10 MMA Fights That Created Instant Legends
8. Brock Lesnar Vs. Frank Mir - UFC 100
Brock Lesnar famously made an explosive UFC debut at February 2008’s UFC 2008.
Despite dominating the opening minute or so of his fight against Frank Mir, a schoolboy error of judgement saw Mir latch on a kneebar and force Brock to tap out. Bouncing back with a win over Heath Herring and then defeating Randy Couture to become UFC Heavyweight Champion, the UFC 100 battle lines were drawn as Lesnar faced interim Heavyweight Champ Mir.
That UFC 100 fight in July 2009 saw Brock avenge his previous loss with a bloody, brutal second round TKO win – and it was this moment that really cemented Lesnar’s spot as a legend of the MMA world.
Did Brock Lesnar have the longevity of the other fighters featured in this list? Absolutely not. But what makes Brock such a legendary figure is the extra attention he brought to the sport. For example, UFC 100 brought in a record 1.6 million PPV buys.
To give some context on that figure, that 1.6 million number remained the highest ever amount of UFC PPV buys up until 2016 – when that record was finally toppled by Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II at UFC 202 on a PPV that generated 1.65 million buys.
He may have only had eight fights in his UFC career, but Brock Lesnar was pure, undeniable box office for the fight game.