Brock Lesnar Talks Being A Heel In UFC: 'I Can Be An A**hole When I Want To Be'

Brock Lesnar talked about his early MMA career, fighting with K1 Kickboxing, and learning to be a heel in UFC to avoid media obligations. 

Lesnar left WWE in 2004 and after being the final cut of the Minnesota Vikings' roster in the 2004/05 pre-season, returned to wrestling with NJPW in 2005. And as he would recall during "Spittin' Chiclets," was spotted by K1 for what would be his first fight against Kim Min-Soo in 2007. 

He explained that he didn't expect things to turn out how they did. 

"I knew that if I was going to stay on the pain train, I just wanted something else. I wanted to see what was out there," he said. "I had no idea I was gonna blow up and become UFC Champion. That was a goal. But for me to have my third fight against Randy Couture of all the guys. I could have shelled up and been scared about it. That's how confident I was. You've got to have an alter-ego, you've gotta have something inside you that makes you believe in order to achieve."

He also made note of something he found out sooner rather than later, "I discovered real early if I play a heel in the UFC, I don't have to do all the media and stuff. I could just tell people whatever. People see the entertainment Brock Lesnar and they think that's who I am. But it's not who I am, and I don't let people into my circle enough to know. It's been a mystique for a long time. But I can be an a**hole when I want to be."

Lesnar went on to become UFC Heavyweight Champion in just his third fight, going into his first title defense with a record of 2-1, against the man who had beaten him in his first fight: Frank Mir. Lesnar won that fight and another against Shane Carwin before losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, the latter after he had been sidelined with diverticulitis.