UFC 116: Brock Lesnar Baddest Man on the Planet?

AP Photo/Eric Jamison

UFC 116 ended last night with Joe Rogan calling UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (5-1) the “baddest man on the planet” after he defeated Shane Carwin (12-1). It is hard to make a statement such as that after watching his performance and comparing him to some of the other fighters in the heavyweight division around the world.

Brock did defeat Shane which is something I did not see coming. I was sure Brock would have his chin tested for the first time, which we did, and that it would be as soft as a down pillow. Let’s start by saying Brock did a good job of recovering and winning the fight via submission in the second round. Congratulations Mr. Lesnar, you actually won over some fans last night.

Now to the real story of who the best heavyweight in the world is and why it is not Brock Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar took some hard shots from Shane in the first round and crumpled like a house of cards in a wind storm. Not only did he crumple, he essentially ran away using the good old “duck and cover” defense. While it works for children in a school yard getting beat by a bully it does not work for a man many will now proclaim as the top heavyweight in the world.

“The Baddest Man on the Planet” would never cower like what we saw Brock do last night. Had it not been for Shane Carwin gassing out after five minutes of complete dominance through ground and pound Brock would be a footnote in the UFC heavyweight division lineage.

I will concede that is is Shane’s job to come into a fight in shape and be able to fight for a full five rounds. This is a man who had been asked many times if he could go five rounds, hell, if he could make it out of the first. All of his fights hd ended in the first round and Shane wanted to prove to the world he had the conditioning of a champion. Sadly, that was not the case and Brock was able to take advantage of an exhausted Carwin, taking him down and submitting him via arm triangle.

Americans love comeback stories as seen throughout modern film and television. The Rocky series is based around the comeback, “Rudy” deals with overcoming adversity and coming back against all odds. These stories and many more litter the big screen we as Americans flock to on a weekly basis. Brock won over many fans last night with his comeback yet to call tag him with the aforementioned moniker is ridiculous. Do we credit Brock for surviving the onslaught from Shane Carwin or do we admonish Shane for gassing and not being able to put away the champion?

I believe we do both and anything less would be unfair.  I can’t see Brock winning that fight if Carwin had the cardio to go five rounds and be as relentless as he was in the first round.  The baddest man on the planet would have never turned his back and climbed into a shell like a turtle being poked by a stick. That man would not have needed another fighter to gas in  order to claim victory.

So who is the baddest man on the planet? Many believed it to be “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-2) until his submission defeat to Fabricio Werdum ( 14-4-1) at Strikeforce: San Jose.  Others have mentioned heavyweight striking sensation and horse meat addict “Demolition Man”  Alistair Overeem (31-11).

Even with the loss to Werdum, which I believe will be avenged very soon, Fedor has earned that moniker more than Brock. Never have we seen Fedor cower and turn his back in the face of an onslaught. He is the type of fighter that pushes through and finds ways to win like he did against “The Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (14-8) or against many of the other fighters he has faced throughout his career.

Alistair is a wrecking machine that does not know the meaning of cower. This man loves to hurt people using his K-1 level striking. From brutal knees and kicks to punches that are more like a wrecking ball than a punch, he punishes his opponents.

The only way to see who truly is the baddest man on the planet is to put these men, including the next UFC heavyweight title contender, Cain Velasquez (8-0) into a tournament in the same organization and see who finds their way atop the pile. My guess? It would not be Brock Lesnar who climbs to the top. No, it would be Brock that would break at the mere sight of these men. Sadly we will never see this happen and therefore we will have to continue to have these discussions and listen to those that actually believe what Joe Rogan said last night.

Fedor will be back and will not make the mistake of jumping into the guard of a highly decorated jiu jitsu fighter such as Werdum. Alistair is still on a path of destruction leaving heavyweights in his wake. Cain is the up and comer looking to cement his place in the history books. Brock is, well, he is not the baddest man on the planet but he does happen to the UFC heavyweight champion.