My next rant regarding the amount of negativity expressed about the announcement of an August fight between Brock Lesnar and Mark Coleman is directed at all the message forum posts I've read that state fights like Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott or Lesnar vs. Coleman shouldn't happen because they are "circus sideshow" matches. What some people call a sideshow, I refer to as a "special attraction." All that matters at the end of the day when making a fight is whether or not people have an interest in watching it. People are going to be interested in Lesnar vs. Coleman. Perhaps not everyone will be interested, but a lot will be.

And since when is a special attraction match a dirty thing? We watch MMA because we enjoy it. It's supposed to be fun. Slice vs. Abbott had no top ten heavyweight implications, but it was fun. I think Coleman vs. Lesnar will be a fun fight. There's a lot of uptight people on the Internet that have me questioning why they even watch MMA because it seems to me that they don't really enjoy it.

Look, I will sound like a Neanderthal, but I enjoy watching people beat each other up. I have since I was a young kid. I don't know why and I'm certainly not proud of it, but I just enjoy watching good fights. And don't tell me that sounds bad because if you don't feel the same way, then why are you wasting your time reading a site that's dedicated to covering sanctioned violence!?

My point is this; who cares if Coleman vs. Lesnar doesn't have any bearing on the top ten? Is is out of the question to be entertained by a fight that doesn't have title implications? Let's take a hypothetical situation. Suppose you're at a bar and two bikers start to argue with each other and agree to take their dispute outside. Are you going to leave your stool and go watch or are you going to sit there and say, "These guys aren't ranked in the top ten so I have no interest in the outcome." If it was me, I'm going outside because I'm dying to see who is the bigger bad ass. I have no scientific evidence to back me up, but I believe the typical fight fan feels the same way as I.

Yet another notion I don't agree with is that this is a bad matchup for Lesnar because he's not ready for Coleman. CagePotato.com wrote the following:

In retrospect, putting Brock Lesnar up against Frank Mir in Lesnar’s first UFC fight was a bad, bad idea, and this could be just as bad, if not worse. Coleman lacks Mir’s submission mastery, but he’ll test Brock’s chin with his heavy hands, and he won’t go to the ground as easily as Mir did.

Is Coleman the guaranteed layup victory that Bo Cantrell was for Slice? No, certainly not. But the UFC is not in a position to serve up Cantrells to Lesnar.

There's a big difference between Slice and Lesnar; one is a TV fighter and the other is a PPV fighter. And I can't properly emphasize how big of a difference that is. Slice is believed to have a guarantee of $125,000 per fight, which is a relative bargain compared to Lesnar's guarantee from his first fight vs. Mir, which was $250,000. Where things really escalate is in their win bonuses; Slice got $50,000 for beating Abbott while Lesnar would have received $200,000 if he had beaten Mir.

At a rate of $125,000-$175,000, it's a lot easier to utilize the strategy that EliteXC is using with Slice. And it's a lot easier to map out opponents when you're just trying to draw a rating as opposed to trying to get people to pay $44.95-$54.95 on pay-per-view. At Lesnar's rate, it's financially prohibitive for the UFC to try and use the same approach as EliteXC is using with Slice. In an ideal world the UFC could slowly feed Lesnar a diet of tomato cans for 3-4 fights before weening him off, but that's not an option.

Yes, putting Lesnar on Spike TV would do wonders for his long-term future as a drawing card by putting him on free TV so more people can see him. But the UFC doesn't have that luxury with the rate they are currently they have Lesnar locked in at. And there's no one to blame. You can say the UFC should have signed Lesnar at a more affordable because his market value is what it is. You also can't point the finger and Lesnar and suggest he should have signed for less and given the UFC a chance to build him up.

The strategy the UFC is using with Lesnar is the only way. They need to book him against strong opponents so that people will PAY to see him. And the UFC needs to put him in against strong opponents who can challenge, otherwise they might as well just guarantee his $200,000 win bonus.

And the Coleman fight is still won that Lesnar can win. Coleman is a good wrestler, but at this point, Lesnar is clearly the better athlete. "The Hammer" is going to have a hard time trying to put Lesnar on his back. Test Lesnar's chin? C'mon. Mirko Cro Cop would be someone who could test Lesnar's chin. Coleman is heavy-handed and capable of knocking a fighter out if he hits a guy in the right spot -- but name me a heavyweight that you can't say that about!

But the biggest thing is, and Cage Potato pointed it out, but Coleman is not a submission master. He's an old school boxer/wrestler in a day and age where you need to have jiu-jitsu/Muay Thai. He's not a dynamic striker and he's not a submission expert. How is this matchup worse than Mir? Coleman poses a threat, but what do you want the UFC to do, put him in with a corpse?

All things being the way that they are, you can't tell me that Mark Coleman is not the perfect opponent for Lesnar. He's so perfect that I'm questioning why they didn't bring him in for Lesnar's UFC debut. Brock Lesnar in front of a hometown crowd against a UFC legend? I smell money.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

So far the reviews of the revelation that Brock Lesnar and Mark Coleman will be fighting on August 7 in Minnesota have been mixed. A lot has been written about the matchup and I have to say I disagree with most of it.

Buckle up because this post is long. There are just too many bones to pick though.

The first issue I have is the assertion that UFC president Dana White is a hypocrite for promoting a match between Lesnar and Coleman. Look, I'm not afraid to hold White accountable when he says something that doesn't add up, but I don't agree that White has compromised himself in making this fight.

Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle doesn't agree. Let me preface this by saying I have my issues with the MMA Media but that Steve is a guy that I highly respect. I enjoy his work, read it regularly, and often agree. However, his recent comments about White essentially contradicting himself is one statement that I do not agree with:

In discussing the announcement of the August fight between Coleman and Lesnar, UFC President Dana White said the 43-year-old Coleman asked for the fight, and that the matchup "made sense, so we did it."

However, White later - probably without even realizing it - opened mouth and inserted foot concerning Coleman when addressing a question about Fedor Emelianenko.

"Let's be honest, I don't think Fedor is among the top five heavyweights in the world. His last 'real' fight was in 2005 ... that was against Mirko Cro Cop. He hasn't fought anyone since."

One of the fighters Fedor has faced in that period is none other than newly minted UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman. So, on the same night, Coleman was both inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and, effectively, labeled a stiff.

Let's be fair here, Dana never branded Coleman a "stiff." Whether he effectively did or not is up to interpretation. Granted, White did try to discredit him as part of his campaign to slander Fedor, but the fact remains that Fedor really hasn't had a real fight since 2005. All Dana said is that Fedor beat a Mark Coleman that was past his prime -- and that's a stone cold fact. I have a ton of respect for Coleman but he's not the fighter he once was and why should White be criticized for telling the truth?

Sievert didn't say it, but some people are saying it's hypocritical for Dana to promote a match between Coleman vs. Lesnar considering he's been less than complementary to Coleman. Huh? As long as Dana doesn't contradict himself when he's selling this match to the public by trying to tell everyone Coleman is still a top guy, how is he hurting his credibility?

Lesnar vs. Coleman is a match between a guy who is trying to make his way up the ladder while the other is a guy who is trying to do what he can to prevent himself from falling further from the top. One is on the ascent while the other is on the descent, and by my count, they are meeting somewhere in the middle.

But Sievert said something else that I beg to differ with:

The UFC is going to have a hard enough time selling a fight between an aging warrior in Coleman, who has won only three of his last seven bouts, and a beast like Lesnar.

Hard enough time selling the fight? No way. Not on your life. Those who know Coleman is past his prime remember his prime well enough to be interested in seeing him fight Lesnar. Those that don't know him, i.e. the typical pro wrestling fan who just tuned in to see Lesnar, will be sold on Coleman's credentials. Coleman has an outstanding amateur wrestling background (competed in the '92 Olympics and is a former NCAA champion); he was the first UFC heavyweight champion; he was PRIDE's Grand Prix winner in 2000; and he's in the UFC Hall of Fame.

To me, not only can you sell Coleman's credentials but you can sell the fact that he's no longer on the top of his game. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has written in the past that there were a lot of parallel between the most recent installment in the Rocky series, Rocky Balboa, and Randy Couture's historic win over Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 after coming out of retirement.

In Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone portrayed a tragic figure. Balboa was depicted as a down on his luck former champion who had little going for him in life. That wasn't Couture. He might have retired on a loss to Chuck Liddell, but he's married to an attractive woman, has a flourishing gym business, and was still perceived as someone who could remain competitive at his age. More importantly, in order to get another fight, all Couture had to do was pick up his phone.

Coleman is a guy who closer resembles a down on their luck character. He's been asking for a fight for a while now but has been told he's too old to compete at this level. Unlike Couture, he doesn't have a flourishing gym and he needs to fight in order to make money. Hell, Coleman even looks a little like Rocky. There's a lot of drama that you can sell in a fight between Lesnar and Coleman.

To Be Continued... Part II will appear later today.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

Gary Herman from 15rounds.com and FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently conducted an interview on CBSSports.com with UFC heavyweight Frank Mir. It's an excellent interview that I recommend you check out.

One piece that stood out to me though was Mir commenting on what he thinks should be next for Lesnar:

Q: Seeing that Lesnar didn't last very long, do you think he is ready for top competition?

Mir: It depends on who he fights. He needs to be more selective on who he fights. He has a great ground-and-pound game, so that will be his strength. He doesn't need to fight anyone whose strength is to fight off his back. If he fights Gonzaga, Nogueira, myself or Werdum, Lesnar could have trouble. We all fight well off our backs. Even if he's winning the fight, he's in a position that at any time we could end the fight. He needs to fight some top-level strikers. Therefore, he'll only be in danger until he gets the takedown.

The more and more I think about it, the more I feel that Tim Sylvia would be the perfect next opponent for Lesnar. Sylvia's standup would be a tremendous threat to Lesnar, but if Lesnar put him on his back I don't think he'd be the same kind of submission threat that Mir, Gonzaga, or Nogueira represent.

Some might argue that the UFC shouldn't be so ambitious when it comes to their opponent selection for Lesnar, and I agree. However, with the rate they have him contracted for they aren't in a financial position to throw him a layup. Every time he fights, the match has to sell. 

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

UFC 80 is scheduled for this weekend in New Castle, England. And while I'm looking forward to B.J. Penn fighting Joe Stevenson for the UFC lightweight title, I still have my eye on UFC 81, which is scheduled to take place a few weeks later in Las Vegas on February 2.

The match I'm looking forward to most at UFC 81 is the heavyweight clash between Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir. As a former wrestling fan, I have to admit that I am curious to see the visual of a former WWE heavyweight champion standing in the middle of the Octagon. I am also dying to see how Lesnar will fare against legit competition such as Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion.

Some of you are sick of the hype behind Lesnar and you want to do all that you can to ensure the tainted influences of pro wrestling don't infect mixed martial arts. But whether you like it or not Brock Lesnar is coming to the UFC in a few short weeks. And if he's going to compete as a legitimate athlete then he should be treated as such until he gives us a reason not to.

And being that he's going to be competing in a few short weeks, I wanted to break down his matchup against Mir. The strange thing is the more I looked at the fight, the more I became convinced that this is a fight Lesnar will win. And here's why:

1. Mir's striking isn't good enough to expose Lesnar's standup - Ultimately, I think Lesnar will prove to be much better on his feet than some people are projecting. I was able to interview Pat Miletich in December of '06 following a seminar he taught in the Philadelphia area. Lesnar had spent some time at MFS in Iowa during the early portion of his training and Miletich got to work closely with him. Miletich said that Lesnar was surprisingly light on his feet for a man of his size. Footwork is the first step in the long road towards becoming a polished striker.

There are other reasons why I believe Lesnar will prove to be an effective striker. He showed impressive power and accuracy when he was raining shots down on Min Soo Kim from the mount at "Dynamite USA!!" in June.

Throwing punches from the punch and on the feet are two different things, but you could at least see the power in Lesnar's hands. If some of that power can transcend to his standup game, at the very least he'll give opponents something else to have to be concerned about in addition to his wrestling ability.

And while there is no way to know for sure, I tend to think Lesnar will be able to take a punch. He has an abnormally large neck and I've found over the years that the stronger the neck, the better the chin. Yes, I'm taking a leap of faith here but I'm not resting my entire case on the width of Brock Lesnar's neck and I'm also acknowledging that the weakest area of Lesnar's game will be the standup. I am just not completely convinced that Mir has the standup skills needed to expose Lesnar in that regard.

Mir is a great grappler and has good ground and pound skills. That being said, he'll never be confused with a K-1 level striker. And to be blunt, I've really been underwhelmed with the lack of improvement that I've seen from Mir's standup over the years. The improvement in his striking has been marginal, at best. A winning strategy for most fighters against Lesnar would be to keep the fight standing as long as possible and test his standup. That's not the ideal gameplan for Mir.

The experience edge goes to Mir, without question. That being said, I still see more ways for Lesnar to win this fight than I do for Mir.

2. This isn't a grappling tournament - Lesnar has tremendous wrestling credentials but does not have a lot of MMA training time under his belt in comparison to Mir. Mir is clearly the more accomplished grappler and has the submission skills needed to make an inexperienced grappler look foolish. However, with Lesnar having trained in MMA for a year and a half now, I believe he has the experience needed to make sure he doesn't get worked on the mat.

There's really only one way in which I believe Mir can win, and that's by catching Lesnar in a submission. The problem is, I think Lesnar has enough training time that he's not going to hand Mir his neck or arm on a silver platter. In other words, if Mir wants to tap Lesnar, he's going to have to work for it.

Putting Lesnar on his back as soon as the match starts would be the best move. But that's easier said than done. In Mir's mind he felt his match at UFC 74 against Antoni Hardock was a must-win situation so he didn't mess around; he got right down to business and took Hardonk down and submitted him with a Kimura. It was the right strategy for that fight. But it's one thing to get a kickboxer like Hardonk off his feet and another to score a takedown on Lesnar, a former NCAA heavyweight champion who has had to defend himself from a takedown a time or two over the years.

So I'm writing off Mir getting top position and as such I believe the most likely way he'll score a submission is off his own back. Playing the bottom against someone as inexperienced in submissions like Lesnar would be a great strategy for Mir if this was a grappling tournament, but it's not. It's MMA rules and having Lesnar in top position is a risky proposition. If Mir tries to work a submission from the bottom and can't get anything going, he's going to want to improve his position. The problem is that Lesnar is so heavy and wide that it could be difficult for even a seasoned grappler such as Mir to execute a transition or a sweep.

And if Mir gets stuck on the bottom then he could be in a ton of trouble. Lesnar's ground and pound looked solid against Kim. You can label Kim a tomato can all you want but if Lesnar gets mount on Mir and his fists and elbows find daylight then you're going to see an early stoppage.

In defense of Mir, there's no way that Lesnar is going to be able to break his guard with his hands like he did to Kim's. He's going to have to work much harder. But because of the strength of the strikes he showed from the mount against Kim the decision to play the bottom against Lesnar is not one Mir wants to make willingly.

3. The confidence game - Mir looked very confident in a recent RawVegas.tv video. But when does a fighter ever publicly show his insecurities? A fighter can't do that because it would be the death of him. I'm not saying that Mir is worried about Lesnar but I do think Mir could be worried about himself. He hasn't been the same fighter since being involved in a serious motorcycle accident, which was apparently a lot worse than most people realize. Conditioning was never one of his strong suits but since coming back from the injury there were a few times when it appeared as though he didn't pay enough of a price in the gym in preparing for his fights.

Lesnar is an intense competitor and an imposing physical presence. If Mir does not come into this fight in the proper frame of mind and fully prepared physically then there's a good chance he will look for a way out if he gets into trouble against Lesnar as opposed to trying to fight through adversity.

It'll be interesting to see if Lesnar can get any kind of edge when the two are standing face-to-face during the pre-fight weigh-in. The old Frank Mir wouldn't have batted an eye but I don't know if I can say that with all confidence about the Frank Mir of today. Lesnar's best days are ahead of him. Can Mir say the same?

4. Lesnar has a game plan for success - Let's keep in mind that the UFC did not propose this match. It was Lesnar who requested this fight. To my knowledge, there is nothing personal between the two. So there had to have been a reason why Lesnar's camp asked for him to debut against a former UFC heavyweight champion. The likely reason is because they obviously see something in Mir's game they feel can be exploited.

Lesnar is training with Greg Nelson in the Minneapolis area. Nelson runs a strong camp with a lot of pro fighters so it's not like some guy without a clue stepped up and requested a fight between Lesnar and Mir.

Lesnar's camp knows something about Mir and they've had several months to install a gameplan. This isn't a case of some arrogant rookie buying into his own hype and just calling out someone randomly. When Lesnar enters the cage at UFC 81 on February 2, he'll be doing so with a blueprint for success.

Mir will have a gameplan of his own, but Lesnar is the better athlete and I think he will be more successful in imposing his will and putting Mir on the defensive.

Will Brock Lesnar ever live up to the hype? I'm not sure. But I am sure he's going to walk away with his hand raised against Frank Mir at UFC 81. Take it to the bank.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com