Watch: When Brock Lesnar Weathered an Early Storm From Shane Carwin

Brock Lesnar, most popularly known for his wrestling career, made his UFC debut in UFC 81: Breaking Point, against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. While the match had seemed to begin at a positive pace for Lesnar, what with an early takedown and a few punches, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and Brock Lesnar submitted at 1:30 of the first round, losing his first fight at the UFC.

Read: Brock Lesnar finishes his opponent in 69 seconds on MMA debut

Lesnar then faced Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 91, where he beat Randy in the second round via TKO and went on to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. He first defended his title against Frank Mir in a fight that had been postponed due to Mir’s knee injury, and successfully retained it by defeating Frank by TKO in the second round at UFC 100.

He was again set to defend his title against Shane Carwin in UFC 106, but the fight was postponed due to Lesnar’s ill health and rescheduled to UFC 108. Yet, Lesnar’s health deteriorated and it was found that he suffered from mononucleosis, which caused the fight to be postponed indefinitely.

Read: Brock Lesnar avenges his loss in a brutal fashion

Meanwhile, at UFC 111, Shane Carwin faced and defeated Frank Mir to become the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, to which Brock remarked, “it was a good fight but he’s wearing a belt that’s a make-believe belt. I’ve got the real Championship belt.”

Brock Lesnar submits Shane Carwin

The two finally met at UFC 116 to unify the titles. The match started with Shane Carwin taking an early advantage in the first round, knocking Lesnar down with a punch and employing ground and pound. While it looked unlikely for Lesnar with a cut above his eye to emerge victoriously, he managed to take Carwin down during the second round and end the match with an arm-triangle choke.

This victory marked an important point in Lesnar’s otherwise short career at the UFC, as post this match, he would go on to become the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. It also tied a UFC record for most consecutive successful UFC Heavyweight Championship defenses, and the fact that this was Shane Carwin’s first defeated added to Lesnar’s win credibility.