Brock Sapp, Meet Bob Lesnar

I won't deny the similarities. Both men are beasts, and would be formidable on this facet alone. Both look way less comfortable dishing it out than taking it. It takes guts just to get into an mma bout, but these guys have never exhibited anything close to being described as "courage under fire."

This is where the similarities end. Lesnar has national level wrestling skills. Lesnar does not wilt nearly as easily as Sapp. Lesnar has high profile wins on his resume.

Cro Cop came to the UFC touted by many to be the uncrowned champion. Cro Cop carried a 5 fight win streak, and was only 7 months after his victory over Barnett, when he faced Gonzaga. Gonzaga knocked Filipovic the **** out. Then Cro Cop lost to Kongo, which has to do something to elevate Kongo's status.

Gonzaga goes on to get dominated by Couture. This was just after Couture dominated Tim Sylvia to win the UFC title.

Herring defeats Kongo, which has to at least keep him relevant.

Lesnar dominates Herring. Lesnar, fair or not, gets what is called a "title shot" against Couture. Lesnar beats Couture. Whether or not Lesnar deserved his shot, he has still beaten Randy and overtaken whatever ranking he would have deserved at that time. Lesnar then avenges his loss against Mir. Mir was coming off a win over Nogueira. Lesnar beats undefeated challenger, Shane Carwin. Lesnar accomplished a lot more in 4 fights than Sapp has done in 18.

 

He's done well I'd say, he uses what he has size, strenth and athleticism actual fighting skill might not be the best but he's done better than I expected of him and he might improve more and actually be a real beast in the cage, Sapp had only size and got winded after 20 seconds a child could KO him if he is quick enough to run the first 20...

 

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That would have been AMAZING if Brock would have finished that spin off with a huge right uppercut to the oncoming Cain.

 

We don't have to be talking MMA with Sapp to make the comparison though.

If we compair Lesnar's MMA career to Sapp's K1 career and they are starting to look pretty dam similar. These days of course Sapp is a joke who's been cashing a check for years but back in the early 00's he was clearly a serious threat to quality K1 fighters. I'd argue that if anything Sapp's hype was a bit more honest given that he really was facing the best where as Randy and Mir's level was much more questionable(Hoost went on to win the GP, Randy and Mir havent done much).

We all know the OP is bias as hell agenst the UFC but that doesnt stop alot of what he posted being correct. No Lesnar isnt a total joke but like Sapp he's starting to look like he was hyped well beyond his abilties and has clear holes in his game that are likely to be increasingly exploited in the future.

That Sherdog shows clear bias to the UFC is also now IMHO beyond doubt, Lesnar should not have been ranked #1 before facing Carwin(or argeubley afterwards given the performance) and no way in hell should he be ranked #2 now.

 

How about an elbow?

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Looks like an elbow to me, unless Brocks stand up is so bad that he keeps his fist tucked to his bicep every time he throws a right

 

He does, but we are talking about the difference between an elbow and a punch at this moment aren't we?

 

I'm just joking mate.

 

I liked Brock's Elbow's in the Couture fight. I think he caught Randy with one near the cage before he landed that one too. Threw some nice knee's too in that fight.

I don't think the problem is so much Brock's stand up offence, but his stand up defence.

He just goes into a huge panic when he get's hurt and his brain goes to mush.

 

I'd question how well Sapp would have done at the highest level of MMA post Nog, that fight was an ideal matchup for him even Nogs less than great wrestling. He did clearly show more natural ability as a kickboxer than klesnar ever had though.

Style IMHO has played a big part in both mens careers if you ask me, Sapp was idealy suited to blizing lanky technical guys like Hoost and Abidi but struggled with power punchers like Crocop and Sefo. Brock did well vs guys with questionable wrestling who didnt try to escape the ground in Heath and Mir but much less so agenst guys who could keep it standing.

I wouldnt be supprized if Carwin was Brocks "Crocop" aswell, both Lesnar and Sapp never looked entirely comfortabe fighting right from the start but they both seemed to have that "big guy" confidense of never having come off second best. When both of them took a serious beating though that confidense seemed to drain away, Brock looked much more panicy at the thought of facing standup vs Cain than he had before the same way Sapp started to shy away post face break.