Brock’s a cock? What a shock

Is Brock Lesnar good for MMA? Until last night’s embarrassing performance at UFC 100 I’d have said yes, unequivocally. He’s an inhuman physical specimen with the potential to dominate the UFC heavyweight division for years. He’s also great at playing the villain, something the UFC has been lacking now that Tim Sylvia isn’t around to boo. Every sport needs its Darth Vader, whether it’s John McEnroe or the New York Yankees. In effect, Lesnar brings attention to the sport, and that’s a good thing. Except when it isn’t.

Last night Lesnar defeated Frank Mir to avenge his first (and only) UFC loss and unify the heavyweight belt with one blow. Actually, with 17 blows, which is how many Lesnar landed on the downed and bloodied Mir in the second round before referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the beating.

Then, Lesnar, who is a surly individual at the best of times, showed just what kind of champion he is. He encouraged the booing crowd at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas – Lesnar may be the least popular champion in professional sports, harkening back to classic sports assholes like Ty Cobb – and flipped them a twin-bird salute. He taunted Mir, who was still trying to figure out where he was, and snarled and drooled into the camera in Diego Sanchez-like fashion. Then he took a shot at the UFC’s primary sponsor – standing on a giant Bud Light ad in the centre of the Octagon, Lesnar told Joe Rogan he was going to go out and down a few Coors Light because Bud Light won’t pay him any money. He closed out his remarks by saying he’d probably end his celebration by climbing on top of his wife (perhaps to re-enact his mauling victory minus the punches, although it’s best not to even think about that):

“Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him that a year ago. I pulled it out of him and beat him over the head with it. [Now] I’m going to drink a Coors Light. That’s right a Coors. Bud Light don’t pay me nothing. I want to say Hi to my family and friends and, hell, I may even get on top of my wife tonight.”

A gracious winner Brock Lesnar is not.

Lesnar did apologize at the post-fight press conference – he comes across as a dumb high school jock and not the champion of one of the biggest sports organizations in the world. I was hoping UFC president Dana White would smack that sheepish shit-eating grin right off his Easter Island head.

White clearly was pissed about what happened. “I was blown away,” White said. “I don’t think in the history of the UFC we’ve had anybody do that. It’s not who we are, and, to be honest, it’s not who he is. You hang with these guys personally, and you get to know them. If he was a dick, I’d tell you right now this guy is a psycho and I don’t know what I’m going to do with him. He’s not. He’s a smart guy. The sponsorship thing was the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

That’s right, Dana, the sponsorship is what’s important, forget his flipping off the fans who actually pay to see these fights, his taunting of Mir (isn’t beating him to a pulp enough?), his peek inside his sex life, and the rest of the tasteless World Wrestling Entertainment antics that the meat monkey engaged in. It’s the sponsors you should be worried about.

White said he confronted the former WWE star in his dressing room after he left the Octagon. “Brock went so far over the top, I can’t even put it into words,” White said. “WWE – that’s what it is. We had a talk. We talked like men, and he said he was sorry. He said, ‘I’m embarrassed by what I said.’ I take his word for it this time.”

Lesnar’s sorry. Doesn’t matter. The damage is done. This is not the image the UFC should be trying to foster. If White wants the UFC to be taken seriously as a sport, to gain greater mainstream acceptance, this kind of behaviour – immature, unprofessional, just plain ass-headed – cannot be allowed to happen. Lesnar should be censured in some way, have part of his $400,000 payday reclaimed, send him to a Miss Manners re-education camp. MMA doesn’t need this kind of attention.Thank god for Georges St. Pierre. He could teach Lesnar a thing or two about being a champion.

Here’s what heavyweight contender Shane Carwin wrote on his blog after the fight:

I cannot say I was surprised by anything that night other then Brock’s reaction to beating a very tough Frank Mir. Frank is a legend and a great guy who got out powered not out classed. The sponsor issue, you need to talk to your manager not the fans or Dana.

The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a Champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a Champion. The fans are why we do this Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama it is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did last night. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you can’t earn your peers respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. We have no scripts in this sport, no pre-determined earning amount and no pre-determined outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you win or loose it matters how you win or loose.

Every autograph I give, every hand I shake I am thankful that you give me the opportunity to be a part of your world. This is the greatest sport in the world and most of the athletes in it deserve the love and respect they get and some just don’t get it.