Monday, JULY 13 – 7:00 PM (CT)

-Brock Lesnar is a freaking genius. The new undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion is doing something no other UFC superstar of the past and present could do, and that is make UFC a headline sport. Lesnar, much to the dismay of UFC purists, was elevated to the top of the card very quickly and with great reason: Lesnar is money.

Heading into UFC 100 on Saturday night, most people believed the event would earn the largest buyrate in UFC pay-per-view history. While Lesnar was impressive in his decisive victory over Frank Mir, where Lesnar reinvented himself, UFC, and MMA all together, was in his post fight comments.

I am sure everyone has seen and/or heard the comments by now and if not, Brock basically heeled the entire live audience and dissed a major UFC sponsor. In the process, he sold a bunch of tickets to future events as well. I purposely waited until today to write this blog because I wanted to see the coverage given to the Lesnar fight and post fight comments 48 hours later.

Well, two of my favorite ESPN shows, Around the Horn and Pardon The Interruption included the Lesnar fight and story in their first segments, respectively. ESPN SportsCenter teased the Lesnar story during several commercials. Again, Brock is a genius. UFC usually gets the obligatory mention at the end of a show, but because of Brock, UFC is top page news.

ESPN’s Michael Wilbon made a nice point in saying back when boxing was popular, boxers’ faces were recognized worldwide. Wilbon, and co-host Bob Ryan did not put Lesnar on that pedestal quite yet, but they admitted Lesnar well on his way. Brock is a huge star and the comments he made after his victory made UFC even that much more popular.

I would guess Brock made his post fight comments out of sheer emotional triumph and aggression, but damn, he could not have planned that any better had he written the comments out ahead of time. Sure, UFC President Dana White had to solemnly react to Lesnar’s comments and and Brock himself apologized, but they may as well have lit the most expensive cigars and exchanged high fives.

Ladies and gentlemen, Brock Lesnar is the biggest star in MMA today and will be for years to come. On top of that, he is controversial. Controversy sells, whether someone wants to root for Lesnar, or see him get beat. I have a question and a comment for the so-called “MMA purists” out there. Who are you to judge Brock Lesnar? Also, get on board. Lesnar is great for MMA and Lesnar will take MMA to a level never before seen. Lighten up people.

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