them on the field/court/rink. Man, I didn’t think I’d be saying this in such a random situation, but again James, thank you for the article!
My husband, who is a recent convert to MMA, remarked on the pure look of terror on Lesnar’s face as he cowered after falling. He was right in stating that he has seen blank expressions, looks of surprise and other looks of fierce determination, in the fights we have watched together, but never, never such a look of pure fear and panic. Brock was scared!
I think if Lesnar had been a bit more of a gentleman and behaved with respect to others in the MMA industry throughout his tenure in the UFC, he would have gotten more respect from pro’s in MMA – writers, fans and fighters included. As it is, his arrogant manner, rude behavior, nasty remarks before/during/after a win, unsportsmanlike behavior, and talk about laying on his wife, all but ruined any chance he had for respect in my mind and the mind of many others.
Brock should have been able to take Cain’s punches because they’re in the same weight class, and he supposedly is the “Baddest Man on the Planet.” Shane all but annihilated him, and Cain actually did….and each time, all he could do was duck and cover. If that’s how the baddest man on the planet fights, I’d hate to see how the 2nd baddest man on the planet handles himself, ’cause that was SAD!
I’ll admit, the term “coward” is a pretty tough word. A lot of people don’t like it.
Do I really think that Lesnar is a coward? Probably about as much as I think he’s the ‘Baddest man on the planet’ – probably somewhere half-way in between.
One thing is for certain though, I have lost all respect for Lesnar as a fighter. The guy can dish it out, but he can’t take it.
Good read James,
However, I don’t think Brock is a coward.
The mere fact that he actually sets foot in the Octagon to compete is proof that he is not.
I just think he went into panic mode when he saw that Cain would get right back up as soon as he was taken down and that he greatly underestimated the power behind the punches of his smaller opponent.
Worst off, Cain used a single leg to take HIM down rather easily. That is where all hope was lost for the big guy and I think he mentally checked out of the fight at that exact moment.
I am not a huge Brock fan, but I must admit that I actually bought into all the hype and thought he would run right through Cain.
I am extremely disappointed in myself because I thought I had learned in 1993 that skill and technique usually beats size and strength… and lord knows Cain had plenty of all of these ingredients!
Here’s looking forward to Cain vs Junior and…. dare I say it…. Mir vs Lesnar III
Cheers!
DannyBoy
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Lesnar is the ebodiment of ameriKKKa. Like AmeriKKKa, lesnar looks great beating up the afghanistans of the UFC and threatening the Iraqs or North Koreas of the UFC. But then, one day, a real foe – let’s call him “China” Velasquez – steps up and lesnar steps down.
Lesnar is another american wrestler who talks a big game but lacks gonads. Phony tough guys who act tough around 180-lb freshmen but soil their panties when staring at someone who really CAN go and who really CAN fight back.