After Brock Lesnar submitted Shane Carwin to retain his heavyweight title and cap off a great night of fights at UFC 116, Dana White must be feeling like the cat that ate the canary. It's rare that any promotion going through the kind of media blitz that the UFC has undertaken over the last week truly delivers the kind of excitement that they promise, but last night virtually every fight was outstanding and showcased the UFC in the best possible light, even to the casual sports fan.
Any trip through the morass of sports talk radio can be frustrating, especially if you're a fan of a sport that is still struggling to be accepted into the mainstream. The typical host of the sports talk radio show (especially the local variety) is like the worst bully in the schoolyard, equipped with a cadre of like-minded fools in the studio, cackling at any lame-brained attempt at comedy. To these idiots, MMA is at least loosely associated with WWE, and the focus is typically placed on the occasional violence and gore of MMA rather than the skill and focus it takes to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Any fighter that can contribute in turning MMA into more of a cartoon and less of a sport is welcome fodder for the dopes of the airwaves.
For these reasons, Brock Lesnar has been an enemy and the ultimate black hat for the UFC. With Lesnar's WWE background and post-fight histrionics, he has grown to embody everything that the UFC has fought to overcome, and many of the hardcore fans of the sport have been slow to recognize what he has accomplished in just 5 MMA fights before last night. Last night's showdown with Shane Carwin was just what Lesnar needed to get the recognition from UFC devotees, a trip into deep waters with an opponent of equal strength, someone who can truly bring out the best he has.
There will be many in hindsight who will say that had Carwin not punched himself out trying to finish Lesnar, he would have won the fight easily. But, most of the truly great fighters in MMA have been in the position that Lesnar was in last night and not many have been able to recover to not just win, but finish. This fight solidifies Lesnar's place at the top of the heavyweight division, and should make his many enemies cringe at the thought of a long run at the top. If not Carwin, who has the strength to withstand Lesnar and trade with him, much less take him to the ground and submit him?
MMA, and the UFC specifically, are in a unique position at the start of the decade, and it will be interesting to see where the next 10 years takes the sport. Mixed martial arts has a chance to be one of the world's biggest sports in the years to come. The sport combines international flavor with a compact presentation, featuring athletes at the peak of conditioning. The NFL has turned to MMA to assist with conditioning, with many of the sport's best players swearing by what MMA training has provided them in terms of improving their cardio and overall fitness. On virtually every card offered by the UFC, you will get at least 2 or 3 of the 5 fights on the card with more action in 15 minutes than any combat sport offers in a calendar year. The vast majority of fighters care mostly about interesting and exciting fights, not maintaining a stellar record against weak opponents, which has hindered boxing's growth for years. When your sport's best athletes are eager to face each other, knowing that the results won't exclude them from reaching the top eventually, then you are giving the fans what they want, which is the best that combat sports has to offer.
