S.D. native Brock Lesnar pounds out his legacy, fist by fist

By Matt Zimmer, Argus Leader | Monday, December 15, 2008

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- When Brock Lesnar defeated Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Randy Couture last month in a pay-per-view heavyweight bout, the Webster native broadened his celebrity appeal.

But it took a while to find his true calling.

Lesnar wrestled and played football at Webster High School before becoming an NCAA wrestling champion at the University of Minnesota, a pro wrestling icon known as "The Next Big Thing" and an unsuccessful NFL hopeful with the Minnesota Vikings.

This time Lesnar -- whose UFC heavyweight bout with Couture drew a record 1.2 million pay-per-view buys -- might stick around for a while. He feels at home within the increasingly mainstream culture of mixed martial arts.

"I'm done bouncing around trying to figure out what I want to do with my life," Lesnar said in a phone interview while weaving through Twin Cities traffic. "(MMA) has been everything I hoped for and more. With the way this sport is going, I feel like this is the tip of the iceberg. I'm still pretty inexperienced at this, and I'm going to keep working to sharpen my skills."

His agent, Brian Stegeman, puts it more bluntly: "This is what Brock was born to do. He's not the Next Big Thing anymore. He's the Big Thing."

With Lesnar firmly fixed in the national spotlight, is it time to place the 31-year-old alongside Mike Miller, Chad Greenway and Becky Hammon on the state's Mount Rushmore of sports figures?

To a new generation of fans in the Sioux Falls area -- where local amateur bouts draw crowds of almost 1,000 -- the answer is a resounding yes.

"I was always a big fan of (pro wrestling), but now I'm more into ultimate fighting," said Felix Rodriguez, a 23-year-old Sioux Falls fan. "So to see Brock Lesnar go from WWE to UFC is awesome. He's going to take over ultimate fighting."

Making a splash

Lesnar was a quick study in MMA.

The Twin Cities resident was given a shot at the heavyweight title after only three pro fights. Other fighters might have been more deserving, but UFC president Dana White recognized the chance to make a big splash, and Lesnar jumped at the opportunity.

Despite Lesnar's physical advantage -- he's 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, to 6-1 and 220 for the 45-year-old Couture -- most pegged the South Dakota native as an underdog in the Nov. 15 "UFC 91" fight in Las Vegas.

Lesnar, though, dropped Couture with a right hook to the side of the head, then moved in for the kill, pummeling him with strikes until the referee stopped the fight and declared a technical knockout in the second round.

Only four fights into his UFC career, Lesnar was heavyweight champ.

Despite the fast rise, those aware of Lesnar's legitimate wrestling background were not surprised by the outcome.

Tom Meester, a two-time national wrestling champion at Augustana College who now coaches at various levels, said he expected a Lesnar victory.

"I think people in the wrestling community knew it was going be a butt-kicking," Meester said. "A lot of the guys in MMA study wrestling, but unless you've done it your whole life, you don't know how a body is going to move. You have to put in the time to get a feel for that."

All the right moves

Lesnar agreed, saying that while MMA combines many fight styles, his wrestling background is the foundation of his success.

"Without it, I wouldn't be where I am," Lesnar said, crediting Webster High coach John Schiley for his skills. "I'm able to mold myself into a well-rounded fighter, and it's helped me be able to stay agile. Not a lot of heavyweights can move like I can."

Good for wrestling

Meester said Lesnar's success will mean only good things for wrestling at all levels.

"Within the last 10 years or so, schools were cutting programs all over; it was a sad time for wrestling," Meester said. "Now there's kind of a rebirth, and I think MMA plays a big part in it. It's basically the 'pro' option for wrestlers, and I think more kids could get hooked because of guys like Brock."

Brock the brand

White, the UFC president, knew what he was doing when he pushed Lesnar to the front of the line for a title shot.

Many MMA fans also are pro wrestling fans, so the name recognition has been there. Also, his NCAA wrestling pedigree gives him the kind of credibility that the last MMA hype machine, Kimbo Slice, lacked.

Now that Lesnar has the belt, he's given the UFC a bona fide crossover star.

"He's a truly larger-than-life character, but there's also this very tangible human quality to him," says Stegeman, whose client is scheduled to face the winner of UFC 92 -- either Frank Mir (who handed Lesnar a defeat in his MMA debut) or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueiro -- sometime next year.

"There aren't a lot of 265-pound guys with his charisma and personality. He's a guy's guy. He's a hunter, a fighter, a football fan -- he's the kind of guy other guys can get behind. From a marketability standpoint, he should be huge for MMA."

Humble champ

It's been a remarkable 31 years for Lesnar.

He's managed to claim heavyweight championships in three different circuits -- NCAA wrestling, pro wrestling and UFC.

He lived his dream by trying out for the Vikings, which some dismissed as a publicity stunt. But Lesnar impressed then-Minnesota coach Mike Tice enough to earn an invitation to play for the team's NFL Europe squad (he declined).

Most recently, he married former wrestler/model/Playmate Rena Mero, who is expecting the couple's first child in June (Lesnar has a 6-year-old daughter, Mya, from a previous relationship).

But, Lesnar says, he doesn't spend time "keeping score." He simply looks ahead to his next challenge. Having said that, he makes a firm point that his South Dakota roots are never far from his heart and mind.

"I wouldn't be where I am today without the people in my life," said Lesnar, who lamented that training prevented him from returning to Webster to hunt deer. "My mom and dad, my high school and college coaches and so many other people. I believed in myself, but they also believed in me. I'm glad to have come from South Dakota and had the upbringing that I did. That's my home, and it always will be."