Source: Sports 911
Former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar defeats Min Soo Kim
The Royce Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba fight wasn’t the only big name draw on the K1 Fight Dynamite card Friday night. Former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar made his MMA debut at the LA Coliseum with an impressive win over Min Soo Kim.
Many view professional wrestling as supplying a fan base to Mixed Martial Arts along with boxing. But unlike boxing, professional wrestling is still experiencing massive worldwide popularity.
Lesnar’s departure from the WWE left many fans alienated.
After his final match at WrestleMania XX, Lesnar sidelined his career in WWE to pursue a career in the National Football League. This move upset many in WWE, as the company had invested heavily in Lesnar. World Wrestling Entertainment confirmed Lesnar’s departure on their official website WWE.com by the statement
“ Brock Lesnar has made a personal decision to put his WWE career on hold to prepare to tryout for the National Football League this season. Brock has wrestled his entire professional career in the WWE and we are proud of his accomplishments and wish him the best in his new endeavor.”
Lesnar later told a Minnesota radio show that he had three wonderful years in WWE, but had grown unhappy and had always wanted to play pro football, adding that he didn’t want to be 40 years old and wondering if he could have made it in football. In an interview about starting with the NFL, Lesnar made the statement
“ This is no load of bull; it’s no WWE stunt. I am dead serious about this… I ain’t afraid of anything, and I ain’t afraid of anybody. I’ve been an underdog in athletics since I was 5. I got zero college offers for wrestling. Now people say I can’t play football, that it’s a joke. I say I can. I’m as good an athlete as a lot of guys in the NFL, if not better… I’ve always had to fight for everything. I wasn’t the best technician in amateur wrestling. But I was strong, had great conditioning, and a hard head. Nobody could break me. As long as I have that, I don’t give a damn what anybody else thinks.”
Lesnar played in the Minnesota Vikings, where he created controversy in some games by starting minor fights and got heat from the Kansas City Chiefs for a sack on quarterback Damon Huard, which drew a big response from the crowd of 6,000. Huard was knocked silly, and had to go to the sidelines and sit out a few plays. Giving hard hits to quarterbacks in scrimmages violates an unwritten understanding, and the Chiefs were not too happy with him. His actions got him featured on Sports Center on more than one occasion.[57] After playing in a few pre-season games, Lesnar was eventually cut from the team after not showing up for practices due to an injury sustained by a motorcycle ride during the summer of 2004. He declined to accept an invitation to play as a representative of the Vikings in NFL Europe.
Lesnar had previously signed a no-compete clause in order to be released from his contract with WWE, which prohibited him from working for any other sports entertainment or mixed martial arts companies before June 2010. This suit was later settled out of court.
Lesnar signed a one-fight deal with K-1. Royce Gracie, who won his K-1 Dynamite bout as well, served as Lesnar’s trainer.
In just one minute and nine seconds Lesnar defeated South Korean judo expert Min Soo Kim Saturday evening in LA.
