Brock Lesnar Discusses Possible Kurt Angle Fight

Brock Lesnar has finally found what he was looking for.

After aborted stints as a superstar pro wrestler and aspiring NFL player, Lesnar is set to make his mixed martial arts fighting debut. He will face South Korea's Hong Man Choi on June 2 in the co-main event of the Dynamite USA special on Showtime and pay-per-view that is emanating from Los Angeles.

"I have been training for almost a full year for this," Lesnar said last week in a media conference call. "Since I signed with (the K-1 Hero's promotion in April 2006), we have been trying to organize a fight. I am very excited to step in the ring and show the world that I can fight."

Lesnar showed he could wrestle at the University of Minnesota, winning the 2000 NCAA heavyweight championship his senior year and earning honors as a four-time All-America selection. Lesnar immediately parlayed that grappling success into a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, where it took him a little more than two years to win the promotion's world title.

But while he was atop the world's most successful promotion at the age of 25, Lesnar became increasingly disenchanted with the wrestling industry and its travel demands. In March 2004, Lesnar walked away from a seven-figure WWE salary to pursue an NFL career.

"It is not all about the money," Lesnar said. "It is about being happy and close to home every night, having my daughter run into the bedroom and wake me up. Being able to put my kids to bed at night and not be on the road 300 days a year was the main reason."

Lesnar was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive lineman and potential special teams contributor. But Lesnar's lack of gridiron experience - he stopped playing football after high school in South Dakota to concentrate solely on amateur wrestling - was quickly exposed and he was waived during the preseason.

"(Training) camp is a short period of time and everything gets thrown at you very fast," Lesnar said. "By the time I learned something in football, we were already onto another chapter."

Lesnar quickly returned to pro wrestling in Japan, leading WWE to file a lawsuit for breach of contract. The two sides finally reached a settlement in April 2006, paving the way for Lesnar to begin his MMA career.

Lesnar said he has trained extensively in jiu-jitsu and boxing in preparation for facing Choi, who at 7-feet-2 and 355 pounds will have a 12-inch height and 85-pound weight advantage. But while Choi is 10-3 in kickboxing matches for K-1, he has only one MMA bout to his credit and will be at a disadvantage if taken down by Lesnar.

"I guess some people could look at it as jumping into the deep end of the pool right away, but I do not know any other way to do it," said Lesnar, who has received training tips from Ultimate Fighting Championships standout Sean Sherk. "I have been a top athlete and trained with top athletes all my life."

Lesnar wouldn't say who he would like to fight after facing Choi, but didn't deny having an interest in squaring off against one of his former WWE comrades. Kurt Angle, a 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist in freestyle wrestling, has spoken about wanting to compete in an MMA match since leaving WWE last August but has yet to follow through on the extensive training needed for such a bout.

"If somebody is willing to promote that fight, I am all for it," said Lesnar. "I think Kurt has done enough jaw-jacking where he has got to either put up or shut up. It is time for him to stop running his mouth and to physically do something."

SOURCE: Knoxville News