UFC

“This guy was going to be special” – Ariel Helwani reveals which current WWE star blew his mind almost 20 years ago

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MMA reporter Ariel Helwani was present when Brock Lesnar made his WWE debut

Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen were speaking about how great Brock Lesnar has been in his career.

The current WWE star won the UFC Heavyweight title in his third fight in the promotion.

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman during a pre-event (Image credit: Getty)

However, he made his name in WWE and was dominant during his first spell in the promotion. Helwani spoke about seeing Lesnar for the first time and he also highlighted that he was a big fan of wrestling:

“I was a big amateur wrestling fan back then, and I read about him in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.”

Helwani went on to say that he was in awe of Lesnar when he made his debut:

“I was in attendance in 2002 in the Bell Centre in Montreal when Brock Lesnar made his WWF debut. He ran in after WrestleMania 18 and ruined a match involving Spike Dudley and he powerbombed him, cleaned out the entire ring and showed up with Paul Heyman.”

Brock Lesnar shows off his title ahead of Super ShowDown (WWE)

The MMA expert was also surprised as to how well Lesnar moved and knew this was something special:

“I got to see him for the first time. Holy smokes, this guy is 285 lbs but runs around and jumps around like a 145-er. And I knew right then and there, this guy was going to be special.”

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Sonnen and Helwani both praised Lesnar for his stance after coming to UFC. He took on a legend in Frank Mir but lost his first fight in the promotion.

However, he won the belt a couple of fights later and defended it twice too. Lesnar did leave the UFC for WWE again and is the current WWE Champion.

The Undertaker took on Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 (WWE)

Helwani made a claim that Lesnar could feature in the UFC Hall of Fame someday while Sonnen added that Lesnar was never one who backed out of a fight.

Lesnar ended his MMA career with a 5-3-1 record, but he has often teased the WWE that he might return to the Octagon too.

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

Ditching a corporate job to follow a dream isn't easy, but when football comes calling, who can say no? Been following the beautiful game since 1998. Liverpool addict, F1 fanatic!

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Tags: Brock Lesnar