So much for fans waiting around for Cain Velasquez to heal before having an exciting fight to look forward to...
Dana White recently announced that Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos will be coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. Not only that, the two will meet in the Octagon, the winner of which will go on to face Velasquez for the heavyweight championship.
The implications for both fighters are monstrous. Despite dos Santos' relatively small fame, his notoriety will certainly grow as Lesnar is, if anything, celebrity gold. Just ask the common sports fan who Velasquez was a year ago, and compare that to after his victory over Lesnar.
Lesnar, on the other hand, has quite a bit on his plate if he hopes to wear the gold once again. After taking such a huge beating from the very well rounded Velasquez, can Lesnar hope to nullify dos Santos' striking and win by overpowering him with his brutal frame and expertise wrestling?
This is a classic striker vs. grappler matchup, though admittedly, after his last match, Lesnar has a lot more to prove than dos Santos. Not only is Lesnar's record fairly shallow, he has a lot to prove to MMA fans in terms of his striking.
In order to win, Lesnar will need to not only learn boxing defense, but he will need to quickly take dos Santos to the ground and work for a TKO victory. Nobody has yet to do it in the Octagon, but Lesnar's no stranger to ending streaks.
Whose fight will this end up being? More than likely, the fighter who is quickest to successfully implement his skill set.
There will be plenty of time to go through the ins and outs of who may or may not win, but UFC fans can undoubtedly look forward to sitting back and enjoying what will be a huge season for TUF. Lesnar and dos Santos may well get along, but if not, I think more than a few doors will be broken this season.
What say you?
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