Who can take out the Juggernaut of the UFC? A look into the heavyweight division

Ever wonder what would happen if the world of the X-men and the UFC mixed? Well, they did and produced the Juggernaut known as Brock Lesnar.

At UFC 100, we bore witness to a man who may be unstoppable. The question on everyone’s mind that night was, who can stop this guy?

His size and power has been overwhelming for his opponents and few, if any, can match him mano a mano. But titans have entered the realm of MMA before and failed, ie Bob Sapp (6f’ 4”, 322lbs) and Hong Man Choi. (7’ 2”, 367lbs).

But Lesnar (4-1) is a different animal. He’s a distinguished amateur wrestler with remarkable ability and an appetite for fighting. Not just a freak of nature. Even Joe Roegan mentioned during the UFC 100 broadcast, Lesnar was born to wreak havoc. What a sight it must of have been, had he been born centuries ago, to see him rushing towards you, mounted on his steed (or his wife), hurling the largest battle ax known to man.

So, who can defeat the Juggernaut? Let’s take a look at the top contenders…

Shane Carwin  (Undefeated)

One of the few men who can match his size and power, even has a larger hand than Lesnar at 5XL, has called out the Juggernaut. Several spoke out publicly against Lesnar’s disrespect of the fans and the organization’s sponsors, but none as outspoken as Carwin (11-0), “This sport is not about fat paychecks and drama. It’s about hard work and sacrifice…from leaving the venue (UFC 100) all the way to the airport, I have had fans of the sport ask me to take out Brock Lesnar for them.”

Carwin (6’ 3”, 262lbs) shares a similar pedigree to Lesnar with being a NCAA II wrestling champion and a two-time collegiate All-American football player. His most notable victory has come over one time top contender Gabriel Gonzaga, via knock out with a short right a minute into the first round. Carwin, whose favorite move is the “Slam”, poses the most legitimate threat to taking on Lesnar at his own game. But he must first get through Cain Velasquez in October at UFC 104.

Randy “The Natural” Couture (Loss to Lesnar)

One of the most beloved fighters still in the game today, “Captain America”, at the age of 46 is looking for a rematch against Lesnar. Couture (16-9) told Inside MMA “A rematch would be fun” and feels that he has the skills to defeat him. The Natural went on to say he underestimated Brock’s stand up and he was much quicker than expected.

Couture (6’ 2”, 220lbs) is a former three-time UFC World Heavyweight Champion and former two-time UFC World Light Heavyweight Champion. Four time Alternate to the Olympic Games, Couture may possess the knowledge to defeat the Juggernaut but his fountain of youth may be drawing dry. While Couture ages, Lesnar skills continue to grow as he becomes more of a complete fighter. In the case of Couture, age is never the defining factor, but as it is for the rest of Lesnar’s competitiors, it is his size and strength. For a man who has to cut to make the maximum weight requirement, Lesnar appears twice the size of Couture. Before we can begin to speculate, he first must overcome what many people at one time considered invulnerable, Antonio “Minotauro” Rodgrigo Noguiera. They headline the event at UFC 102 when the UFC goes to Portland, Oregon for the first time on August 29^th.

Antonio “Minotauro” Rodgrigo Noguiera (Loss to Mir)

Many believed that “Minotauro” was impenetrable, with super hero like ability to take punishment, Minotauro (6’ 3”, 240lbs) has tasted victory after the brink of defeat. Then the impossible happened, Frank Mir TKO Noguiera. Mir himself did not believe the success he had and humbly believed that he would have to achieve the impossible to obtain his rematch with Lesnar.

To Minotauro’s (31-5-1) defense, he suffered from a staph infection that looked like it gave him a free trip to the all you can eat buffet when he was suppose to be in the gym training. His old training coach has stated that when Noguiera faced Mir, even despite the illness, looked horrible. Unfortunately, Noguiera has delivered far from impressive victories in the Octagon. If Noguiera is to have a crack at Lesnar, he will have to get pass Couture and regained what many people have believed the “second only to Fedor” title. 

Cain Velasquez (Undefeated)

There is much hype to this kid, deeming him to be the next best thing in the heavyweight division. They are promoting this young buc very much the same way they did Brandon “the truth” Vera as a young hungry complete fighter in an aging division needing new blood.

Yet, with a lackluster victory over Cheick Kongo, he has stalled his meteoric rise to the top contender spot. Velasquez (6’ 1”, 240lbs) was quick to apologize for his unanimous decision and not ending the fight sooner as many expected him to do so. Whether it was an off night for Velasquez (11-0) or that he may be still too green, will be decided in October when he faces Carwin.

THE LAST EMPEROR (Undefeated the last NINE years) - Affliction

Fedor Emelianenko (6’, 231lbs) is a force many have stated, inhuman. Remember in Rocky IV where the Russian meets Apollo Creed and kills him in the ring with a cool iciness, well, Fedor is that and some. And that’s an understatement. Fedor’s (30-1) only loss came by a referee stoppage because a cut above his eye via an illegal elbow. Since the fight was in a tournament format and no draws or no contests can be awarded, the fight was ruled a loss due to Fedor’s forced dismissal.

When PRIDE dissolved in 2007 and was bought out by the UFC, it left the undisputed pound for pound king without any worthy opponents. And so the UFC President Dana White poked fun of a champion who had no real tests before him in the last two years. White was on top of the world until his former UFC Champions went to challenge the Last Emperor for his throne.

Former two-time UFC Champion, Tim Sylvia (6’8”, 285) was the first formidable opponent and many wondered whether Fedor had lost his dominance. The Last Emperor demolished the former champion in less than 30 seconds with strikes and finishing it with the Mata Leon (rear-naked choke).

The next in line was Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlosvki (6’4”, 245), who looked liked he may have had the size and speed advantage and who definitely had the knock out power behind it all. The million dollar fighter (Alorsvki was paid a million for the fight, excluding ppv) was being trained by Freddie Roach, former boxing trainer of Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson and current boxing pound for pound champ, Manny Pacquiao. Many believed Arlosvki might finally pose the skill set to finally dethrone Fedor, and from the first minute of the fight, it looked to be the case.

Living by the Sniper’s code of attack, “one shot, one kill”, that’s all it took from the Russian military experiment as he sent the Belasurian to sleep from an overhand right as he went for a flying knee after boxing Fedor into the ropes.

Fedor’s next opponent is yet another former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Josh Barnett, which after the fight ends, so does his contract with Affliction. Dana White has attempted before to bring the Emperor to a new kingdom for him to conquer but failed miserably.

In the post conference of UFC 100 Dana White made it clear, “eventually Fedor’s going to be here. I want Fedor. I want him to come to the UFC. We’ll get that deal done, and then it will be Brock vs. Fedor, and it will be a huge fight.” A huge fight? That fight would be so big that you wouldn’t need any of the fighters to show up.

The Last Emperor vs. the Juggernaut could finally solve the long time question of who would win between the unstoppable force and the unmovable object that John Madden’ is always talking about.

Honorable Mentions

Junior Dos Santos (Undefeated in the UFC, 2-0)

Receiving a huge cap in his feather, Dos Santos (6’4”, 238lbs) defeated Fabricio Werdum by way of knock out in the second minute of the first round in his debut bout. Dos Santos is rumored to meet Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 103.

Cheick Kongo (Loss to Cain Velasquez)

The French fighter is an outstanding kickboxer but unfortunately, that is all he is, as he has shown the ground game of a turtle falling back on its shell. And I’m not talking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but the special kind of turtles that you have to bottle feed otherwise they’ll starve to death. Kongo (6’4”, 240lbs) can be a terror in the UFC division if he can learn some wrestling and jiu jitsu. Maybe Kongo (24-5-1) needs to go the Congo in Brazil to get crazy with the Gracie’s and unleash the beast within instead of training with them French maids. But then again, who can blame him for living it up.