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Brock Lesnar had a memorable UFC career. In a few short years, Lesnar reached unimaginable heights in a sport he hadn’t competed very long in. Lesnar became the biggest pay-per-view draw for the UFC at the time and ascended to the top of the UFC heavyweight division.
Obviously, Lesnar’s name opened doors for him, but it was his ability that led him to success.
Prior to his transition to MMA, Lesnar had a decorated amateur wrestling background. He's a former NCAA Division I heavyweight champion wrestler from the University of Minnesota. Following his success in collegiate wrestling, Lesnar signed with WWE and quickly became one of their biggest stars.
Many questioned whether Lesnar would be successful in the UFC. He had only one professional MMA bout to his name, but made the most of his opportunity and ended up proving the naysayers wrong. This list will look at the top 5 Brock Lesnar UFC moments.
#5. Brock Lesnar confronts Daniel Cormier – UFC 226
UFC 226 was a historic event for the promotion. The main event was a superfight between then UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and then-UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Prior to the event, there were rumors that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar would be challenging the winner.
With the idea of a lucrative fight with Lesnar possibly awaiting the winner, it looked like Cormier was extra motivated. Cormier defeated Miocic to become a two-division UFC champion and then proceeded to call Lesnar into the octagon.
Lesnar entered the octagon and immediately shoved Cormier and the two exchanged words. He mentioned that he wasn’t impressed with the heavyweight performances that night while Cormier stated that he’d put Lesnar to sleep.
It looked like it was straight out of an episode of WWE SmackDown, with the two eventually being separated. The post-fight confrontation clearly worked as it trended online and became just as big a story as Cormier’s historic win.
#4. Lesnar makes his UFC debut – UFC 81
To say Brock Lesnar was thrown into the deep end to start his MMA career is an understatement.
Lesnar, whose MMA record was 1-0, was matched up with former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in his first fight. Usually, it's common for promotions to match up their new signings against fighters with similar records. Clearly, that wasn't the case for Lesnar, who needed to learn quickly if he wanted to be prepared for Mir.
The big question in the leadup to that fight was whether Lesnar was for real and if he could truly fight. Not only did Lesnar prove the doubters wrong, but he showed why he should be taken seriously. He took Mir down less than 10 seconds into the bout. He then dropped Mir with a right-hand and swarmed him on the ground.
Lesnar looked like he was closing in on a TKO win. However, he left himself vulnerable for a submission and Mir took advantage. Mir defeated Lesnar with a kneebar at 1:30 in the first round.
#3. Lesnar becomes UFC heavyweight champion – UFC 91
After defeating Heath Herring in his second UFC bout, Lesnar earned a title shot against then-UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture. At the time, it seemed odd that Lesnar received the title shot with a 2-1 record. However, the UFC knew what they had and capitalized on his popularity.
Lesnar took advantage of the opportunity and defeated Couture by second-round TKO. With only four pro fights, Lesnar was already UFC heavyweight champion, which was unheard of, especially after defeating a legend like Couture. UFC 91 did very well on pay-per-view and generated 1,010,000 buys.
'The Beast' was now the man to beat at heavyweight and found himself with a few interesting possibilities. One of those was a potential fight against Fedor Emelianenko, but the clash unfortunately could not be set up.
#2. Lesnar submits Shane Carwin – UFC 116
Another memorable Brock Lesnar UFC moment took place at UFC 116, when he submitted Shane Carwin. UFC 116 was billed as ‘The Biggest Heavyweight Battle in History!’
UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar had been out of action recovering from diverticulitis at the time. With Lesnar out of action, the UFC scheduled an interim-UFC heavyweight championship bout between Carwin and Frank Mir, which Carwin won.
Carwin didn’t waste any time and immediately took the fight to Lesnar. He dropped the heavyweight champion with powerful strikes and continued his onslaught on the ground. It could be argued that the referee should’ve stopped the fight with the amount of strikes Carwin landed. However, Lesnar made it past the first round and it looked like Carwin exerted too much energy trying to finish the champion.
Lesnar came out in the second round, took Carwin down easily and then submitted him with an arm-triangle. The submission capped off an incredible comeback win for the UFC heavyweight champion.
#1. Lesnar closes a historic event – UFC 100
UFC 100 was a milestone for the UFC and saw Lesnar defend his UFC heavyweight championship against Frank Mir. There was animosity between the two and Mir putting out spoof videos online about the former WWE superstar only intensified things. Unlike his UFC debut, Lesnar picked up a TKO win in the rematch after some vicious ground-and-pound.
Lesnar was intense after the win and riled up the crowd in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. After getting in Mir’s face and exchanging words, he played up to the crowd’s negative reaction. It looked like Lesnar went back to his WWE roots by coming across as the ultimate heel.
UFC 100 did very well on pay-per-view. The event generated 1.6 million buys, which was the most during Lesnar’s tenure and set a record for the promotion at the time.
