He failed at football maybe this will be his cup of tea he is a former NCAA wrestling champion
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Brock Lesnar to make MMA debut at Coliseum
By Todd Martin
Special to The Times
Brock Lesnar is a former NCAA wrestling champion who went on to great success as a pro wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, he makes his mixed martial arts debut at Dynamite USA.
The muscular amateur wrestling standout was heavily recruited by WWE coming out of college, and signed with them in 2000. At that time he was offered a large contract by WWE.
"I left college because I had a quarter-of-a-million dollar contract in front of me and I had twenty-five cents in my pocket," Lesnar says. "[MMA] couldn't offer me that."
Would he have gone straight into MMA if he was offered the same amount of money as WWE gave him?
"Absolutely, for sure," Lesnar said.
Lesnar views pro wrestling as his past, and is now training to be a full-time MMA fighter. Unlike fellow pro wrestler Josh Barnett, he does not view himself as a representative of pro wrestling in MMA.
"I'm representing amateur wrestling," he said.
Nor does Lesnar see himself returning to pro wrestling, "Never say never on anything like that but I highly doubt it."
Lesnar's opponent on the card is the 7-2, 355-pound Hong Man Choi. Lesnar is preparing for Choi's size by working out with a couple of 6-8 fighters, but he acknowledges that it is difficult to find individuals that can replicate Choi's size.
Lesnar said that in spite of Choi's size, he is encouraged by the style match-up and asserts, "They couldn't have picked an easier opponent for me."
Lesnar has been training at the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. He is working on all aspects of his game, including wrestling, jiu jitsu and standup.
Lesnar notes, "I'm not going to focus on one thing. I want to be a well-rounded fighter."
As for the future, Lesnar says that he doesn't have any goals. For his first fight, Lesnar says, "I just want to come out and prove to myself that I can fight." From there, he is open to any future fights. He currently weighs 265 pounds, so he could fight at heavyweight as well as super-heavyweight.
Former amateur wrestling superstar and WrestleMania opponent Kurt Angle has also talked of getting into MMA. Lesnar isn't sure how serious he is: "I've spoken to Kurt a few times but I don't know. If he chose to do that I think he's good for a couple fights."
Lesnar would consider taking a fight with Angle, which could be a marketable pay-per-view attraction.
The show will be the American debut for Japanese kickboxing and MMA outfit K1.
Dynamite USA will feature a unique promotional arrangement. At 9 p.m., Showtime and Elite XC will televise a one-hour fight card including fights with Jake Shields, Antonio Silva and Gina Carano. Then at 10 p.m., there will be a live pay-per-view event headlined by Lesnar vs. Choi. Also fighting on the pay-per-view will be MMA legend Royce Gracie and former USC and Detroit Lion standout Johnnie Morton. The rest of the card has not been filled out, but promoter Sadaharu Tanikawa mentioned the names of Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Katsuhiko Nagata and Caol Uno.
When asked about facing the daunting task of filling a 100,000-seat arena, Tanikawa said the promotion would draw on the large Korean and Japanese communities in Southern California. He predicted that the promotion will fill the Coliseum.
---------------------------
Brock Lesnar to make MMA debut at Coliseum
By Todd Martin
Special to The Times
Brock Lesnar is a former NCAA wrestling champion who went on to great success as a pro wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, he makes his mixed martial arts debut at Dynamite USA.
The muscular amateur wrestling standout was heavily recruited by WWE coming out of college, and signed with them in 2000. At that time he was offered a large contract by WWE.
"I left college because I had a quarter-of-a-million dollar contract in front of me and I had twenty-five cents in my pocket," Lesnar says. "[MMA] couldn't offer me that."
Would he have gone straight into MMA if he was offered the same amount of money as WWE gave him?
"Absolutely, for sure," Lesnar said.
Lesnar views pro wrestling as his past, and is now training to be a full-time MMA fighter. Unlike fellow pro wrestler Josh Barnett, he does not view himself as a representative of pro wrestling in MMA.
"I'm representing amateur wrestling," he said.
Nor does Lesnar see himself returning to pro wrestling, "Never say never on anything like that but I highly doubt it."
Lesnar's opponent on the card is the 7-2, 355-pound Hong Man Choi. Lesnar is preparing for Choi's size by working out with a couple of 6-8 fighters, but he acknowledges that it is difficult to find individuals that can replicate Choi's size.
Lesnar said that in spite of Choi's size, he is encouraged by the style match-up and asserts, "They couldn't have picked an easier opponent for me."
Lesnar has been training at the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. He is working on all aspects of his game, including wrestling, jiu jitsu and standup.
Lesnar notes, "I'm not going to focus on one thing. I want to be a well-rounded fighter."
As for the future, Lesnar says that he doesn't have any goals. For his first fight, Lesnar says, "I just want to come out and prove to myself that I can fight." From there, he is open to any future fights. He currently weighs 265 pounds, so he could fight at heavyweight as well as super-heavyweight.
Former amateur wrestling superstar and WrestleMania opponent Kurt Angle has also talked of getting into MMA. Lesnar isn't sure how serious he is: "I've spoken to Kurt a few times but I don't know. If he chose to do that I think he's good for a couple fights."
Lesnar would consider taking a fight with Angle, which could be a marketable pay-per-view attraction.
The show will be the American debut for Japanese kickboxing and MMA outfit K1.
Dynamite USA will feature a unique promotional arrangement. At 9 p.m., Showtime and Elite XC will televise a one-hour fight card including fights with Jake Shields, Antonio Silva and Gina Carano. Then at 10 p.m., there will be a live pay-per-view event headlined by Lesnar vs. Choi. Also fighting on the pay-per-view will be MMA legend Royce Gracie and former USC and Detroit Lion standout Johnnie Morton. The rest of the card has not been filled out, but promoter Sadaharu Tanikawa mentioned the names of Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Katsuhiko Nagata and Caol Uno.
When asked about facing the daunting task of filling a 100,000-seat arena, Tanikawa said the promotion would draw on the large Korean and Japanese communities in Southern California. He predicted that the promotion will fill the Coliseum.
