Brock Lesnar will be the focus of an “E: 60” special on ESPN in anticipation of his world title fight against heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 15.
The hour-long episode that includes Lesnar will debut tomorrow (Tuesday, October 21) at 7 p.m. ET.
Lesnar is a high-profile former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar who has transitioned to mixed martial arts. He has three professional bouts to his credit (2-1), two of which were inside the Octagon.
He scored his first UFC win over Heath Herring via unanimous decision at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” in August. Lesnar dropped his UFC debut to Frank Mir at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” earlier this year.
Despite his inexperience and average record, Lesnar was granted a title shot against one of the sport’s most experienced fighters in Couture — a recent UFC Hall of Fame inductee and MMA legend.
It’s a match up that is being billed as, “the biggest fight in the history of the UFC.” The winner of the bout will go on to face the winner of the UFC 92 bout between interim title holder Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Frank Mir to declare an undisputed division champion.
“E: 60” reporter Tom Farrey is the lead on the Lesnar feature, providing a detailed account of his childhood and meteoric rise into the public eye. His successful WWE career and unsuccessful bid to become and NFL player will likely also be integrated into the program.
For those who have never seen an episode of “E: 60” this is definitely the time to check it out — these are often very well done. The network knocked the MMA-related segments on Lee Murray, Gina Carano and Kimbo Slice out of the park in the past.
So do your best to tune in to ESPN tomorrow (Tuesday, October 21) at 7 p.m. ET.
70 Comments »
that card still sucks other than the main event.. we need to see nate diaz and huerta in this fight
Speaking of… What’s going on with Huerta ? Haven’t heard much about him since his lost to Kenny.
I think Diaz has an exclusive contract with spike for fight nights. I read somewhere they paid him extra to headline and fight on spike only for awhile…mania??? any link??
I believe you are correct Kevin
hey guys, what do you think of this match up. Bisping/sakara.
To me it’s a good match up for Bisping to show off what kind of ground game he has. Sakara (who I really like) is a great Boxer, a bigger guy that moved down, and would be a good test for Bisping!
Why in the world would you want that match up? He gets ridiculed for not fighting good enough competition and you want to give him another easy win and a step down from Leben. That makes no sense to me. What makes more sense to me is the winner of Quarry/Maia or Marquardt. It is time for him to step up. He just put on a great preformance in a main event. I would’t even want to see Bisbing/Sakara on the undercard of a UFN.
marquardt would really beat bisping him up..
I love it !
I think sakara is a better boxer than bisping, so it would give us an idea of his ground game. sakara is a lhw that moved down too. just a though bro!
Leben already KO’d Sakara and Bisping just beat Leben. It would make zero sense in the advancement of Bisping’s career. Howver, this is Bisping we are talking about, so it IS possible, as so is a triligy with Tupperware McCarthy.
Marquardt vs Bisping would be like a red headed man beating down his British step-child. Wait… That’s not how that old expression goes, does it?
Kevin: that is a terrible idea. He just dominated Leben who already Destroyed Sakara. Bisping is ready for some Big Names nOW! He is ready to make that jump in competition. I think he is a great fighter that shows much improvement from 1 fight to the next. He knows he is only a big win or 2 away from a title shot so why in the world would he want to fight Sakara?
I am not even sure we are going to get to see Bisping fight again anytime soon. A rep from spike confirmed that Bisping will coach Team UK on the next TUF season, and he will coach opposite of the winner between Franklin/Hendo match up. Filming starts in January so Bispings next fight will probably be in June,k a week after the TUF Finale of next season’s show.
Bisping vs. the winner of Franklin/Henderson in june.
I hate to admit it, but I am a big fan of the count!
you see guys, the mmamath never works. I said it would be good to see how bispings ground game is. leban KO’ing sakara doesn’t fit into my equation!
LOLOLOL, So instead what you are saying is that Sakara has an above average ground game that can test Bisping??? WHAT??????? That makes even LESS sense.
A turtle is more active and has a higher propability of pulling off a sumbsiion off its back then Sakara is!
Also, when some is one fight away from a title shot, you dont’ give him a fighter ranked 84th in the division. YOu give him a top 5 opponnent.
Sakara is a a step down from Leben (Leben knocked him out)… I like Marquardt or Palhares or Maia… or how about this… Bisping vs former WEC middleweight champion Palho Filho
no it’s not a step down.. your thought process is wrong, Bisping is just too techniqal for Leben and his footwork is too good, but he is not a knockout artist, now Sakara is a better boxer than Bisping technically and def has the power and the movement to knock Bisping out.. so kevin is right! I’ve thought about that matchup many times too.. the only reason Sakara didn’t beat Leben like Bisping did is because he’s an entertainer and likes to exchange too much for his own good..
Rob, this is an argument you can not win! I am the biggest Sakara fan on this site and trust me its a step down. THis isnt boxing or K-1, Bisping can always take Sakara down and dominate if he is loosing the stand up, so Yes it is a big step down! Leben is a tough fighter, Bisping just made him look bad!
Even if Sakara wasn’t a step down (which I think he clearly is), he doesn’t have a big name. Bisping is being widely criticized because he has fought lesser competition that isn’t well known. Now that the winner of Hendo-Franklin is going to be the other TUF coach I don’t see any possibility other than him waiting until after the show for his next fight.
ok john maybe you’re right, but it’d be a good fight and i do agree with kevin.. Sakara would have a much better chance than Leben to take Bisping out on the feet, that’s a fact.. what he needs is to improve his takedown defense and be more selfish like Machida and Bisping. Cause if Sakara would have the same gameplan as those guys do he wouldn’t have many fans but he’d be winning alot of fights..
You must be joking, Suc-kara? Please how the hell is he still in the UFC? how many times must we see this guy get beat up? He ,sucks no matter what weight class.
Gonna have to go to Hooters an hour early to find a seat for this one.
that just means you can look at tail for an hour longer, gotta think positively!
wonder if they’ll bring up the time he got arrested with HGH in his car? Real reporting or interviewers would…hint hint mania, cause I know couture isn’t doing an interview with you guys, so we’ll definitely be reading a lesner interview. Hope it isn’t watered down, if it will be, let me do it, I’ll ask the questions on everyone’s mind!
Is HGH illegal?
when you have no prescription, a box of it and are a wwe wrestler, yes it’s illegal!
yea kevins right about that, idk why you would use that shit though if your muscles are growing your heart has to be doesnt it?
Ahh ok. I just remember Andy Pettite got busted for using it, but nothing happened because he used it back when it was legal or some crap.
He got Busted in 2000, so what, once you stop taking it, you loose most of it anyway. As long as he isnt taking it now that he is a pro fighter who cares. cut the guy some slack. For a new fighter, no one has ever fought better comp then Lesnar so early in his career.
Kev, you gotta let the past go my friend. YOu used to be an alcoholic, does that make you an alki for life? Of course not, so iMO his arrest is water under the bridge. He took it to look bigger in the WWE, who cares?
Now if he tests positive for it in the UFC, than thats a different story.
good point john, I never quite thought of it like that!
thanks for putting it onto perspective for me!
Anyone that thinks that just about every pro-fighter yet alone athlete hasnt taken some type of performance enhancing substance in their entire career is crazy. Everyone is just trying to find reasons not to like Lesnar due to the WWE past. Listen up people he may be green with a lot to learn but he is a real test for anyone in the game right now. I know, I know he is only 1 and 1 in the UFC, but I still say that the Mirr fight should of been stopped at the time the ref stood them up and took a point away from Lesnar for what would normally be a verbal warning at best. I can just hear it now that after Lesnar manhandles couture to a victory that Lesnar will of only won because of Randy’s age.
ive got plenty of reasons to not like lesnar, dont need steroids
no it is not illegal, they give it to people on medical reasons mainly for people who are short to make them grow,and people who have knee problems that are up there in age to heal faster and better
yes it is bro, coke isn’t illegal if you have a script. My wife is supervises 4 pharmacies, everything you need a script for is illegal if you don’t have a script. If this wasn’t the case, why get a script, thats why certain things are over the counter and certain things aren’t
Kevin,
Why is does this matter? Does he have another positive test I don’t know about? As far as I know he has been clean since he left the WWE.
KEVIN. those charges were dropped against lesnar because they found out not to be hgh, but legal sports supplements. thats probably why no one ever mentions it when talking about lesnar, because it is a non-story.
read the story, they couldn’t prove otherwise, he said they were “special supplements’ which back a number of years ago would have been believed. Before barry bonds, etc.
i just read the story! it said the charges were dropped! you are just going by speculation, not facts. he’s fought 3 times for the ufc and never tested positive. those are facts that i can go by. you can say anyone uses hgh, and nobody can prove you wrong, b/c they dont test for it. its the same as saying that ALL the former pride fighters were roiders b/c they didnt test for it in japan. its not fair to make assumptions or comparing mma to baseball (were steroids and greenies “speed” were commonplace and players were encouraged to use them). i can remember a few years back when a reporter accused albert pujols of using roids, even though he’s been tested and always come up negative. still the fact that it was brought up was an unfair stigma he had to deal with. it wouldnt surprise me at all that brock used some sort of illegal substance while in the wwe, thats pro-wrasslin. as long as he doesnt test postive in the ufc, thats all you can and should go by.:)
i think kevin lacks reading comprehension when it disproves his theories.
I am positive that the charges were dropped, but really who cares what he was doing while he was in the WWE. Being a WWE fighter means that you are on roids, its practically in WWE superstars Job description!
is there such a thing as a cocaine prescription? god help me if i ever got my hands on one of those
Looking forward to this piece. The ESPN crew was there when I was shooting Brock for FLEX magazine.
this is exactly why he makes $500K a fight
BULLSHIT!!! he shouldn’t be making that much money, while anderson silva best fighter UFC has is only makeing 250K.. they should be treating anderson with a little more respect and atleast bump him to the rest of the high payed fighters.
The fighters don’t make money based on how good they are, they make it on how much of a draw they are. That is why Machida does not make as much as alot of other LHWs. He is one of the best, but not that exciting so makes less money.
Lesnar (like him or hate him) is a huge draw because he brings in fans from WWE and NCAA wrestling fans.
Mike Ur right.. but I still feel with top notch UFC marketing the Lyoto’s and Machida’s.. can be huge draws.
They can market Machida all day and night and they did a fair amount for the Tito fight. But after all that what did he do in that fight. He frustrated Tito and a lot of fans at the same time. He will not get huge money until he puts up huge preformances. A decision to Tito ain’t it. He will be co headliner in the biggest UFC event to date, it is up to him what he makes of it!
When is Machida fighting again? His next fight got scrapped because Thiago got hurt, did they annouce another fight for him?
I don’t blaim that whole fight on Machida, Tito never tried to do anything to him. He tried a few take downs and didnt come close to working and that was it. Watch Machida’s earlier fights (Franklin comes to mind). I want to see him against guys that will try to KO him, Thiago would have been great for them both.
I agree though, with proper marketing any of these great fighters can be huge draws.
he’s slated to fight thiago on the gsp/bj superbowl card, but nothing is set in stone.
Why should everyone have to run after him? Machida never does that he goes backwards and moves away all the time, and when Tito ran after him Machida backpeddaled as fast as he could and made a gay facial expression at Tito like oh im so cool you can’t catch me.. he’s boring and selfish, if everyone had that style the UFC wouldn’t be where they are today and there wouldn’t be as many fans as there is.. look at all the other champs and stars in the UFC they are all guys that likes to go at it and fight, Machida doesn’t and that’s why so many dislikes him.. The thing about the fighters that draws, is because they have something charisma/personality/exciting fighting style or whatever and they use that to market themselves, Machida has none of those qualities at this time and that’s why he’s not a draw or anywhere near being a star..
we just saw a good example of and fun fighter to watch in leben geting beat by a boring fighter bisbing and rashad put on a snooze fest to lure chuck in then threw the haymaker, i know its not rite but boring is the winner more times than not.
Rob have you watched any of his fights other than Tito? If not go watch them. He is not as boring as some people make him out to be. Could he be more exciting? Of course. Is he so boring we shouldn’t watch him? No.
I hope he fights Thiago. That will be sick.
yes i’ve watched most of his fights before he came to the UFC on youtube but they’re in the past now.. I’ve also seen all of his fights in the UFC except for the Sam Hogar fight and i saw his fight against V.White in the WFA, I do not like seeing the Machida/Bisping/Starnes style, everyone of his fights in the UFC have been snoozefests.. That is why i’d like to see him fight Thiago too so that Thiago can finish him with brutal GnP so we don’t have to worry about a guy that bores the hell out of everyone.. It’s not good in any sport to have someone with an ultradefensive style that is winning all the time, cause i can promise you that more and more guys are gonna do the same thing when they see him being succesful and the sport will never become bigger.. It would be good for him and the sport if he loses soon
Being the best doesn’t fill the seats. Being the most Popular and most marketable fills seats. That is what makes money.
is anyone else putting all their money on Lesnar for UFC 91?
I’m not. You would think that everyone has learned to not count out Randy anymore. The odds are stacked heavily against him but he is making good preperations for Brock. For example, he brought in Shane Carwin to help him train. That is a massive heavyweight.
I really want to, but I have a really hard time counting out Randy.
Exactly. He has beaten the odds so many times. It’s difficult to count him out in any case nowadays.
Ill be the first to say this but RIP Randy……
You aren’t the first to think or even say it. It’s legitimate to think in these terms. Brock is massive, quick, athletic, and is great at what Randy uses to beat many of his opponents….wrestling. However, Randy knows what it is like to transition wrestling into MMA. He knows what holes exist and he is also great with preperation and gameplans. The real question is, can an aging Couture withstand or even avoid punishment from the likes of Lesnar? Guess we will find out November 15th.
thats the big question, will randy finally show his age? if its the same randy that fought sylvia and gonzaga, i think he would be the slight favorite. but who knows, if randy has lost a step or two, brock could steamroll him. i think thats why there is so much intrigue for this fight.
I personally don’t think Randy has a chance. And I don’t think this fight will make it out of the second round.
I could see Randy frustrating Brock on the ground with frequent submission attempts. From fear of being submitted, Brock may decide to stand and trade with Randy. I could then see Randy utilizing the stand up against Brock. Leg kicks would be effective because they would slow Brock down and they would likely impact his takedown ability. (this is assuming that Randy can use a leg kick without Brock hitting him. With that reach advantage, it could be difficult but he used it effectively against Tim Sylvia) Randy has pretty good head movement so if he were to get Brock to trade with him, he could begin to beat him with the standup and go for the takedown in the later rounds (brock might be a little slower by then). Should a takedown attempt by Randy be unsuccessful, Randy is good with the clinch. He could utilize it until Brock went for the takedown. This would be the point that he tries to frustrate Brock again with more submission attempts. I could also see him using the GnP if he were able to pull off the takedown.
If he still has the physical tools, I could see Randy outclassing Brock in this fight.
As a big Couture fan if he is able to defend his title against brock ill be shocked
All the experiece in the world or all the talent or technival ability in the world can not always over come sheer size Hoi man choi is big but uncooridanated has no agility while brock is an unbeleivable athlete in the prime of his life.
and dont for one second think that this isnt a very strategic move by Dana and the UFC.
b.w. your right. i think we all can agree that Brock is going to come ready to bang it out. the only thing that may get to him is the spotlight, but it shouldnt be a problem seeing as how he produced great performances in front of thousands in the wwe. On the other side, Randy has a lot against him. Some say he’s too old, some say he’s in it only for the money, and maybe he’s even lost the fighting spirit. If Randy comes ready, then he will probably win. Lets face it, the only person that has ever beaten an “on point” Randy Couture in the past 6 years is Chuck. But, then again. We dont just what kind of animal Brock will bring to the table. Brock has all the potential to become to best heavyweight in the world. But it may be too early for him right now.
i think the fight is 50/50 all the way. cant wait to see it. ive heard some grumblings about werdum not getting the title shot. werdum does deserve it more than brock, but what fight would anyone rather see brock/randy or werdum/randy. werdum is a good fighter and has a bright future, but no one is gagging to see him like they are brock lesnar, save a few “hardcore fans” and brock haters. i dont know why i brought up werdum, maybee b/c i just read an interview with him.
IF Brock wins, Plus one more top notch fight (that he wins of course). Do you think he could have a chance against Fedor? Do you think that Dana would even want that fight for the fear of losing? Personally i think a grappler of that skill and being such a huge mammal it will be tough for anyone to beat a seasoned confident brock. This is assuming that he continues prgressing at the rate he has done so far.
I just want to know one thing and if anybody reads this shit I would like an answer. Can Randy beat this beast? Their styles are pretty much the same? I dont think Randy can outwrestle this guy.
Randy has more experience. Outwrestling him doesn’t necessarily need to be the strategy.
The strategy Randy needs to have is to try and keep it on his feet and avoid being taken down or punched in the face, then maybe he could try to take Brock down in the 3rd or 4th round.. The way i see it is that if Brock goes full speed against Randy and takes him down it’s over, and he might knock Randy out on the feet too, we’ve seen Randy get rocked many times and Brock has amazing speed/power, so no my answer is that Randy won’t beat him, it’s time to let the future of the sport become a reality..
Randy needs to move laterally and leg kick as much as possible. He needs to really be on the horse for the first three rounds. He needs to make Lesnar chase him, and the best part about that is Lesnar will chase him. The problem with all this is that Lesnar is quicker on his feet than Randy…. by a ton. Lesnar has a reach advantage and even though no one gives him credit for it he hits a ton. He nearly knocked Herrings eye out of its socket. If Randy gets rocked at all its over. The massive Lesnar will pound him out. I really hope that Randy can beat father time, the 60 pound weight advantage, the loss of his normal wrestling advantage, the reach advantage, the deficit in punching power, the loss of advantage of being able to bully his opponent into the cage, and the ring rust from being a greedy and arrogant SOB by not fighting for over a year to go to hollywood to make “movies”. If he doesnt it will be a sad end to his career.