When you closely look at the top 3 fighters in the UFC heavyweight division you undoubtedly see lots of potential, but more importantly you see lots of question marks. At least I do! The top 3 in the class are Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. Are they really as good as most say they are?
Lesnar is the seated champion, having beaten a very old, much smaller Randy Couture to earn the strap. He is ranked the #2 HW in the world by most. The question is, WHY? What has he done to be ranked as the second best HW fighter in the world? Let's look at his accomplishments as a professional mixed martial artist. His record is 4-1, for a total of 5 pro fights. He has fought as a pro for a TOTAL of 33 minutes. Thirty-three minutes! Remove his 15 minute snoozefest decision win over Heath Herring and he's fought a total of 18 minutes. In most peoples eyes, that makes him a virtual novice. Can a novice of the sport, with such limited experience and accomplishments be considered the second best fighter in his weight class in the world? I emphatically say HELL NO! Let's look at his 4 wins. Did you comprehend that last sentence? Yes, he has a total of 4 wins. I already mentioned his decision victory over Herring. Brock controlled that fight but couldn't finish a fighter he had hurt from a big punch early in the first round. Other than that one punch, it was a rather uneventful affair with Lesnar just using his superior size and strength to lay 'n' pray his way to a boring decision. Where is Herring now? Where was he ranked at the time? Lesnar's first pro win was over Min Soo Kim in that pathetic K-1 show at LA Coliseum in June of '07. You mean you never heard of Kim? Don't worry, no one has! Brock also beat Frank Mir in their rematch, having lost to him in their first fight. Mir exposed how green Lesnar was by easily submitting him with a kneebar, a minute and a half into their first encounter. Brock bullied Mir in the rematch, again, using his much superior size and strength. Anyone with a younger brother, has done the same thing a million times. It wasn't as much a display of superior technique as it was a display of the laws of physics. Then there's the fight that won Brock the belt. He beat Randy Couture in a little over a round and a half. Let's keep in mind that Randy was closer to 50 years old at the time, than he was to 40, and weighed 60 pounds less than Brock did. Randy beat an injured Tim Sylvia to get the belt. Without Zuffa's preferential treatment of Couture he wouldn't and shouldn't have been near a title shot against Sylvia in the first place. We've all seen where Big Tim's career has gone since. Lesnar undoubtedly has a very accomplished collegiate wrestling pedigree and is a huge, athletic man, but what has he done as a pro fighter to warrant all the praise he gets or his ranking? Ranking should be based on accomplishments, not potential. Moving forward, Brock's difficult bout with severe diverticulitis and his lengthy layoff due to that are even bigger question marks as to just how good he is and how good he will end up being. Given all that, can Brock Lesnar realistically be considered the best or second best HW in the world? If you have even half a brain, you realize the answer is NO!
Shane Carwin is getting the next crack at Lesnar's belt in early July. Shane is another behemoth of a man, with a strong wrestling base and heavy hands. He has a very impressive 12-0 record with none of his fights getting out of the first round, winning 7 of them by KO or TKO. Unbelievably, Carwin has less than 17 minutes of total professional fighting experience. Is it that Shane is that good or is it that he has fought a bunch of scrubs? That remains to be seen. His biggest win was over Frank Mir in his last fight at UFC 111. Aside from that, the only fighter he's ever beaten that was ever a Top 10 ranked HW was Gabriel Gonzaga. Of his other 10 victims, not one name will pop out as a fighter that will ever do anything significant in the sport. That said, credit has to be given to Shane for virtually destroying everyone that's been put in front of him. His real tests as a fighter are ahead of him but the title is his for the taking. He couldn't get Brock at a better time, coming off a serious illness and a long layoff. And again, Brock only has 5 fights under his belt. I think Shane is a more skilled fighter than Lesnar and should win the fight. Their size, strength and wrestling will negate each other. Shane's heavy hands will be the difference. But in all honesty, you can't look at Shane Carwin as a world class striker. Against a fighter like Lesnar he might end up looking like one, but we have yet to see him fight a seriously skilled stand-up striker. Again, many, many question marks.
The last of the big 3 in the UFC HW division is Cain Velasquez. Like Carwin, Cain is undefeated and he sports an impressive 8-0 record. Also like Carwin, his list of opponents is far from impressive. His biggest win was his KO victory over Big Nog. While it was definitely Cain's best performance, there is a strong argument to be made about Nog being well past his prime and having a cracked chin. Much like Chuck Liddell, Nog never got knocked out until late in his career and now seems very susceptible to being KO'd. It happens. Fighters can only take so much punishment over many years of fighting and it all catches up to them. Other than beating Nog, Cain got a gift win with a bad ref stoppage over Big Ben Rothwell. He was winning the fight at the time the ref stepped in but Ben was not finished, not even close. He also beat Cheik Kongo, but so has Carmelo Marrera. More importantly, Cheik dropped Cain three times in the fight from questionable punches. There's no doubt that Cain showed excellent recovery skills, but his chin has to be in question after seeing that fight. Again, lots of potential, but limited experience and many question marks.
Brock, Shane and Cain have a combined 25 fights between them, against relatively weak competition. Is that enough to consider them three of the best heavyweights in the world? Until they beat some better, more proven fighters, I have to say no. At least some things will be cleared up when Shane and Brock fight. Or will they? I can hear the excuses already if Shane wins. Keyboard warriors across the globe will say how Shane beat a fighter who has only had 6 fights and is coming off a major illness and a very long layoff. Would they be wrong to say that? That's the truth, isn't it? Given Brock's troublesome last year or so, him winning this fight would seem to be the bigger achievement of the two and the much bigger story. Besides his recovery from being sick, ring rust is a real thing and hard to overcome. So ultimately, regardless of the outcome, the questions will still remain.
As far as other heavyweight fighters outside of the UFC, you have the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, his brother Aleks, Alistair Overeem, Bigfoot Sylva, Josh Barnett and Fabricio Werdum, all of whom have more fights and against tougher competition than the UFC's big 3. Until we see these fighters actually fight one another, saying who is better is purely subjective. That's why MMAth and rankings are virtually useless, but it seems to be the only language most MMA enthusiasts speak these days. Sign language might work a little better as the signs are all there for everyone to see. Until further notice, the hype surrounding Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez is as overblown as Brock's formerly 'roided muscles.
No doubt, the potential is there with all 3 of these fighters. You would have to be a fool not to see that. But let's not give anyone legendary status before they truly deserve it. The UFC might be the biggest MMA promotion on the planet, but it doesn't mean they have all the best talent.
It's all about smoke 'n' mirrors!
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Using this logic, you can shoot down Rogers and Overeem as well. Rogers has one win of significance and that was against Arloviski, a man who is a shadow of what he once was. And Overeem has beaten nobody at HW.
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