Brock Lesnar

Before he became a champion in UFC, Brock Lesnar was "The Next Big Thing" in pro wrestling. After retiring from UFC last year, the question was, would he become "The Next Big Thing" again? The Internet rumor train picked up full steam Sunday, when it was learned that Lesnar was in Miami, home of this year's WWE "WrestleMania" pay-per-view event. Some sites reported that Lesnar was backstage at the event, with speculation being he would interfere in either the Triple H-Undertaker match or the Rock-John Cena match.

Before he became a champion in UFC, Brock Lesnar was "The Next Big Thing" in pro wrestling. After retiring from UFC last year, the question was, would he become "The Next Big Thing" again? The Internet rumor train picked up full steam Sunday, when it was learned that Lesnar was in Miami, home of this year's WWE "WrestleMania" pay-per-view event. Some sites reported that Lesnar was backstage at the event, with speculation being he would interfere in either the Triple H-Undertaker match or the Rock-John Cena match.

Brock Lesnar knows how to pull off a comeback. He's battled back from an extended hospital stay and layoff due to a major intestinal affliction that threatened to kill him or at least end his short but impressive career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he had reigned as heavyweight champion. Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena, in his first fight since the health scare, Lesnar found himself getting badly beat up again — this time by interim champion Shane Carwin.

Reporting from Las Vegas -- As the gravity of what just happened sank in, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White's sickness became severe. "I'm really not feeling good, let someone else talk," White announced to reporters late Friday night following the first-round technical knockout loss and subsequent retirement by heavyweight Brock Lesnar, the organization's most popular fighter. Indeed, White has some thinking to do. PHOTOS: UFC 141 Even though he fought only seven times in the UFC Lesnar was a pay-per-view audience magnet because of his compelling past as a "champion" in the scripted action of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Unbeaten Cain Velasquez could be fitted with the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight belt Saturday night in Anaheim and yet in a rematch would still get less money. That's how big Brock Lesnar has become. "He's a dominant champion, has looked invincible at times and showed huge heart in his last fight," UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said of Lesnar, a former NCAA wrestling champion and World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view star. So after making nearly 10 times more than his last two challengers, Lesnar has achieved a popularity few pro fighters attain.

Brock Lesnar was asked to explain the appeal of Brock Lesnar. "I guess it's because I've always done things my way," the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king said on the eve of his Friday night main event against Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "The unpredictability — that's the most intriguing thing, maybe. " That's brilliant insight, really. For starters, Lesnar, 34, doesn't actually need the UFC. With a career consisting of only seven fights, he's already proved capable of reigning as champion after winning the belt over mixed martial arts legend Randy Couture in 2008 and defending it twice.

The first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent emerged Saturday night, as Cain Velasquez, the son of migrant lettuce farmers, defeated Brock Lesnar to capture the Ultimate Fighting Championship title fight. Velasquez, 28, survived an immediate charge by the heavier Lesnar by blasting punches that knocked the nearly 300-pound former pro wrestling star stumbling across the octagon and crashing to the canvas twice before a final Velasquez flurry caused referee Herb Dean to stop the fight 4:12 into the first round at Anaheim's Honda Center.

Brock Lesnar tried his best to maintain the veil, explaining that his health-imposed year off from the octagon hasn't changed the fact he's "the same ornery SOB" who "still hates you guys," referring to reporters. Something, however, has unmistakably changed about the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight champion. This new Lesnar cracks jokes. And laughs at them. He said he feels "like a cat with nine lives, and I've got eight left." He won't disparage his Saturday night opponent, interim champion Shane Carwin, kidding that "Carwin is better-looking.

The face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship got bashed in this weekend. Brock Lesnar's misfortune in losing his title is an opportunity for the UFC to expand its audience with the first Mexican American heavyweight champion in combat sports, Cain Velasquez. "We have a fighting style that's always forward moving, with blood in our heart," Velasquez said late Saturday night after stunning Lesnar and pounding his head often to claim a first-round technical knockout at Honda Center.

Former World Wrestling Entertainment star Brock Lesnar is taking his act to another pay-per-view organization Saturday, and his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut has attracted plenty of credibility questions. Is this a novelty? Can a first-time fighter beat former UFC champion Frank Mir? If Lesnar wins, what does that say about the level of UFC competition?

Reporting from Las Vegas -- Brock Lesnar could not make it through the first round against Alistair Overeem, and he said the end of the fight also was the end of his mixed martial arts career. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, who came from the World Wrestling Entertainment circuit, was knocked down by two hard right knees and a vicious body kick by former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Overeem. On the ground, Lesnar endured 10 unanswered punches, the last of which was a loaded-up cannonball right hand that led referee Mario Yamasaki to give Overeem the technical knockout at the 2-minute 26-second mark of the first round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Brock Lesnar was asked to explain the appeal of Brock Lesnar. "I guess it's because I've always done things my way," the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king said on the eve of his Friday night main event against Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "The unpredictability — that's the most intriguing thing, maybe. " That's brilliant insight, really. For starters, Lesnar, 34, doesn't actually need the UFC. With a career consisting of only seven fights, he's already proved capable of reigning as champion after winning the belt over mixed martial arts legend Randy Couture in 2008 and defending it twice.

Matt Barkley said Monday it was nothing personal. USC was off last weekend because of an open date, but the Trojans' sophomore quarterback created a social-network stir with a post on his Twitter feed in the aftermath of Cain Velasquez's victory over Brock Lesnar in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title fight Saturday. Barkley, leader of the team preparing for a game this week against top-ranked Oregon, tweeted: "Wow, Brock just got rocked! Lesnar is to Oregon as Velasquez is to SC. Lezgo.

The face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship got bashed in this weekend. Brock Lesnar's misfortune in losing his title is an opportunity for the UFC to expand its audience with the first Mexican American heavyweight champion in combat sports, Cain Velasquez. "We have a fighting style that's always forward moving, with blood in our heart," Velasquez said late Saturday night after stunning Lesnar and pounding his head often to claim a first-round technical knockout at Honda Center.

Brock Lesnar, Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight champ, likes to keep things simple. When he was World Wrestling Entertainment's "champion," he was continually uprooted from his Minnesota home for matches, found his body abused by the rigors of the road and was unhappy. Four years into the grind, he quit. Being UFC's heavyweight champion fits his pace. "Train, sleep, family, fight ? I'm pretty basic," Lesnar, 33, said. Hunting is part of his routine too, which he'll get to next week in Canada after his UFC title bout Saturday night at Anaheim's Honda Center against unbeaten challenger Cain Velasquez (8-0)

The first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent emerged Saturday night, as Cain Velasquez, the son of migrant lettuce farmers, defeated Brock Lesnar to capture the Ultimate Fighting Championship title fight. Velasquez, 28, survived an immediate charge by the heavier Lesnar by blasting punches that knocked the nearly 300-pound former pro wrestling star stumbling across the octagon and crashing to the canvas twice before a final Velasquez flurry caused referee Herb Dean to stop the fight 4:12 into the first round at Anaheim's Honda Center.

If UFC 100 represents mainstream, the world has changed. Brock Lesnar, the former World Wrestling Entertainment fighter and current UFC heavyweight champion, battered Frank Mir in a second-round knockout to set aside a festering year of bitterness. Lesnar, who used at least 17 unanswered uppercut blows on the canvas to beat Mir, then blew off some steam at the booing audience who padded his wallet with a $5.1-million live gate at Mandalay Bay.

For the third consecutive Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Las Vegas, one question dominates: So, when is Brock Lesnar fighting again? The UFC will stage a third straight title-less Vegas main event Saturday night when veteran light-heavyweights Randy Couture and Mark Coleman lead the card of UFC 109 at Mandalay Bay Events Center. "There's great fights on this card . . . me and Mark are a couple of old wrestlers banging heads, two active Hall of Famers," Couture said. The undercard features a middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen, with the winner getting a future title shot against the winner of April's title bout between champion Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort.

Unbeaten Cain Velasquez could be fitted with the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight belt Saturday night in Anaheim and yet in a rematch would still get less money. That's how big Brock Lesnar has become. "He's a dominant champion, has looked invincible at times and showed huge heart in his last fight," UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said of Lesnar, a former NCAA wrestling champion and World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view star. So after making nearly 10 times more than his last two challengers, Lesnar has achieved a popularity few pro fighters attain.