Brock Lesnar boasted in an ESPN interview that he was “the modern-day Bo Jackson” after announcing his return to the UFC after spending the past four years as a professional wrestler.
But the man he compared himself to isn't at all familiar with Lesnar.
"I don't even know who Brock Lesnar is, man, Jackson said when approached by TMZ.
The former NFL Pro Bowler and MLB All-Star was a superstar in the '80s and '90s when he was a dominant force in both sports. But when it comes to Lesnar, Jackson was clueless.
But perhaps someone who knows the road Lesnar has traveled would be able to weigh in a bit better than Jackson.
"I don't watch [UFC and pro wrestling],” Jackson said. “If I didn't make money in it, I don't know nothing about it."
But perhaps someone who knows the road Lesnar has traveled would be able to weigh in a bit better than Jackson.
Ken Shamrock traversed the landscapes of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling before Lesnar and knows a thing or two about bouncing between the two worlds. And because of his experience, Shamrock believes that Lesnar will be at a disadvantage when he faces hard-hitting Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
"I appreciate people making decisions and doing things they want to do but I think he's jumped back and forth too many times from wrestling to fighting, to wrestling to fighting,” Shamrock said in an interview on The MMA Talk Show in Florida. “I mean, this is his third time around I believe. I think it's going to hurt him, it's going to mess up his ... you've got to have consistency.”
Shamrock famously departed from a successful career in MMA for the WWE (then-WWF) back in 1996 after becoming the first UFC superfight champion in 1995. He would spend three years as a professional wrestler before heading back to MMA with stints in both Pride FC and the UFC. However, the time away may have hurt Shamrock more than it helped as he started his career with a record of 23-5-2 before going to pro wrestling and has gone 5-12 afterward.
"When you're a professional athlete, you have to do something for a period of time,” Shamrock said. “So if he continues to keep going - oh he did wrestling first and then he did MMA and then he goes back to wrestling and now he's back to MMA again - I don't think he's really stabilized himself or set an example for himself in MMA. I mean, he was there a short time, then he was gone. I mean, he's really done more in pro wrestling than he has done in anything else."
Lesnar made his WWE debut in 2002 and made a significant impact as a pro wrestler before leaving the company in 2004 and spending time in New Japan Pro Wrestling until 2007. Lesnar then made his MMA debut in 2007 with one fight before heading to the UFC in 2008. After losing his first fight against Frank Mir, Lesnar would go on to win four straight fights while becoming UFC heavyweight champion along the way. However, diverticulitis kept him out of the Octagon and Lesnar lost his last two fights by knockout before departing in 2011. Lesnar has been a huge attraction since returning to the WWE in 2012, but he will again try his hand at MMA once again at UFC 200.
Shamrock is skeptical that Lesnar has made any improvements since his time away from MMA. He’s primarily concerned about his striking, which he called “horrible,” especially against a known slugger like Hunt. Because of that, Shamrock believes that the biggest winners won’t be Hunt or Lesnar – rather, the UFC and WWE for the exposure.
"I think [the UFC and the WWE] are both gonna get something out of it, I'm just not sure it's gonna be good for [Lesnar],” Shamrock said. “I hope it is. I really hope he wins because I'd hate to see him lose, even though I like Mark Hunt, but I'd hate to see him lose after having to come back and it doesn't work out for him. I think it's gonna hurt him more than it would Mark."
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