Brock Lesnar is surprisingly good at avoiding the media spotlight when he doesn’t want to be in it, especially considering the guy is huge at 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds. But the reclusive superstar is currently out of hiding to promote this Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam, featuring a headline bout between himself and The Undertaker.
Of course, you don’t just promote an event like this just by talking about SummerSlam itself. You go around to all the big sports channel news shows and say a bunch of controversial stuff, like “The UFC and WWE are identical” and “Vince McMahon is a better promoter than [UFC prez] Dana White!”
Then, there’s this quick quip about UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey (via Fox Sports):
“I think she’s a super athlete in a weak division. I really do,” Lesnar said while appearing on ESPN on Tuesday. “She is a man amongst women in the women’s division.”
Wow, what a… nice thing to say? It’s almost as nice as Floyd Mayweather’s recent backhanded “I wish whoever the heck Ronda Rousey is all the best” compliment. It’s also kinda ironic because many considered him “a super athlete in a weak division” when he held the UFC heavyweight strap from 2008 through 2010. His run included wins over Randy Couture (who isn’t even a real heavyweight), Frank Mir (who was coming out the tail end of a painkiller addiction), and Shane Carwin (who retired shortly after because his spine was so messed up).
Then, the current generation of UFC heavyweights appeared. Cain Velasquez took the belt off Brock in just over four minutes, and then Alistair Overeem kicked him in his diverticulitis-weakened gut so hard that Lesnar never stepped into the Octagon again. It’s hard to imagine Brock Lesnar breaking into the top five with today’s heavyweights… which is probably why the guy is about to wrestle The Undertaker at SummerSlam instead of preparing for a UFC fight.
Not that he’s wrong on Rousey, but, as we just illustrated, a lot can change in two quick years. While the rest of the women in the bantamweight division don’t look so hot right now compared to Ronda Rousey, it only takes one more special athlete to appear with her own unique skillset to turn everything on its head.
(via Cageside Seats)