On This Day in 2010: Brock Lesnar Defended His UFC Heavyweight Title in Dramatic Fashion

In a brutal opening round, the challenger rocked the champion early, landing a devastating uppercut and then swarming him with relentless ground-and-pound. With Lesnar bloodied and battered, and looking seconds away from defeat as referee Josh Rosenthal hovered closely, yet he somehow survived.

But the tide turned in round two. After a respectful touch of gloves, Lesnar came out composed, scored an early takedown, and imposed his top control. From half-guard, he worked to mount. Then transitioned to side control, and locked in an arm-triangle choke. Carwin, visibly exhausted, had no answer as Lesnar tightened the squeeze and secured the submission at 2:19 of the second round.

At this moment in time, who would’ve thought this would’ve been the last winner Lesnar would record in his UFC career. The powerful wrestler would meet Cain Velasquez a few months later and the Mexican American would flatten Lesnar to claim the UFC heavyweight belt at UFC 121. 

After spending over a year out of the cage, Lesnar returned at UFC 141 where he faced off against UFC debutant Alistair Overeem. The Dutchman made light work of Lesnar and completely destroyed his body with brutal kicks before finishing him off with punches. 

This defeat marked the end of Lesnar’s time in the sport, at least for a while, as the former champ would focus on his WWE career before returning to the cage in 2016 against Mark Hunt. Lesnar did in fact get a win over the New Zealander, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission later overturned the decision to a no contest after Lesnar tested positive for clomiphene. 

This was the final time we ever saw the American compete in the UFC or MMA in general.