Throwback: when Joe Rogan was in awe of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's NFL combine stats
Brock Lesnar is one of the most athletically gifted fighters to ever compete in the UFC, and commentator Joe Rogan has attested to that.
In 2016, Joe Rogan was joined by comedians Tony Hinchcliff and Bryan Callen, and former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub on The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE). Their conversation went to pro wrestling. Lesnar's name was brought up as somebody with incredible genetics, and the UFC commentator and podcast host was in awe when his NFL combine stats were shown:
"Look at his 40 (yard dash)...By the way, 283lb, 4-7-40 (4.7 seconds to run 40 yards), 35-inch vertical jump, long jump 10-feet! Standing long jump 10-feet, bench press 225(lbs) for 30 reps. Jesus f****n christ. A running back living in the body of a defensive end. He's a freak."
Rogan added that what made Lesnar's performance even more impressive was that he wasn't even training like an NFL player typically does as he was fresh off his WWE departure in 2004. He mentioned that it was difficult what he did by saying:
"This isn't something he was training for. This isn't a guy that wasn't moving towards being a pro football player."
'The Beast Incarnate' was eventually one of the Minnesota Vikings' final cuts. However, things worked out for the best as he ended up transitioning to MMA, where he won the UFC heavyweight championship and set pay-per-view records for the promotion.
Check out the discussion on Lesnar's NFL combine stats:
Joe Rogan believes Brock Lesnar had the ability to be an all-time great in MMA
Nov15.2008
14 years ago today,
Brock Lesnar became the UFC Heavyweight Champion in his 4th professional fight. https://t.co/2JvRRgZYBG
Joe Rogan believes that Brock Lesnar had the ability to be greater than he was in MMA if he took a different approach when he began.
During his conversation with Tony Hinchcliff, Bryan Callen, and Brendan Schaub, the JRE host wondered what the trajectory of Lesnar's career would look like if he trained under other notable MMA coaches:
"If he had the right coach and the right amount of time, like if he went to a Matt Hume or Firaz Zahabi and they engineered his career from the beginning to the time he's beginning to be introduced to the UFC to the time he's being introduced to high-level competition, he could've been an all-time great."
It's remarkable to think that he fought former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in his second professional fight and even in defeat, proved he belonged in the top MMA promotion in the world.
Lesnar defeated Randy Couture to become UFC heavyweight champion in only his third bout with the promotion. He had two successful title defenses against Mir and Shane Carwin before losing the title to Cain Velasquez.