By: Raul Rangel
SAN ANTONIO, TX, January 2, 2012 – Well here we are…This is my first article on TXMMA.com and I couldn’t be happier!
My name is Raul Rangel; I am a former writer for Undefeated Magazine and insidethecagemma.com, I am the current host of Undefeated Radio. I have frequented other radio shows such as Voice of the Cage with Patrick Stranger, 1250 The Zone San Antonio, and Sportsgrind Ticket 760 San Antonio. I’ve been involved with everything listed all due to my love for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
My first foray into MMA came in 1995 watching UFC 2 with my friend Michael Contreras. It was already a year old back then and perhaps not new to others but it was new to me. Once I saw it I had to see more, thank God Blockbuster video had tapes in stock because I needed to feed my burgeoning addiction. I kept up with it that way for the most part but as the sport became more and more non-mainstream it became harder to get the tapes. I then started watching Pro wrestling to fill the void MMA had left in me.
From there I started covering wrestling in college on my weekly radio show; I would talk to local wrestlers and get to know what the business was like, how some wrestlers went on to WWE to became a world champion and how others lived less glamorous lifestyles.
I came back home to MMA again when I was introduced to the PRIDE Fighting Championship. It was like a whole new world and again I could keep up through tapes and now DVDs… Either way, real fighting was back in my life.
By that time the UFC was now owned by Zuffa and they were trying harder to push MMA towards legalization state-by-state throughout the United States. Eventually they got to the point where even FOX Sports starting getting in on the action, even broadcasting an event with UFC 37.5 – headlined by Vitor Belfort and Chuck Liddell. By 2008 I was hooked for good. A friend of mine, Drew Wallen, started writing for a local amateur promotion which led to both of us writing for Undefeated Magazine covering MMA and boxing. I learned a great deal about the writing process and covering live events through that experience.
After a few years I had wanted to do a podcast on MMA, but not have it like every other show, instead make it a little more unique. I wanted this show to have guts and not be a show that just asked simple questions about training, fighting, or dieting; I wanted a show to be honest and entertaining with real feelings. Jacob Calbillo, former contributor to texasfighting.com, he had the same idea, and thus Undefeated Radio was born.
In mid-2011 I left Undefeated Magazine to focus on other projects and work on stories I could feel were my own. When I talked to TXMMA.com founder Paul Erickson, I voiced how I felt about the businesses and what I could bring to the table here in Texas. I think he liked what I said. So here I am now starting my new column for the original home of MMA in Texas – TXMMA.com.
In a strange bit of coincidence concerning my “origin story” in media, I now find myself I am covering both wrestling and MMA in this, my first article.
Brock Lesnar’s Retirement and his Legacy within MMA
As we have all heard by now after UFC 141, Brock Lesnar has called it; quits, no more, adios, he has ceased to exist (in the world of MMA), slayed by his own hand to focus on living the rest of his life outside the cage after dropping that #1 contender match to Alistair Overeem. His heart simply isn’t into it anymore. And, who can blame him? I am not a Brock hater…. I love the guy and will miss him in the UFC; but if his heart and mind aren’t in it then he should leave.
When Brock entered the Octagon in ’08 he was a beast, nothing and no one could stop his shots and takedowns. Once he had you on the ground it was over, unless you had a referee stand you up for a stupid call. He seemed unstoppable, to me at least, until late 2009 when everything changed. While training for a bout with Shane Carwin, it was discovered that Lesnar had diverticulitis.
For those of you that are unfamiliar to the term, diverticulitis is a medical condition that deals with the colon and stomach and a whole bunch of medical jargon that I can’t even begin to try and explain. Google or Wikipedia it. All I know is that I have a friend that has had this disease and had to be hospitalized… Let me tell you. It’s a pisser.
When Lesnar did think he had it under control he made his comeback but he did not seem like the same fighter as he once was. He seemed hesitant on the take downs and a few times his opponent was able to escape the ground much easier that he really should have.
I don’t think he was ever the same fighter after he contracted this disease.
So there. Brock lost to Overeem and announced his retirement from the UFC.
He says had he won this fight he was going to make the championship match his final fight, but since he lost this became his final bout. Already he was thinking retirement before he even stepped in there… When you start thinking like that your mind and body tend to also slow down. It’s not wonder the fast shots, reaction time, and brutality to drive his opponent to the fence and take him down weren’t there. …Much less the heart to endure. Nothing else needs to be explained.
With the Lesnar era over (for now) it’s time to look back and see what he brought to the sport as we talk about him this one final time.
First off all, he brought a number of new fans to the sport; most of these were mainly wrestling fans. Lesnar was able to push MMA ratings into the millions, prompting Dana White to BASE jump off a building in Las Vegas once the PPV buys reached 1.5 million.
He also added excitement to a weight division that was lacking in depth. When Lesnar made the leap to MMA the UFC did not have a mainstay of stars in their division; Randy Couture was seemingly the biggest star at the time, able to become world heavyweight champion in his forties. Now I’m not knocking the guy down. I love Randy but Brock was he jolt the heavyweight division needed at the time.
Love him or hate him Brock did bring that aura of excitement every time he fought. I will miss him being in the UFC, but I expect him sometime in the future to be in the WWE. And why not, Brock… It’s not a bad way to make some sweet cash and keep your name in the limelight. Plus there’s the matter of the Undertaker and his undefeated streak at Wrestlemania to contend with. Maybe there are barriers yet to be broken left for “The Next Big Thing” after all.
It’s just won’t be in the UFC again.
You can follow Raul Rangel on twitter @rrangel81 and you can also listen to his weekly podcast Undefeated Radio on iTunes. LIKE TXMMA on Facebook for more in-depth news and coverage of the MMA & grappling scene along with fan contests to win great prizes courtesy of TXMMA.com and much more. Also feel free to check us out on Twitter and Google+ for even more in the world combat sports!
