UFC: Brock Lesnar Is Better Than Fedor Emelianenko, Past Opponent Says

A UFC legend said WWE superstar Brock Lesnar is a better MMA fighter than Fedor Emelianenko.

Russian heavyweight MMA superstar Emelianenko is arguable the best heavyweight fighter who never fought in the UFC. With that being noted, Emelianenko generated more interest and has been regarded as a perfect opponent for former UFC heavyweight champ Lesnar.

Lesnar and Emelianenko are two completely different beasts. As far as fighting style goes, Lesnar evidently has a tremendous wrestling ability and knows how to utilize his brute strength. Emelianenko on the other hand, relied mostly on his powerful fists and Sambo background to not only win the Pride heavyweight title, but defeat some of the greatest MMA heavyweight fighters in the world.

One thing these two heavyweight superstars have in common is the fact that they both fought and defeated UFC legend Frank Mir. Lesnar and Emelianenko both scored a clean KO victory over Mir. However, according to Mir, former UFC champ Lesnar is a tougher opponent than Pride superstar Emelianenko.

"Oh Brock, no doubt about it [is the tougher fighter]," Mir told Sporting News.

"[Lesnar's] physical speed and the wrestling in just being able to control position. Fedor’s wrestling isn't very good. At his age, he’s become just a pure striker. His hands were fast and were explosive and clean. But he’s a one-trick pony,” Mir added.

Mir even tried to humiliate Emelianenko by revealing that the punch that dropped the Russian fighter during their fight wasn’t even “a hard punch.”

"I have hit a lot of guys in my career and said, ‘Oh, that is a great shot.’ When I hit Fedor and he fell down, I was surprised because it wasn't even a hard punch,” Mir revealed.

Several years ago, the Lesnar vs. Emelianenko fight was already on the works. In 2013, UFC and Dana White who'd been longtime suitors of Emelianenko, actually attempted to finally secure the Russian's signature and offer a superfight with Lesnar. Talks appeared to be progressing towards a deal until somewhere along the road, an unexpected hitch dismantled the negotiations.

Shortly after Emelianenko’s impressive KO win over former UFC champ Rampage Jackson, White admitted that Lesnar vs. Emelianenko was the only fight he wished to happen that never materialized, MMA News reported.

"The only fight that I wanted to make that was never made was Brock Lesnar vs Fedor Emelianenko. We were going to do it at Texas Stadium. But I couldn’t get a deal done with Fedor, so it never happened," White said in an interview with UFC.com.