Why Fans Hate Brock Lesnar Reason Number 657

With his dominating victory over Frank Mir at UFC 100, Brock Lesnar not only avenged his only loss in his short MMA career, but further cemented himself as not only a bona fide MMAist, but also a legitimate champion.

However, many MMA fans *still* seek (and find) ways to disrespect, or simply not like, Lesnar as an MMA fighter.

Some say he hasn’t beaten decent competition yet, claiming that Herring is now nothing more than a journeyman wrestler, that Randy was severely outclassed (and that he’s too old), and that Mir wasn’t even the ‘true’ champion, but just an interim champion. Personally, I think most of these arguments are stupid, but hey.

Others don’t like Lesnar because they say he’s too cheeky, disrespectful, mean, etc. -that he’s not just playing a “heel” type of character, but he really is a jerk. (These are not my feelings, I’m just conveying what others seem to feel.) If that’s what you think of Brock, then you’re more than likely a relatively new(er) fan of MMA. I say this because if you’ve been watching the UFC since the SEG era, then you know that Brock hasn’t said or done anything worse than Tank Abbot did, or that Tito Ortiz (back when he was a champion) ever put on a jersey.

However, others dislike Lesnar due to his time spent in professional wrestling. Which I never really understood because so many other MMAists have spent time in the wrestling ring/industry including Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, Don Frye, Dan Severn, Fujita, Kazushi Sakuraba, Frank Trigg, Bobby Lashley, Tank Abbot and many. others.

Then there’s the tattoo on Brock’s chest. No discussion necessary.

While you may not agree with most of the above, I can understand where people are coming from. I don’t share the same view(s), but I “get it”.

However, there is one major criticism of Brock that I just don’t “get”.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it said (usually on a forum somewhere), that Brock is simply, and I’m paraphrasing here, “big, strong, and fit. Not really a good martial man.” artist: he is naturally athletic and a muscular monster.”

Sorry, but that’s just stupid.

First of all, we like to say that professional MMAists are some of the best trained and hardest working athletes in the world. However, when a man who is a natural athlete with loads of God-given potential enters the sport and is immediately successful, do we want to look down on him for it?

Second, it is not easy to become “big and strong.” If it were, the whole world would be big and strong. In fact, if becoming as big and strong as Lesnar wasn’t out of the ordinary, then Brock would be just that: normal.

Let me ramble for a second. Have you ever heard of Mark Robinson? Again, unless you’re a long-time MMA fan, chances are you haven’t. Mark Robinson is a South African powerlifter who won several South African professional strongman and powerlifting contests in the late 1980s. Robinson won the title of World Powerlifting Champion in 1990, and even had a good background in martial arts, he won a South African Judo championship in 1982, several sumo titles, and even won ADCC in 2001. (All information courtesy of http://www.markrobinson.co.za/FrontEnd/Index.aspx)

Why do I mention Robinson? Because Robinson had a very brief stint in the UFC. In fact, it was so brief that it only lasted for one event: UFC 30, where Bobby Hoffman defeated him quite easily.

If being big and strong was such a vital part of being successful in MMA, then Robinson should have had a long and storied career in the UFC. And he didn’t.

Face it people – Brock is a true MMAist, and he is the champion of the UFC. Like it or not.

Is being big and strong a big part of Brock’s arsenal? Of course it is. Only a fool would say that it is not. Then again, only a fool would say it’s the only (or at least the main) reason he’s been so successful from the start.

(It’s funny: when you hear about guys like Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, etc., who are known for their superhuman conditioning, no one puts them down by saying that all they do is wear down their opponents and let their conditioning take over. Without However, when Brock uses superior strength to help subdue an opponent, it’s almost like he’s cheating).

I think everyone could take a lesson or two from Brock and work on getting big and strong. That doesn’t mean you have to be 265 pounds. monster as he is, but there’s nothing wrong with putting on a few pounds of muscle (replacing a few pounds of fat) and getting as strong as you can for your size, right? As long as he keeps his skills, conditioning, stamina, etc., in check, doesn’t that mean he just has another tool he can use to win? sounds familiar

What kind of program should you use to get big and strong? For an MMAist, a simple program is best. 2-3 times a week is good: compound exercises, variable intensity. You have to make sure you leave enough in your gas tank for skill work, drilling, combat, conditioning, and endurance work (although the last two can be incorporated with your strength work if you know what you’re doing).

A good, simple workout might look like this: Day 1 – OH Press – 3×5, Chins x 50 total reps, Deadlift 3×5. Day 2 – Bench Press – 3×5, Rows – 4×6, Squats – 3×5. Figure out how much weight you could use for 5 reps on each exercise and subtract 20-30%. Start with that and add weight every workout. Every 4 weeks, reduce the weights by 50% as a kickback/dump week.

That simple workout could keep you as strong as you need to be for quite some time. There are a number of things that you could change/add to the training, but it would need to be done in conjunction with your overall program design, to ensure that you are developing a good and comprehensive overall program.