As popular as the sport is right now, it is easy to forget that there was a point where UFC was near bankrupt and they didn't know how much longer the UFC, definitely the largest promotion both then and now, was going to be able to hang on. The early events went by with almost nobody noticing, and for much of the world, it was still illegal for the events to happen. It was banned from taking place in the United States in my early years, and since the Internet didn't have the speeds that it does now finding a pirate copy of it online wasn't as easy as it would be now. There were probably only a handful of people that could handle uploading/downloading files of that magnitude, and they were far more interested in videogames and pron. The events would end up on VHS (yes, UFC is that old) and DVD but in many places in the world, including where I lived these were still illegal but we got our hands on a few of them only to find out that they were kind of boring.
But then someone who was already extremely famous for other reasons wanted to try his hand at the sport and quietly started doing very well in it during a WWE break over in Japan. He needs no introduction but it would not be a lie to say that for many people, the only reason why they started watching was because a face they knew from WWE was going to be squaring off in the Octagon.
We've seen that not many WWE superstars can just crossover to actual combat sports, CM Punk proved that beyond a doubt. There is a big difference between Brock and Punk though in that Brock was an extremely accomplished wrestler and overall just a physical beast well before even contemplating putting the gloves on. In his first match all the way back in 2007 he managed to submit his first ever opponent with STRIKES in just over a minute. I have not seen many people submit because they are getting punched too hard but if someone was going to pull it off, I would imagine it would be by a guy that has legs for arms.
This came after he had been involved in professional wrestling for 7 years and there was already locker room rumors that Brock was getting fed up with being involved in a "fake sport." He kept KayFabe of course, but years later behind the scenes footage would emerge of him constantly butting heads with Vince McMahon... over what? We can only guess but Brock was one of the few men in the industry that Vince wouldn't fuck with, he is that scary of a person.
Lesnar continued to draw attention to himself despite the fact that he was losing just about as frequently as he was winning. One thing that was basically guaranteed with a Lesnar fight was that it was going to be entertaining and also the cross-promotion with UFC was working out very well for both brands. Some would say that Lesnar didn't deserve it, but he was given a chance at heavyweight gold in 2008 and he ended up winning it.
To be fair, Randy Coture was 45 years old at the time but it was considered a fair fight because Brock only started training in MMA for 2 years while Coture had basically dedicated his life to it. Brock was likely an underdog in this fight but scored a TKO to massive applause. There was something silly going on in the heavyweight division at that time because just a month later Frank Mir would win an interim heavyweight championship. Perhaps it had something to do with Brock's WWE obligations. It also could have been fake hype in order to force a showdown between Brock and Frank; I have no idea. The fight was inevitable at that point though and since we were nearing the first centennial event, UFC put their heads together and put together a card for the ages, including Brock Lesnar in a co-main event.
Some people suggest that Brock is a sloppy fighter and only wins because of his absurdly huge size but just take a look at Frank here, he's not a tiny man either. He also has considerably more fight experience than Brock.
I still remember the 2nd round of that epic fight and how it appeared as though Brock was out of his element only to shoot... hard.... get the takedown and proceed to perform some of the most brutal ground and pound ever witnessed in UFC history up to that point. Brock ended up winning the fight via TKO in the 2nd round.
Lesner was now the unified champion and he didn't score a lot of point with the fans when he continued to berate Frank even after the fight had been stopped. The fans booed him and he jumped the fence to give the middle finger to the entire audience. As someone that has always appreciated "heels" in wrestling, this appealed to me immensely. If you can't make them love you, make them hate you! He egged the crowd on with a smile on his face and even bad-mouthed the beer sponsor Bud-Light promoting Coors Light in the post-fight interview. That probably got him in more trouble than working the crowd.
UFC 100 was a stacked card, so stacked in fact that a guy that you might have heard of named Jon Jones was on the undercard. But all eyes were on Lesnar because it kind of ignited the entire "wrestling is FAKE" argument that dominated the 80's and early 90's. Sure, it might be fake, but there is no denying the athleticism and genuine toughness of at least one of the WWE guys.
UFC 100 set records as far as viewership and PPV buys were concerned. It sold a lot more than any other event they had up to that point and it was clear that Brock, was a real star. It is a bit unfortunate that he either didn't train well enough, or was never really that good to begin with, because he started to drop in performance and lost quite badly to Alistair Overeem in 2011.
So Brock's time in the UFC might have been a short one, but while he was there he was getting paid loads because he was bringing new eyes to the sport that otherwise might not have been there. While he is definitely not one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, he is likely the one that brought in the most people and as we all know, sports just generally speaking are about money, not so much the sport.
Lesnar would later be offered what he says was "10 times" what he had been previously paid to return to UFC, but he declined it, instead moving back to WWE full time for a more safe job. It was fun while it lasted and it just reminds me how much time flies. It was nearly 12 years ago that Lesnar last fought in the UFC.