The Brock Lesnar Appreciation Thread. Does he have the highest-quality resume in MMA?

I don't like the guy, but I can't see how anyone can hate on him. He has TONS of heart and balls, he brings the excitement, and he comes to fight every time out. He's always looking for the stoppage.

8 fights in MMA, and his resume has the names Herring, Couture, Mir x2, Carwin, Velasquez and Overeem on it. That would be damned impressive even if he wasn't already 30 when he made his debut. Even MORE impressive when you consider that he came down with a potentially life-threatening illness TWICE during his 4 year career, and came back both times. That's ****ing ridiculous.

Sure some aspects of his technique are subpar.

Sure he does not react well to getting punched in the face. He doesn't have the experience to handle that well, simple as that.

But the guy soaks up a beating and fights back. Carwin was KOing everybody until he ran into Brock. He had Lesnar in HUGE trouble, but Lesnar hung tough, soaked up all Carwin's punches, and came back to stop him and ruin his undefeated record.

He may very well get splattered across the cage by Overeem. But I give him all the credit for even taking the fight. The guy is rich enough that he could have said "I don't need this. Not only did I give it a go, I was the champ. Then I got REALLY ****ing sick and I'm never going to be at full strength again, so **** it, I'll walk away."

But instead Brock challenges himself, again. He puts himself right out there, he goes above and beyond, and half of you "MMA fans" **** all over him. He could have taken the easy road and made millions off his name, without fighting anyone really dangerous. Instead he's facing prime Frank Mir in his SECOND PRO FIGHT. He loses the title to Velasquez and signs to fight JDS. Then he gets really sick again, has major surgery, and comes back against Overeem.

Those of you who hate on Brock, seriously, what more could the guy have done to earn your respect?

Should he have taken bigger fights against tougher opponents?

Should he have overcome more obstacles and kept going?

I think he has gone far above and beyond what we expected of him. And I am more than happy to give him a lot of credit for that. If Overeem knocks him out in 30 seconds, I won't laugh or make fun of him. He's turned me from a hater into a fan because frankly, he has earned my respect MANY times over. And all the haters can **** off. :good

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At first I couldn't stand him. He won me over by taking the tough fights and perservering through hardship.

What more could he have done to earn your respect?

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I don't mean deepest resume, I mean % of tough fights. What gimme fights does Brock have? Every fight, he is facing someone who is experienced and dangerous, and at the top of the division. His resume could be full of Cheik Kongos and Roy Nelsons and Matt Minitrones and he still would have made millions, but instead it's full of names like Velasquez, Mir and Overeem. His greatest weakness is against strikers, but he signed to fight JDS, probably the best striker in the heavyweight division. That fight fell through because Brock had to have 12 inches of intestine removed, so who does he come back against? A soft touch with no striking who he can overpower on the ground? No, Alistair ****ing Overeem. Whatever anyone says about Brock, nobody can say that he doesn't accept the toughest challenges out there.

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His name and drawing power is hardly relevant to his quality of opposition, except for putting him in a position where he was able to get those fights signed. The vast majority of the people who bought the PPVs he headlined bought them for Lesnar and Lesnar alone. They didn't give a **** about Mir or Carwin or Velasquez, most of them would have never seen those guys fight before. They would have bought Lesnar vs Nelson or Mitrione in huge numbers as well.

It's the best that I can think of. His resume gets my respect by itself. Add in the fact that he suffered incredibly serious illness TWICE and came back, that gets even more respect. And the fact that he had the determination to came back from such serious illness twice, and his first fights back were Velasquez and Overeem, well I just can't see how anyone can seriously talk **** on the guy.

But he's never experienced being hit in the face in his entire life until he became a professional MMA fighter at age 30, so he isn't used to it and he doesn't react well to it. That's just not enough for me to pour **** all over him.

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Yeah, he is. But he is also a real fighter. He's a true warrior, simple as that. He challenges himself, he'll fight anybody, he's seriously committed to the sport and there has never been a Brock Lesnar fight where the crowd didn't leave the arena buzzing with excitement about what they had just seen. I can't ask for him to tick any more boxes.

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