Brock Lesnar is a God ... in Minnestota.
It's impossible to explain the unbelievable (and deafening) reception that Lesnar received last night from the hometown crowd that packed the Target Center to watch him take on Heath Herring at UFC 87: "Seek and Destroy."
We were seated in section 100 and could not hear anything besides the roar of the crowd, which totally drowned out the voice of Bruce Buffer during the pre-fight introductions. In fact, my ears were ringing well after the lights came down to signal the end of the show.
To his credit Lesnar did an amazing job of whipping the crowd into a frenzy, hoisting his massive limbs in the air if he wanted to raise the volume inside the venue, throwing gloves and shirts into the stands and hijacking the microphone to deliver a dramatic speech.
Last night demonstrated the reason UFC President Dana White opened his checkbook to an unproven -- albeit promising -- former WWE star and NFL dropout. Lesnar has a rare mix of magnetic starpower/appeal and raw potential that is very likely unrivaled in the sport.
In short, what he lacks in mixed martial arts experience he more than makes up for with his charisma. He had the Target Center and everyone inside it eating from the palms of his 4XL mitts.
Lesnar went a bit far with the antics at the end of the fight, pretending to ride Herring like he was about to lasso a bull, which of course was in response to Herring's prefight remarks that it wasn't his "first rodeo."
Regardless, Lesnar is an absolute lightning rod who will no doubt continue to be a huge draw, whether it's because he's evolving into a heel or just because people can't look the other way.
We can see you, Brock. And if last night is any indication we will be seeing a lot more of you sooner rather than later.