Former WWE heavyweight champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin offered high praise for occasional on-screen rival Brock Lesnar, an ex-UFC heavyweight champion, in a segment released on UFC Fight Pass earlier this week.
“He took the UFC by storm,” Austin recalled. “He was the heavyweight champion. When Brock Lesnar fought: people bought the fights. I have a ton of respect for him, he’s a friend of mine.”
“I think Brock woke up everybody in the MMA world. For a guy to go in there from pro wrestling, raise as much hell … cut loose and dominate like he did … bottom line: Brock is a badass cat.”
Lesnar, a two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota, captured UFC gold after just four MMA contests by defeating UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture by TKO at UFC 91 in November 2008.
After avenging his only career loss to Frank Mir at UFC 100 in July 2009, Lesnar went just 1-2 in his final three UFC matchups.
After defeating Shane Carwin to unify the UFC heavyweight titles at UFC 116 in July 2010, two separate bouts with the intestinal disease diverticulitis took their toll on the former “Next Big Thing.”
He suffered decisive TKO losses to current champion Cain Velasquez and contender Alistair Overeem before retiring from the sport in December 2011.
While there were heavy rumors of Lesnar making an MMA comeback late last year, they never came to fruition and he remains under contract with the WWE on a part-time basis.
Lesnar squares off with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30 Sunday night.