Brock Lesnar’s stint in the UFC made the former Universal Champion a much bigger star than if he’d remained solely in pro wrestling, according to Kurt Angle.
After leaving WWE in 2004, a failed NFL run, and a stint in Japan, Lesnar would step into the Octagon in 2007.
On the latest episode of his “The Kurt Angle Show” podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about the legacy of Lesnar. He said,
“Okay, if Brock had stuck with the NFL another year, he would’ve made the team. He probably would’ve been an all-pro for eight years, that’s the kind of athlete he is. He went to the UFC and became the UFC champion. I think what he did was good for him, I really do. Me going to TNA; for some reason, bands look at it as a step-down. UFC, you’re not looking at it as a step-down or the NFL.
“So I think that Brock, I think it helped him by going there. I think his legacy isn’t just gonna be a professional wrestler, it’s gonna be [as] a fighter too. And you know, it’s gonna make his legacy even bigger… And not with a lot of experience either. I mean, he brought his wrestling with him, his amateur wrestling. But you know, he didn’t have a lot of time to work on his standup fighting and his jujitsu and everything like that. So I think that Brock showed the kind of athlete he truly was. To go in there half-prepared and be able to be UFC champion. That’s incredible.”
Lesnar would return to WWE in 2012 where he has become a multi-time WWE and Universal Champion.
