I've been a member of Sherdog for almost 11 years and in all that time I've never seen The UFC book a fight which will potentially result in as many angry Sherdog members as the Lesnar vs. Hunt fight for UFC 200. There are a few reasons why this is true.
Lesnar is an extremely polarizing figure. People seem to either love him or hate him with very few people in between. On Sherdog, which is comprised of a lot of self-described "MMA purists" or "hardcore fans" which are the opposite of "casual fans", Lesnar has far more detractors than fans. These wannabe super serious "purists" absolutely cannot stand the fact that Lesnar, who initially made his name as an NCAA Wrestling Champion, and then rose to far greater levels of fane as the youngest ever WWE World Champion (at the time), then went on to become the biggest draw The UFC had ever had from around 2008-2010. He set PPV records still unbroken to this day. To make matters worse, he won his UFC Heavyweight Title from the most decorated UFC fighter in history, and one of the best liked fighters in UFC history - Randy Couture.
The purists and hardcore UFC fans could not stand that what they considered an MMA dilettante could just take up MMA, as if on a whim, train for a couple years, and then enter The UFC to go on to have the level of success he had. They were embarrassed that man best known for pro wrestling could not only win The UFC Heavyweight Title but then go on to tie the record for most successful consecutive title defenses for a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a record which still stands today.
These Sherdog posters were glad to see Lesnar retire but now he's done something that has caused a level of anger which makes their former gripes about Lesnar seem mild in comparison. Lesnar, who has been retired for five years from MMA and has been doing pro wrestling during that time, is now returning as the co-main event in the biggest, most prestigious card in UFC history! Not only is he being given a co-maon event slot, but he will make more money than any of the full time UFC fighters on the UFC 200 PPV.
Brock Lesnar simply had to say he wanted to fight at UFC 200 and UFC management bent over backwards to accommodate him. Since he wasn't employed by The UFC 4 months prior to the UFC 200 fight, UFC management got Lesnar an exemption from the usual testing policies which require a fighter to be tested during the four months leading up tp a fight. Obviously they couldn't test a man who wasn't working for The UFC until he signed a contract making him, once again, a UFC fighter, and even though Brock Lesnar has been tested 5 times since signing the contract for UFC 200, these "purists" are irate because by not being a UFC fighter 4 months or even 3 months prior to the fight, naturally he didn't get drug tested at those times either! These "purists" can be awfully unreasonable.
Perhaps most frightening of all for these "hardcore UFC fans" and "MMA purists" is the following scenario: Suppose upon Brock's return he not only eats Hunt but does so in such an impressive fashion that it lends serious credence to Brock's claims that in his last couple UFC fights, he wasn't beaten by his opponents; he was beaten by diverticulitis. What if the now diverticulitis free Brock Lesnar shows himself to be better than any of us ever imagined? What if a man whose main job which is described by his boss as "a male soap opera" turns out to be not only the UFC's biggest draw of all time, but their most dominant Heavyweight fighter of all time? That would be one bitter pill for the purists and the UFC hardcores to swallow!
Lesnar is an extremely polarizing figure. People seem to either love him or hate him with very few people in between. On Sherdog, which is comprised of a lot of self-described "MMA purists" or "hardcore fans" which are the opposite of "casual fans", Lesnar has far more detractors than fans. These wannabe super serious "purists" absolutely cannot stand the fact that Lesnar, who initially made his name as an NCAA Wrestling Champion, and then rose to far greater levels of fane as the youngest ever WWE World Champion (at the time), then went on to become the biggest draw The UFC had ever had from around 2008-2010. He set PPV records still unbroken to this day. To make matters worse, he won his UFC Heavyweight Title from the most decorated UFC fighter in history, and one of the best liked fighters in UFC history - Randy Couture.
The purists and hardcore UFC fans could not stand that what they considered an MMA dilettante could just take up MMA, as if on a whim, train for a couple years, and then enter The UFC to go on to have the level of success he had. They were embarrassed that man best known for pro wrestling could not only win The UFC Heavyweight Title but then go on to tie the record for most successful consecutive title defenses for a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a record which still stands today.
These Sherdog posters were glad to see Lesnar retire but now he's done something that has caused a level of anger which makes their former gripes about Lesnar seem mild in comparison. Lesnar, who has been retired for five years from MMA and has been doing pro wrestling during that time, is now returning as the co-main event in the biggest, most prestigious card in UFC history! Not only is he being given a co-maon event slot, but he will make more money than any of the full time UFC fighters on the UFC 200 PPV.
Brock Lesnar simply had to say he wanted to fight at UFC 200 and UFC management bent over backwards to accommodate him. Since he wasn't employed by The UFC 4 months prior to the UFC 200 fight, UFC management got Lesnar an exemption from the usual testing policies which require a fighter to be tested during the four months leading up tp a fight. Obviously they couldn't test a man who wasn't working for The UFC until he signed a contract making him, once again, a UFC fighter, and even though Brock Lesnar has been tested 5 times since signing the contract for UFC 200, these "purists" are irate because by not being a UFC fighter 4 months or even 3 months prior to the fight, naturally he didn't get drug tested at those times either! These "purists" can be awfully unreasonable.
Perhaps most frightening of all for these "hardcore UFC fans" and "MMA purists" is the following scenario: Suppose upon Brock's return he not only eats Hunt but does so in such an impressive fashion that it lends serious credence to Brock's claims that in his last couple UFC fights, he wasn't beaten by his opponents; he was beaten by diverticulitis. What if the now diverticulitis free Brock Lesnar shows himself to be better than any of us ever imagined? What if a man whose main job which is described by his boss as "a male soap opera" turns out to be not only the UFC's biggest draw of all time, but their most dominant Heavyweight fighter of all time? That would be one bitter pill for the purists and the UFC hardcores to swallow!
