From WWE to UFC - Lesnar Makes His Debut

The clock is ticking away for the biggest fighter debut in UFC history. WWE superstar Brock Lesnar will make his UFC debut this saturday in Las Vegas when he squares off against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir at UFC 81.

Lesnar was made famous during his three years in the WWE, where he became the WWE Undisputed champion. During his reign in the WWE, Lesnar - who was known as "The Next Big Thing" - had feuds with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and The Undertaker.

Although Lesnar is the first WWE superstar to make the transition to MMA, he's not the first to have toyed with the idea; Kurt Angle has also made it quite clear that he would like to give mixed martial arts a try. Angle talked a lot of smack about the fighters in MMA, and the UFC in particular, saying that the only fighter that he'd have trouble with is 'current UFC Heavyweight champion' Randy Couture. Apparently Angle had spoken with Dana White about making the move, but Dana discarded any idea of Angle coming to the UFC saying Angle would get smashed.

Professional wrestling and mixed martial arts are two very different sports. But don't let Lesnar's stint with the WWE fool you; Lesnar is a legit wrestler with some very real and very big accomplishments in amateur wrestling.

Lesnar won the 2000 NCAA wrestling championship as a heavyweight after placing second in 1999. Lesnar finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion with a record of 106-5 overall in four years of college.

That's one track record that is hard to match by anyone. Let's not forget about the shear size of the man; Lesnar is 6' 3" and will have to cut weight to make the UFC Heavyweight division's 265 pound weight limit! He is enormous and frighteningly powerful! So, if there's any professional wrestler that can make the transition to MMA, it's Brock Lesnar.

Now that being said, Lesnar has only one MMA fight under his belt. His lone fight was last April at K-1 Dynamite! in Los Angeles where he blitzed his opponent, Min Soo Kim, in just over a minute. Lesnar immediately shot in for a takedown, gained full mount and from there, he pounded Min Soo Kim into submission.

The lack of experience creates big question marks for Lesnar. The UFC may be taking a huge risk with Lesnar. His fame alone is what got him a multi-fight deal with the UFC and with only about a minute of fight time, no one really knows what to expect from the former WWE superstar.

The UFC isn't giving Lesnar any gimme fights first either. They're throwing him right into the heavyweight mix for his first fight. His opponenent, Frank Mir, is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and is a very big man in his own right, standing 6'1" and weighing 240 pounds.

Mir won the UFC heavyweight title in 2004 by breaking Tim Silvia's arm via armbar in the first round.

This will be a very big test for Lesnar. Although, Mir has looked shaky in his first few fights back after a serious motorcycle accident put him on the sidelines for nearly two years, he looked in top form in his last fight submitting Antoni Hardonk in the first round.

It will be interesting to see how this fight plays out. It's fairly obvious that Lesnar won't try to stand and box with Mir, he'll look for the takedown from the opening bell. I'm not saying that Mir has great boxing skills, it's just that he has more experience with it than Lesnar. This is only Lesnar's second MMA fight and I don't expect him to stray too far from what he does best. Lesnar will look to make this a wrestling match where he will easily have the upper hand. There are very few fighters, if any, that have wrestling pedigree that Lesnar has.

Mir also doesn't have the greatest takedown defense, so I would assume that this fight will almost definitely go to the ground with Mir on his back. The thing here is that this is where Mir is most dangerous. Mir is very good at sinking in various submissions from his back. Lesnar is still very new to the Jiu Jitsu aspect of fighting and I think he may find himself in a bit of trouble in this position. He will no doubt be able to pin Mir on his back for as long as he likes, but will have to be very aware of Mir's submission attempts and look to avoid those at all costs.

This fight will end one of two ways: Mir by submission or Lesnar by decision. Mir by submission is pretty self explanatory; Lesnar takes Mir down, puts him on his back, and gets caught in a submission. Lesnar by decision because again, Lesnar takes Mir down, puts him on his back, keeps him there, and pounds out the decision win. I don't think Lesnar will be able to put Mir away while Mir's on his back because of the fact that Mir isn't just a BJJ Black Belt, he's an MMA BJJ Black Belt. Where alot of Jiu Jitsu black belts have a hard time implementing their game plan when getting punched in the face, Mir trains for that type of fighting/BJJ all the time. He his comfortable on his back while taking punches and can block very well from there.

I can't wait to see this fight. Sure, it has the potential to be a very boring fight, but there's too many questions that I need to have answered for me to miss this one.

From the Squared Circle to the Octagon, in just a few days, the fight world will find out whether or not Brock Lesnar really is "The Next Big Thing".