Brock Lesnar Retires

Is Brock Lesnar retired, for real?

“This is the last time you’ll see me in the octagon,” said Lesnar after his bout with Alistair Overeem, which ended with a vicious kick to the liver in the first round in Las Vegas.

So it sounds like he is.

As a fighter, Brock has displayed moments of classlessness and childish behavior. He has disrespected opponents, laughed in their faces and flipped off UFC crowds. He is brash, cocky and appears confident. He has described himself as a tough son of a bitch. But on Friday night, for the second consecutive fight, he found himself being brutalized by an opponent he declared to the world he would beat. When asked about fear before his fight against Alistair, Brock said, “I don’t think I know what that is. I’ve been pretty fearless. I look at my son now who is two years old, and he has the same traits as I have, fearlessness. I have never feared a man.”

Nothing breeds fearlessness, like a man coining himself, as fearless.

Brock Lesnar is a bully. He is a man who claims Minnesota – although he was actually born and raised in South Dakota. He self admittedly graduated last in his class of 54 students in his hometown of Webster. Who knows how he made it through college at the University of Minnesota. Maybe he had a passion for the classroom we have yet to recognize. Right. He has wrestled professionally worldwide and has even tried out to be a Minnesota Viking (a venture that led to him being pushed around by NFL lineman and eventually, cut by the team).  

Brock has no problem standing over someone he is physically superior to. On SportsNation, he bullied Colin Cowherd into a corner and wouldn’t stop chirping in Colin’s ear (albeit, later is was revealed as a joke on Colin). Brock rubbed his victory in the face of his opponents Shane Carwin and most notably Frank Mir, when he got into a post fight skirmish. Now, after only 8 fights, and calling himself the best heavyweight in the world, he quits. He calls it. He says his days are over. He’s the bully on the playground who got put in his place, and never messed with anyone again.

Brock Lesnar is a self glamorized star. He is a great fighter, because he said he is a great fighter. When he smells blood, he fires through opponents in a way we have never seen a man fire through another man. But when that blood is his own, kiss adversity goodbye. Great fighters, legends of the sport like Royce Gracie, Don Frye and Ken Shamrock have found themselves bullied and beaten, only to come out the other end victorious champions of their sport. They have endured countless battles, and persevered through it all. Brock never did that.  

I have some sympathy for Brock. I wonder if he is a man, trapped in a body that he never wanted – that he is burdened with pressures of athletics as his only way to success. He displays nanoseconds of humbleness, humility and respect. He has an unbelievable work ethic and sculpts his body into a true fortress. He understands entertainment. He almost looks like a prisoner to the entertainment world. He doesn’t believe everything he says, but he knows he has to say it. As a fighter, and as an entertainer, he has to say it. The stronger the words and the cockier the personality, the larger the fighting purses grow. He doesn’t seem like a guy who ever wanted to enter the octagon. He is perfectly comfortable being the king of the hill, but who isn’t? Once he got knocked off, he didn’t have the resolve to climb back up. He also battled more than just world class fighters. He battled a disease that almost stole his life. He had sections of his colon removed and was rendered powerless against something less than a man – a disease.

If he has indeed, fought in the UFC for the final time, Brock’s career will be a more of a short story picture book than it will be a novel. That is, if we are willing to even call it a “career” at all. Brock fought 8 times in the UFC, registering a career record just over .500 at 5-3. Brock has stated in the past, “I’ve never had the chance to fight Joe Schmo and Tommy Tuna Can,” and he had fought the UFC’s top competition. He hasn’t had the chance to pad his record. Although this is fair, I guess, Brock had faced an old Randy Couture, a Heath Herring who hasn’t fought since Brock, and a Shane Carwin who arguably had already won their fight, if not without the assistance of a referee.

After losing to Alistair, he found another way to make it his platform as he stole the thunder, announcing his retirement. Maybe Brock Lesnar is a hero. Maybe not. Maybe he is a folklore character, similar to the likes of Paul Bunyan, who is more story than truth. Probably more true. He placed an imprint on the MMA world, probably more of an impact than he truly deserved. This is the way I feel he will be remembered:

He will be remembered for controversy he sparked and a mouth he ran. 

TROY KLONGERBO