I'm getting pretty sick of "hardcore" MMA fans who keep dumping on Brock Lesnar. If you don't like him, that's fine. If you don't know why you don't like but there's just something about him you don't like, I'll take that too. But most of the reasons I hear are so full of shit I think some MMA fans need a history lesson.

Reason #1 Brock's hated on is that he doesn't have/use skill or technique, he just uses his size to bully other fighters. I have two problems with this. One, he's a former NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion and finalist. He has the skills to take you down and keep you down and has adapted that into a very good ground and pound game. It's no different than Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman, Tito Ortiz, Dan Henderson, or any other former amateur wrestler who has decided to get into MMA. Sure, they're more rounded fighters at this point than Brock but we're still very early into his career and he can still develop those other skills just like the rest of them have. Two, his size is just like using any other physical attribute to you're advantage. BJ Penn has freakish flexibility that helps his takedown defense and jujitsu and Anderson Silva has ridiculous speed that helps his stand-up. No one puts down their physical advantage and just because you're bigger doesn't mean you're better, you need to know how to use your size and have the skills that come along with it.

That brings me to Reason #2, he's too big. A lot of people complain they should add either a cruiserweight or a super heavyweight division because the weight discrepancy between the bigger heavyweights like Brock or Shane Carwin and smaller heavyweights like Randy or Fedor is just too much. I can agree with that to a point but like I said earlier, size isn't everything and if you don't have the skills you're size will be exploited, just look at Kimo Leopoldo or Tim Sylvia. These two guys were almost always the biggest guy in the ring/cage when they fought but their win/loss record shows that big isn't everything. You can't tell me he doesn't have any skill than turn around and say he's too big. That excuse goes against the theory of most martial arts and how strength and size don't matter but technique will win every time. Now, you give someone with size and strength technique you're in a different argument.

Reason #3 that haters like to use is that his record/experience didn't merit him a title shot and he should've payed his dues. You know what, it didn't and he should've but he still won the title and defended it (convincingly) against a deserving contender who was also the only guy to beat him. Sometimes I wonder, though, when he got the title shot, who was more deserving? Mir and Nog? Definitely, but they were in the middle of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 and were gonna fight for the Interm Heavyweight Title (which Mir got a shot at after beating Brock). They weren't gonna make Randy wait 4-6 more months after UFC 92 on top of all the time he already missed. Who's next? Cheick Kongo? He lost to Heath Herring earlier that year, Heath Herring just lost (badly) to Brock, Gabriel Gonzaga already lost to Randy and had lost earlier in the year to Fabricio Werdum, Werdum was already set to fight Junior dos Santos (which he lost), and dos Santos (aside from being set to fight Werdum) had only slightly more experience than Brock without the name value. The same can be said for Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. Who else was there?

The #4 reason I hear is that he's disrespectful and all the showboating and post-fight antics don't belong in MMA, it's a bunch of WWF/WWE stuff. I know it's been a long time but did we forget how Tito acted after a dominant win? He didn't just talk trash after, he had t-shirts talking trash, too! And the last time I checked, Tito's one of the most beloved fighters ever. He does have his fair share of haters and if you don't like that stuff that's fine but don't tell me it only belongs in pro-wrestling. It's been in MMA for a long time and boxing before it (look up Cassius Clay). And if you've noticed, Brock only seems to be disrespectful when he feels disrespected. He wasn't disrespectful with Randy cause Randy wasn't disrespectful towards him. Mir, Herring, and now Carwin all came out and talked about how he isn't a real fighter and this isn't the WWE and he also got boo'd by the fans in Vegas, so he retaliated. Now I'm not sure what Bud Light said about him but I'm sure they deserved it... OK, that part was just weird but let's not forget less than an hour before spouting off on Mir after beating the shit out of him, Hendo said in his interview with Joe Rogan that the second shot on Bisbing after knocking him the fuck out was just to shut him up and he got a loud cheer. What's the difference? And what's with the negative attitude toward pro-wresting? I understand fans not wanting MMA to turn into that circus but don't forget that 3 of the UFC's 7 hall-of-famers (Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Mark Coleman) plus a former UFC Heavyweight Champion (Kevin Randdleman) and the winner of two UFC tournaments (Don Frye) have all been professional wrestlers. I don't remember them being looked down on for their other profession.

And Reason #5 I only heard the other day (and it made me scratch my head) is that he's only in it for the money. I think you're really reaching if you're using this one. They're all in it for the money. Love of fighting and being the best only goes so far, at some point you wanna get paid. We all gotta work and you may as well do something you're good at and he's proven he's good at it. To quote Nick Naylor, "Everyone's got a mortgage to pay."

I guess what I'm trying to say is there are lots of reasons to dislike Brock Lesnar just make it a good one. He's cocky, disrespectful, and not really the best heavyweight in the world (i.e. not better than Fedor), sure. He's a big unskilled pro wrestler who's only in it for the money, try again.