Brock Lesnar – The beast who built the blueprint for needle-moving

He's back!

The single biggest draw in the history of mixed martial arts is set to squeeze his hands into those 4 XL UFC gloves once more. Back when Conor McGregor was competing in Dublin GAA halls and Ronda Rousey was winning bronze at the 2008 Olympics, Lesnar was busy breaking down doors for future superstars to walk through. This was back in the days when Twitter was in its absolute infancy, the use of social media as a marketing tool for fight promoters was essentially non-existent and therefore selling fights was infinitely more difficult. But that didn't stop fans tuning in in their millions to watch the crossover WWE superstar in genuine combat mode. On November 15, 2008 Brock Lesnar was handed a title shot in just his fourth professional bout against legend of the Octagon, Randy Couture. 1,010,000 people bought the pay-per-view, the first headlined by Lesnar. To give you some bit of context, McGregor and Rousey (possibly the two most popular modern-day fighters) saw their first headlined UFC pay-per-views earn buyrates of 825,000 and 450,000 respectively. Lesnar burst onto the scene and his notoriety only ballooned from there. A divisive figure, Lesnar's next fight played a massive part in recording the UFC's highest ever pay-per-view return, the 1.6m registered at UFC 100 in 2009. Next time out, it was 1,060,000. After that - 900,000. Throughout the course of a short-lived, three-year stint with the UFC, pay-per-views headlined by Lesnar led to a total of 5,105,000 buys. He didn't just move the needle. He snapped it in two. Fans don't tune in to watch technique. Demetrious Johnson knows that fact only too well. There are very few fighters who can inspire the masses to splash out their hard-earned money on pay-per-views but Brock Lesnar worked out the formula to perfection. Simply being an arrogant asshole isn't enough to get fans to tune in to see you. Nor is the promise of chaos once the cage door shuts. And as much intrigue as a genuine hatred between competitors can foster, it won't suffice. Lesnar figured out the concoction and stirred it together with a mastery not seen before or since. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TubJH4IMl54 He had everyone eating out of the palm of a hand big enough to meet the demand. WWE fans tuned in to see their guy beat trained martial artists. UFC fans wanted to see the cocksure immigrant have his ass handed to him. Casual fans wanted to see how legitimate the transition was. Once he got his feet under him in the Octagon and rebounded from his shaky and unsuccessful promotional debut to Frank Mir, he set a freight train in motion that nothing could resist. "Can you see me now?" Lesnar roared during his first victorious post-fight interview in the UFC. "I fell off the horse against Frank Mir and today I got on that stallion and rode it out of town. Wooo! Infamy quickly surrounded his post-fight antics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmTHCHCdNVw In his rematch with Mir, Lesnar confronted the former champion to taunt him and was pulled away by commission representatives before the victorious behemoth flashed two middle fingers at the disapproving crowd. "I love it," Lesnar told the baying mob. "Keep going! "Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him that a year ago. I pulled that son of a bitch out and I beat him over the head with it." Wrapping up the interview with Joe Rogan, Lesnar said: "I'm going to go home with my friends and family and hell, I might even get on top of my wife tonight. See y'all later!" You could never predict what he was going to say. It was brilliant. It was unmissable. It guaranteed that you'd be watching the next time you saw his name on the bill. Fighters like McGregor and Rousey, and the older generation of 'Rampage' Jackson, Tito Ortiz and Michael Bisping, all got eyeballs on them by trash-talking their opponent, dovetailing absorbing rivalries into public interest. Lesnar broke the mould and brought a WWE dynamic into the Octagon by turning full heel. He wanted the crowd to hate him. He couldn't care less if they wanted blood because at least they were talking about him. He matched their disdain with mouth-frothing anger. It was a bold move and one that no fighter has ever committed to as confidently as Lesnar. But as bold as turning an entire fanbase against him was, it proved the wisest promotional move ever pulled as there is only one man who can say he won the main event of the most successful UFC pay-per-view in history. That record will more than likely be broken on Saturday night and surprise, surprise, who's in the new main event? Dana White won't admit it but he needed Lesnar for UFC 200, especially in the wake of Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz II being pulled from the card. White's arsenal in the battle to beat UFC 100's pay-per-view record was dwindling when the promotion punished McGregor for a refusal to fulfil media obligations. The UFC needed a weapon the size of the sword that stretches across Lesnar's chest. After lengthy negotiations and a presumably unprecedentedly lucrative deal for Lesnar, his return was confirmed and with him, White slotted in the final piece of the puzzle and he's likely counting his blessings since Jon Jones was removed from the card. Brock Lesnar isn't short of money and he could probably do without getting punched in the face by a shot putter like Mark Hunt. He signed on the dotted line because he wasn't content with how his MMA career ended. Competition runs through his veins and he wants to fulfil the potential that was curbed by a long-time battle with diverticulitis. If Lesnar beats Hunt on Saturday, don't be at all surprised to see him make a run at the heavyweight title. And, along the way, don't be surprised to see attendance and pay-per-view records tumble like Heath Herring after a straight right from the beast.