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[Fillups422]

After Saturday's dismantling of Frank Mir at UFC 100, Brock Lesnar seems pretty comfortable at the top of the UFC heavyweight division. Though his career in the UFC has been short, he has beaten two champions, Randy Couture and Mir, in a convincing manner. His size and strength will be a tough obstacle to overcome, but not impossible. Who can do it?

*Fedor Emelianenko: If there is anyone who can take out Lesnar, it's the Russian fighter Emelianenko (pictured). He is at the top of the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings for good reason. With a 30-1 record, he has beaten fighters of every size, including the 7'2" Hong Man Choi and 6'8" former UFC champion Tim Sylvia. In January, he knocked out another former UFC champion, Andrei Arlovski, in the first round. In fact, he hasn't had a fight get past the first round since a win over Mark Coleman in 2006, which lasted until the second round.

Emelianenko's biggest obstacle in beating Lesnar isn't in the cage, it's actually getting him in the cage. He is signed with rival promotion Affliction for a fight with Josh Barnett in August. Fans have wanted Fedor in the UFC for years, but contract negotiations have gone nowhere between the groups. After the fights on Saturday, Dana White said that Emelianenko will be in the UFC.

"This Fedor thing has gone on and on and on," White said in the post-UFC 100 press conference. "Eventually, Fedor's going to be here. I want Fedor. I want him to come to the UFC and everything else.

"This guy (Brock Lesnar) just won the heavyweight title, and we'll end up getting that deal done. And then we'll do Brock vs. Fedor, and it'll be a huge fight."

Assuming that the deal gets made, Emelianenko has the best shot of beating Brock Lesnar.

*Shane Carwin: How can you mitigate Lesnar's size advantage? By putting him up against someone that's equally as large. That's Carwin -- all 6'3", 262 lbs. of him. His hands are so big that the 4X gloves he wears to fight need to be cut and taped to fit his hands. He can take punishment and still win, as he had a broken nose when he knocked out Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96. Carwin is also motivated to beat Lesnar, who Carwin thought was incredibly disrespectful after his win on Saturday.

The fans are why we do this, Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama. It is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did last night. It doesn't matter how much money you make if you can't earn your peers' respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. Every autograph I give, every hand I shake I am thankful that you give me the opportunity to be a part of your world. This is the greatest sport int he world and most of the athletes in it deserve the love and respect they get and some just dont get it. From leaving the venue all the way to the Airport I have had fans of the sport ask me to take out Brock Lesnar for them.

The biggest knock against Carwin is that he is untested, but he is 11-0. He has much more experience than Lesnar. Carwin is slated to face Cain Velasquez, another exciting up-and-coming heavyweight, at UFC 104 in October. If he makes it through that fight, it wouldn't be surprising to see a matchup between Lesnar and Carwin.

*Alistair Overeem: If someone of a similar size won't vex Brock, speed will. A fighter who is a champion kickboxer, can cut angles and move quickly? That might the perfect foil to Brock's wrestling and power. That fighter exists in Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem.

Overeem faces two problems in overcoming Lesnar. One, he is the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, is fighting for them on August 15, and contractually obligated to Strikeforce. Two, he needs to stay on his feet to be able to use high kicks, but as Lesnar showed on Saturday, his takedown is quite effective.

*Bobby Lashley: Like Lesnar, Lashley is a fellow WWE veteran and collegiate wrestler. Unlike Lesnar, Lashley is taking the long and winding road to the UFC. He also has four wins, but his competition hasn't been nearly as difficult as Lesnar's. Lashley's biggest advantage is that he and Lesnar are the same size, and both have a strong wrestling background. With those two factors equal, the fight has the potential of being an all-out slugfest.

The problem with this fight is that Lashley doesn't want to fight in the UFC until he is ready to be a champion.

"When I go over there I want to be a top, top level guy," Lashley said. "I want talks of me fighting the champ when I get over there. I want them to say this guy's really good."

Lashley still has a while to go and much to learn before he can walk in and get a title shot. He will need to get a few more fights under his belt before we can see if he is truly ready for the champ.

Interesting point of view. Not a bad article

[King Fisher]

Nice read

Bobby Lashley: Like Lesnar, Lashley is a fellow WWE veteran and collegiate wrestler. Unlike Lesnar, Lashley is taking the long and winding road to the UFC. He also has four wins, but his competition hasn't been nearly as difficult as Lesnar's. Lashley's biggest advantage is that he and Lesnar are the same size, and both have a strong wrestling background. With those two factors equal, the fight has the potential of being an all-out slugfest.

Don't think this is very accurate... A bit early to consider Lashley a "good shot" at anything.

Obviously, Fedor is the best Heavyweight in the world. I would love to see that match up but I think Brock would be humbled rather quickly.

Food for thought: If Kimbo wins the next TUF... Good match up? I think so.

[Fillups422]

Originally Posted by King Fisher

Nice read



Don't think this is very accurate... A bit early to consider Lashley a "good shot" at anything.

Obviously, Fedor is the best Heavyweight in the world. I would love to see that match up but I think Brock would be humbled rather quickly.

Food for thought: If Kimbo wins the next TUF... Good match up? I think so.

Kimbo vs Brock? lol Are you being sarcastic or serious? lol

The only way Kimbo is fighting Brock is if Brock loses the title. That would make for the most watched MMA fight in history if it were on cable or network TV. Lesnar wins that fight 10 out of 10 times.

Kimbo got dropped by a jab from Petruzelli. Think about that, now think about Brock's jab.

Fedor and Cain Velasquez are the only ones, in my opinion, that have any shot of beating Brock. Cain because of his wrestling, but his chin is suspect.

Fedor because, its Fedor. Everyone see's him as unbeatable but if it goes to the ground, game over for Fedor.

[IraVirus]

Kimbo would make a better match up than lashley? Haha yeah right! Atleast lashley would have some chance with his size and wrestling. I don't think many fighters have much of a chance against Brock right now. Size has never really been an issue for the elite, fedor against most opponents for example and Randy aswell, but Brock is a different issue. The guy is huge and moves like a middleweight Although I do believe fedor is the best heavyweight, I can see Brock beating him. I think fedor would have too much trouble with Brock on top of him. I see most fights with Brock ending the way they did this weekend. He's just too strong and his wrestling is on another level.

[Rhino]

I would have to say Cain stands way better chance at beating Lesnar than Carwin... Cains wrestling and boxing are better... his hands may not be as heavy though... Kimbo would be destroyed... maybe in toe to toe fight he lands big shot but the ground is foreign territory to him and look at what Brock just did to a highly seasoned ground fighter

[BBG]

Carwin poses problems for Brock but will get mauled on the ground.
Cain doesn't pose any problems for Brock IMO because of his size.
Kimbo isn't even in the minor leagues..he is still playing high school football in comparison to Brocks talent, strength and speed.

Fedor yes, he poses serious problems for Brock, BUT if it does go down it stays down and Fedor gets TKO'd. If it stays standing Fedor will topple him.

[roaddawg]

Of the names mentioned I give the best chance to someone equally as powerful and explosive as Lensar.

Bobby Lashley

rd

[Repenter]

bobby lashley would get mauled. watching his fights, he just seems to lack 'it.' what do you think lesnar would do to jason guida?

in lashley's place, the obvious choice for me in barnett. good hands, power, excellent wrestling, and knows every submission in every book. i would love to see this match almost as much as i'd want to see lesnar fight fedor.

[maxp84z]

I think Fedor, (duh) Overeem and Crocop have a good chance of beating Lesnar. Carwin and Cain are untested. Could give him a good fight but I don't know. Mir is overrated.

[JustScrap]

Fedors the guy who gets dropped on his head and still submits you. The guy who runs through you like you dont belong in the same match with him. I get what everyone is saying about Brock, the guys an animal. But Fedors very smart, calm, hell he defeats you with his mind. Its like the guys not human. Fedor is by far the favorite to beat Brock.