TUF 13 Brock Lesnar Vs. Junior dos Santos

Few of us figured we would see Brock Lesnar going head-to-head with Junior dos Santos on TUF 13 in a coaching duel. Just as few guessed we would witness Lesnar take on the Brazilian super striker in June. But on Tuesday, that’s exactly what UFC President Dana White told us is going to happen. And with that news, we have a very interesting fight to look forward to midway through 2011.

Here’s what these fighters bring to the table.

Brock Lesnar: On one hand, Lesnar, not dos Santos, has held the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt. On the other hand, we’re talking about a guy with only seven professional MMA bouts to his credit and a 5-2 record. Many of us (this writer included), jumped on the Lesnar bandwagon after he defeated Heath Herring, Randy Couture, Frank Mir, and Shane Carwin consecutively perhaps a little too quickly. Though he started his career by putting the hurt on opponents with some big punches on his feet (Herring, Couture, and even knocked Mir’s equilibrium a tad in their first fight), his recent bouts against Carwin and Cain Velasquez have left something to be desired in the striking department. More specifically, when he’s been tagged his defenses have faltered pretty badly, seeming to get confused and disoriented all too quickly.

But to forget Lesnar’s strengths would be a mistake. First, he’s a physical marvel. When it comes to a combination of power, sheer size, and athleticism for someone so big, Lesnar is unrivaled. What’s more, he is an elite wrestler, a man that once took home both the 1998 NJCAA Heavyweight and 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Championships. All told, Lesnar managed a 106-5 wrestling record over four years in college, all of which he achieved All American status during.

Which lends to the notion that you do not want to be underneath Lesnar for any length of time on the ground. By the way, he’s also learned a lot about submission defense, as he proved in his second fight against Mir.

Junior dos Santos: No, dos Santos is not nearly as well-known as Lesnar is; and no, he hasn’t held the UFC heavyweight belt. But he has competed in more professional fights than his adversary, posting a 12-1 MMA record. Dos Santos holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and benefits from the tutelage of MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. That said, beyond demonstrating some pretty impressive takedown defense against Roy “Big Country” Nelson in his last fight, we haven’t seen much in the line of ground fighting from the Brazilian, as he doesn’t tend to end up there.

What we have witnessed is some amazing striking, which isn’t so surprising considering dos Santos also has a kickboxing background. In sum, he hits very hard and uses his hands, particularly those uppercuts of his, like few in the game today. Dos Santos is simply an elite striker.

The Final Word on Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos: This fight can probably best be broken down in simple grappler vs. striker terms. Though dos Santos sports a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has trained with Nogueira, one still has to figure that if Mir couldn’t last long on his back against Lesnar, dos Santos will have trouble if he ends up in that predicament.

On the flip side, if Lesnar couldn’t handle Velasquez’s striking- which is good- then dos Santos’s stand up will likely put the hurt on him pretty quickly, even if we do assume he improves in that regard.

In the end, I don’t think if dos Santos gets wrapped up by Lesnar he’ll be able to continue to stand or get back up easily, as Velasquez recently did. Nope, the real questions in this fight are the following:

1. Can Lesnar take dos Santos down before he gets tagged and submit/TKO him?

2. Is dos Santos savvy and tough enough on the ground to survive that initial onslaught, if that’s where he ends up?

3. If dos Santos does survive, will Lesnar’s wrestling advantage and cardio allow him to continually take his opponent down through three rounds?

4. Can Lesnar survive on his feet against dos Santos for a significant length of time (I don’t think he can)?

UFC President Explains Choice of ‘TUF 13’ Coaches

While getting dos Santos on board may have been relatively painless, the UFC executive could not say the same about the notoriously curmudgeonly Lesnar.

“In dealing with Brock, one minute, he can be into something, and the next minute, he can completely be not into something,” White explained. “I’m already prepared for this, mentally, and it’s gonna be a tough season. I know it is.”

Though Lesnar has only three years and seven bouts’ worth of MMA experience, White bristled at the notion that the 33-year-old was unsuited to the task of coaching on the reality program, which premieres March 30 on Spike TV.

“The guy’s a former world champion, has beat guys and held the title. No matter what his record is, what the guy has accomplished in the short amount of time that he’s been in MMA is incredible,” White said. “To say the guy doesn’t have the credentials to coach ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.”

Dana White about Lesnar and WWE

After Lesnar had his heavyweight crown taken by Velasquez in a brutal October drubbing, rumors swirled that the former NCAA Division I wrestling champion was looking to retire from MMA and possibly return to pro-wrestling.

“None of that was true,” White said. “Obviously, I was in communication with Brock and his team, and talking to them the whole time... There was no wheeling and dealing about the WWE. I think everybody knows how I feel about that. He’s under contract with me.”