WWE superstar Brock Lesnar exceeded expectations after he signed with the UFC.
Although Lesnar lost his UFC debut against Frank Mir in 2008, he was given another chance, which he fully capitalized on. Four professional MMA fights later, Lesnar was the UFC heavyweight champion after demolishing Randy Couture in a second-round TKO.
“I had a one-fight (UFC) deal, and I was like, ‘Please just give me another shot at this,'” Lesnar said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “Boom, then it just took off. Then I fought Heath Herring and then I got Randy Couture and won the belt.”
Not only did Lesnar become champion, he became one of the sport’s biggest draws and highest paid fighters on the UFC roster. But having majorly contributed to those big events, Lesnar thinks he should have been better compensated better.
“Dana’s all right,” Lesnar said. “I’ve got a lot of money from him. I probably should have got paid more, maybe.”
When asked to compare his relationship with UFC president Dana White and WWE CEO Vince McMahon, Lesnar said it’s hard for him to do so since he’s had a lot of ups and downs with McMahon through the years.
“I really can’t compare the two guys,” Lesnar said. “Honestly, my relationship with Vince is so different than it is with Dana over the years. Vince and I have had a love-hate relationship for the last 20 years, but it’s been good. We’ve got a lot of water under the bridge. I have a lot of respect for both men.
“But dealing with Dana, it’s just a totally different business approach. I met Vince when I was younger. I look at Vince more as a father figure actually because I’ve learned a lot of things from him, and I was able to carry those things over and handle business with Dana. Vince is a self-made person, so is Dana. Took the company and made it public.”
Although Lesnar admits he doesn’t really follow MMA now, he’d like to see the UFC do a better job of building their stars.
“I don’t watch a lot of fighting anymore,” Lesnar said. “It’s just (that) there’s so many guys, it’s hard to follow. I wish Dana could figure out how to book things different and like – come on, man, let’s start getting behind some of these guys and protect somebody for a while so that they can become a household name and you can cha-ching them. But he’s in the business of putting on super fights every week, and it’s tough to do, and it’s tough to stay on top.”
