That used to be a saying repeated over and over again during the early broadcasts of the UFC, and it’s still repeated once in a while, but it wasn’t more evident in the last two fights of the night on Saturday.
Despite being the heavyweight champion of the world, Brock Lesnar was in a position of having to win against Shane Carwin to prove a lot of things to all his doubters, but more importantly to himself. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Chris Leben found himself having to prove that his career was worth something. He also needed to prove to his opponent that he should be spoken about on the same level as the top-guys in his weight class, an inconceivable thought as early as three weeks ago as he prepared to step into the cage against heavy-favourite Aaron Simpson.
Lesnar was a slight favourite heading into the fight against Shane Carwin, but come fight day, it was hard to find anyone willing to put money on the champion. The Carwin backers believed there were too many questions left to be answered correctly by Lesnar in one fight. How much of him was left after a frightening life-and-death with diverculitis? How would his chin hold up from a punch from someone just as big and powerful as him? How much ring rust would have from not fighting for 351 days?
All those questions were asked of him as he struggled to survive against a mighty onslaught from Carwin in the opening round, but he hung on. Those questions turned into answers as Round 2 progressed and were fully answered after submitting Carwin in the middle of the round. The only question we can have now for his upcoming fight against Cain Velazquez is: “How do you top that performance?”
As for Chris Leben, his career had always been filled with question marks ever since he first made his appearance as a troubled, yet talented fighter on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. His battles with alcohol and other mental obstacles always were the focal point.
He was on the verge of being another UFC afterthought heading into his bout with Aaron Simpson only two weeks ago. He was a heavy underdog and was considered to be a stepping stone for Simpson, but Leben defied the odds-makers, the matchmakers and anyone else that was ready to call his career over.
He was then chosen to be an injury replacement for Wanderlei Silva and would be pitted against Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama was thought to be devastated by losing the fight against Silva and felt that Leben was not talented enough to worth risking himself going into the cage. Leben ended up submitting Akiyama in the dying seconds.
In a sport where knockouts and submissions usually define the career of a fighter, Saturday night proved that for Brock Lesnar and Chris Leben, defying the odds and persevering can also do a lot to define one’s career as well.