Is Brock Lesnar the most influential fighter all-time?

Now you might think it's a joke to all die hards that have been watching since Gracie/UFC1, but Lesnar has drawn the top numbers and is taking this sport mainstream. By the time it's said and done I really believe that he will be the one that takes it from Spike TV to a major network and huge PPV numbers. It's sad that he had to do it, but I'm somewhat grateful that the sport is becoming more and more mainstream.

Influential yes but the most influential I would say no. There are guys like Royce, Tito, Randy, and especially Chuck Liddell. Brocks ppvs do great numbers but if u look at the cards he fights on generally they are stacked except for him vs Mir 1. I am a huge Brock fan but he is helping carry the sport mainstream but guys like the ones I mentioned already broke the door down for mainstream.

Didnt we migrate from the ESPN board because of threads like these?

Anwyays, he's a top draw because millions and millions wrestling fans who otherwise don't care about MMA or UFC will order a PPV to watch him. He will not go down as the most influential fighter of all time because he's not that good and won't ever be that good. I still don't get why people are so on this guy. I still think Frank Mir can beat Brock Lesnar on any given night and thats sad because i think Frank Mir is very middle of the pack.

Unpopular opinion. I think Brock is alright but i can't believe real MMA fans are crowning this guy. He is an amzing draw because of his look and support from the WWE fanbase and he has the perfect hype machine behind him.

Im with timmy on this!

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Didnt we migrate from the ESPN board because of threads like these?

Anwyays, he's a top draw because millions and millions wrestling fans who otherwise don't care about MMA or UFC will order a PPV to watch him. He will not go down as the most influential fighter of all time because he's not that good and won't ever be that good. I still don't get why people are so on this guy. I still think Frank Mir can beat Brock Lesnar on any given night and thats sad because i think Frank Mir is very middle of the pack.

Yeah because its an outrageous question right? Please stop acting like this isn't up for debate because it is.

He is carrying this sport from being on Spike TV to getting more attention on ESPN and possibly to a major carrier someday. It doesn't matter where he came from, he is drawing in the people which has every bit of pull as did Gracie. You can argue no one watched when Gracie fought, how did he break down a door? That a smaller guy can beat up bigger guy? I'd love to see a crowd right now watch a Gracie fight, it would look like a grappling match that 90% of the people in the place would boo right out of the octagon.

That said I absolutely HATE Lesnar, but whether you think he is a clown or not he is evolving this sport into what we all want.

MikeyLikesIt wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Didnt we migrate from the ESPN board because of threads like these?

Anwyays, he's a top draw because millions and millions wrestling fans who otherwise don't care about MMA or UFC will order a PPV to watch him. He will not go down as the most influential fighter of all time because he's not that good and won't ever be that good. I still don't get why people are so on this guy. I still think Frank Mir can beat Brock Lesnar on any given night and thats sad because i think Frank Mir is very middle of the pack.

Yeah because its an outrageous question right? Please stop acting like this isn't up for debate because it is.

He is carrying this sport from being on Spike TV to getting more attention on ESPN and possibly to a major carrier someday. It doesn't matter where he came from, he is drawing in the people which has every bit of pull as did Gracie. You can argue no one watched when Gracie fought, how did he break down a door? That a smaller guy can beat up bigger guy? I'd love to see a crowd right now watch a Gracie fight, it would look like a grappling match that 90% of the people in the place would boo right out of the octagon.

That said I absolutely HATE Lesnar, but whether you think he is a clown or not he is evolving this sport into what we all want.

It may appear i don't like Lesnar. But i do. I liked him in WWE. I think he's an intense person but not a clown. I think he is the best HW in UFC but i think the division is weak and not nearly as good as people are all of a sudden giving it credit for. UFC and MMA was only heading up before Lesnar as well and i don't think it's fair to give him all the credit for UFC 100 as GSP is also a huge draw and the card was stacked. Plus with the whole 100 show anniversary and build up, i think the card would have down amazing with or without Lesnar-Mir. I don't think UFC 98 draws near what UFC 100 did if Lesnar-Mir headlined as planned. I think guys like Chuck, Royce, Tito, GSP, Huges, etc will be the most influential. It may be hard to get a bigger draw than Brock because he draws people that don't care about MMA.

Example. Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya have the higest drawing boxing card. Yet, there will always be guys more influential to the sport than them, i don't think you look at drawing power when talking about influence. I think guys i've mentioned are more influential to MMA, while Brock is a guy that's going to draw huge buyrates for a couple years, or atleast untill he loses. I don't think his exposure will help MMA in the long run because i think most people are buying into him for the wrong reasons. Like his attitude, his past and his look, not the sport of MMA.

Brock helps, but MMA didn't need him.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Brock helps, but MMA didn't need him.

Thats the point that alot of people dont get. He is a piece of a puzzle not the whole thing.

"i don't think you look at drawing power when talking about influence."

I agree with this statement by KingsOwn.

There are other fighter's who have influenced us a whole lot more than Brock.

I guess I would start with Ali and Bruce Lee. - Bruce Lee really made martial arts popular in the US and was the first to really blend martial arts into what is truly effective. I consider him the great-grand-father of MMA, and the gracies the grand-father.

Ali was a polarizing polical figure in a addition to an amazing and entertaining fighter. Not only that but he pretty much spawned battle-rap.

Brock is a big draw, but not really influential.

Jruq wrote:

There are other fighter's who have influenced us a whole lot more than Brock.

I guess I would start with Ali and Bruce Lee. - Bruce Lee really made martial arts and the blending of martial arts to what is effective possible. I consider him the great-grand-father of MMA, and the gracies the grand-father.

Ali was a polarizing polical figure in a addition to an amazing and entertaining fighter. Not only that but he pretty much spawned battle-rap.

Brock is a big draw, but not really influential.

+1

Fuck Brock Lesnar.

How anybody can be listed as the most influential over Royce I don't know! He changed the face of sports and martial arts, Brock can only change your appearence. He is a great draw and I don't think he is afraid of anyone. Also, he was just in town and everyone who went to meet him said he was really great and very down to Earth. But I am not a fan due to his actions on the biggest night in the history of MMA. Everything else went smooth and then he opened his big mouth.

I think we may see more wrestlers apply his smothering style to submission fighters, for the aesthetic benefit of the still young sport, of course...

There's a big difference between influence and popularity... Metallica may have very well been the most popular or well known rock band over a ten year span, but I doubt anyone is going to suggest that they were the most influential rock band ever...

Wolfgangsta wrote:

I think we may see more wrestlers apply his smothering style to submission fighters, for the aesthetic benefit of the still young sport, of course...

Yeah, I think so too. We Will call it "Humped into submission"! He is an interesting Cat though, but in the immortal words of Spock "You must Govern your passions or they will be your undoing"

Brocktober was runnin' wild.