Jim Ross has posted his latest blog, looking at Brock Lesnar’s UFC Heavyweight title win over Randy Couture at UFC 91 on Saturday night.

Ross’ blogs always make for a good read and this is no exception as he looks at the “hate” from many in the MMA community towards Lesnar.

“Simply being billed as a former WWE Champion was enough to make some MMA fans “hate” the 6′3″-275 pounder from day one,” he wrote. “By the boos I heard Saturday night on PPV, many UFC hardcore’s still despise Lesnar and perhaps even more so now that Lesnar is “their” heavyweight champion and more specifically because Brock defeated “Captain America”, the beloved, and deservedly respected, Randy Couture in such a dominating, no questions asked fashion.”

Lesnar’s win has received a mixed reaction, with many long-time MMA fans unhappy with the result in Las Vegas.

Judging on feedback we’ve received since Saturday night, there is definitely a number of fans who view Lesnar’s victory as bad for the UFC and the industry as a whole.

And if you had a look on some of the popular MMA forums in the hours after Lesnar’s win, you’d see that there were some that thought this was the end of the world. Madness.

But why the hate? I’m sure there are some fans who resent that Lesnar is a former wrestler and that a “fake” fighter coming into the UFC harms the business. I call BS on that. I can understand some of the booing though, as a result of who Lesnar defeated.

On Lesnar being a former WWE star, Ross continued: “The pro wrestling bias isn’t new nor is it going away any time soon. Some former wrestlers have reluctantly had to distance themselves from the genre to become successful in other fields. That’s not because these individuals don’t respect the fans or the wrestling business but it’s because the decision makers of their new endeavors don’t want to be associated with the wrestling biz.

“That’s sad.

“Brock Lesnar will likely never earn the full respect of the die hard, MMA, hard core fans. That’s their loss. Lesnar is not without his faults, the same as any other human, but no one with a modicum of common sense can deny Brock’s God given athletic gifts and the fact that because of his upbringing and his amateur wrestling background that Lesnar has a work ethic, and an ego, that will drive him to be the best in his field.”

While Ross didn’t really mention it, personally I wonder how much the hate towards Lesnar is because of him being a natural heel. MMA fans are perhaps still unaware of that. When he’s cutting his heel promos in the Octagon, perhaps some fans are unaware that Lesnar is doing what a heel should do: He’s playing his part in selling the fight.

A few years ago, Lesnar was WWE’s “Next Big Thing” and like Ross, I definitely agree that Lesnar is now “The Next Big Thing” today in the UFC, even if that is the minority view right now.

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com