Can Lesnar Save the UFC Heavyweight title?
It appears that Randy Couture will be gone until Dana White either allows co-ownership of Fedor or stops thinking that repeating the phrase “do you want to be a f**king fighter” has some sort of monetary value. This means a huge burden lies on the shoulders of former WWE heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. He has to be the saviour of the worst weight class in the UFC: The Heavyweight division.
The Heavyweight title is suffering in a number of ways. Most importantly, there is clearly a lack of legitimacy in the title as long as Fedor is not in the UFC. Secondly, the other weight classes have been completely on fire. Then, there was so much stock put in the success of Krokop that it completely back fired once he stunk up the octagon, to a level that nobody could have imagined. The most important factor is that without Randy Couture, there are no easily identifiable “good guys” and “bad guys”. Whether everybody likes it or not, UFC as much as it is entirely different from the “Sports Entertainment” genre, needs the entertainment aspect to its sport. . Rivalries are built up through the Ultimate Fighter reality show and the biggest fights tend to be centred round intense personal rivalries. Randy Couture was clearly an easily identifiable “good guy”, and that’s what made the title interesting, there was a compelling element to his fights and that went a long way to cementing UFC into the public psyche.
Brock Lesnar has survived in a climate where entertainment is the name of the game, that is what he can offer the UFC. He is the ultimate bad guy, at a landmark period for UFC where they are really beginning to establish themselves as an important sport, having a former WWE wrestler undoubtedly brings attention. If Lesnar appears unstoppable then a compelling storyline exists: Who is going to be the first pure MMA fighter to beat the WWE wrestler with the cheek to step in the octagon.
However, if Lesnar loses his first fight then another storyline exists: Can the former WWE wrestler cut it in the UFC? It has been so long since he has competed in a sport. He won the 2000 NCAA championship, but that was 8 long years ago. Since then his arrogance has been the undoing of him, as seen when he tried out for the Minnesota Vikings, failed and then refused to go to NFL Europe. Lesnar envisages himself as an unstoppable machine who can dominate any sporting situation he has been put in. This resulted in him throwing a huff with the NFL and quitting, when he is put up against legitimate MMA opponents, will he do the same?
Lesnar has to prove himself now. But can anyone prove themselves in the tired Heavyweight division of UFC. The one blemish on the Rocky-esque story of Randy Couture is that he never fought the huge fight; nobody fought him who deserved to be in the ring with him. The UFC has a chance now to revitalise the heavyweight division if Lesnar steamrolls through. If Lesnar ground and pounds his way through the division, and UFC could persuade Randy Couture to return then the ultimate story is created. The young upstart pro wrestler is wrestling his way to the top of MMA; Randy can then come in as the defender of the values of MMA, a complete fighter with Olympic wrestling experience ready to teach him a lesson.
The heavyweight division is the only weight class with the potential for David v. Goliath encounters. There is a possibility for a 60 pound gulf between competitors. That is why the Couture story captured the imagination of UFC fans everywhere and beyond. The light-heavyweight class is clearly bottle-necking and a number of fighters must find the idea of coming up a class and having the opportunity to inject some dynamism into the lethargy of the heavyweights an appealing prospect. UFC must offer more incentives to that. If Griffin loses v. Rampage I doubt he would reject the opportunity to knock the heavyweight champion off his pedestal and fight for his mentor Randy Couture. While Chuck Liddell would have the opportunity to further glorify his legacy by matching the achievements of Couture against a heavyweight champion. Houston Alexander would probably get demolished but even he may think that he could be one punch away from a lot of money by cultivating his fight anyone-anywhere-anytime with a punchers chance image.
If they don’t have that option, they will have to resort to manufacturing rivalries through the Ultimate Fighter. Imagine the Ultimate Fighter 9: LESNAR V. SYLVIA. Where two guys with no personalities teach the new breed of heavyweights how to lie on top and grind out a victory. I smell ratings. Or Ken Shamrock could come back to the octagon for the 800th time despite being well past his sell by date and fight Lesnar in the “battle of the MMA pro wrestlers”, with interference by a chair shot from Tank Abbot and a fast ref count.
