On Sunday, former Minnesota Gophers wrestler Brock Lesnar celebrated his 32nd birthday. His cake should have read: “Happy Birthday to the Most Polarizing Figure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.”

Lesnar retained his heavyweight title with a second-round technical knockout over Frank Mir on Saturday night at UFC 100, a potential mixed martial arts pay-per-view record-breaker, but not before creating a storm of controversy within one of the world’s most violent sports.
After referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop Lesnar from pummeling Mir on the ground with a flurry of vicious punches, Lesnar jumped up and charged his battered opponent.
The sellout crowd at Mandalay Bay booed him, even though he’d just proven himself to be the best heavyweight in the world’s top mixed martial arts organization.
And that was when the former pro wrestler in Lesnar, admittedly, revealed itself.
He threw up obscene gestures with both hands toward the crowd. In his televised postfight interview, Lesnar made an unprintable remark about his wife, promised to drink a Coors Light after the fight — insulting one of the UFC’s top sponsors, Bud Light — and continued a verbal barrage against Mir, who defeated him in his UFC debut last year.
Lesnar told the displeased crowd, “I love it,” as fans continued to show their displeasure with the new face of the UFC.
“What I meant by ’I love it,’ I just love being in the octagon,” Lesnar said Sunday. “Cheer for me, boo me. I just love being in the moment right now.”
UFC President Dana White berated Lesnar after the fight. Lesnar said he’s remorseful for some of the things that happened Saturday night. He made it clear he’s not ashamed or apologetic for selling himself.
“I guess after waiting 17 months, having a guy beat you and on top of that being a sore loser ... this was a big revenge fight for me,” he said. “There was a lot of built-in emotion from deep inside, most definitely. Things got a little crazy at the end there.”
He continued: “You know I do want to apologize to the young kids watching. My emotions got the best of me, especially for the hand gestures. I have fun doing this. I think that the people who walked away from their television set (Saturday) night were fully entertained and they didn’t feel like they paid too much to watch UFC 100.”
Lesnar, the 2000 NCAA wrestling champ, earned millions in the WWE by creating a character who was hated by fans because of his elite talent and arrogance.
Lesnar carried that persona into a career with the UFC. Since his arrival in the UFC last year, he has been one of the circuit’s most detested competitors for a variety of reasons. Fans believe he lacks good sportsmanship, evidenced by the way he acts after fights. Plus, every matchup for Lesnar is a David vs. Goliath scenario because of his 6-3, 280-pound frame.
His colleagues appreciate his freakish abilities but resent that he’s one of the highest-paid fighters in the UFC — he reportedly earned $3 million for Saturday’s victory. Lesnar got his first title shot in only his fourth professional bout. His WWE background doesn’t help, either. Few believed that a fighter accustomed to scripted competition would climb to the top of a real combat sport within a year and a half.
As far as the controversy surrounding Lesnar goes, don’t let the UFC fool you. Lesnar’s showmanship after the fight was only an extension, albeit extreme, of the trash talk, rage and animosity that underlie mixed martial arts competitions.
Not only have Lesnar’s persona and skills made him one of the most popular athletes in the world — UFC 100 went out to 75 countries and could top 1.5 million PPV buys — but he’s on top of his sport. White has talked about arranging a fight with the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, a Russian who fights in rival circuit Affliction.
That fight would arguably be the biggest in mixed martial arts history between a pair of heavyweights. And somehow, Lesnar again would find himself in the middle of it.
“I feel like I got a big monkey off my back (Saturday) night,” Lesnar said.