Penick's Take
PENICK: Brocktober officially begins with effective if not underwhelming UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez debut
Oct 7, 2010 - 8:40:04 PM PENICK: Brocktober officially begins with effective if not underwhelming UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez debut

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Brocktober officially kicked off last night for the UFC as the debut episode of "UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez" hit Spike TV. The first of three episodes set to highlight UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and his UFC 121 challenger Cain Velasquez, it was a somewhat tepid beginning to the series, with some intriguing moments strewn about with some that missed the mark. Overall, however, the show accomplished what it set out to, and that's set the stage for the next two episodes and the October 23 clash between these two heavyweight fighters.

The show spent a lot of time on Cain Velasquez's family and Mexican-American heritage, playing up his "day labor" background and his father as a worker in lettuce fields. They also showcased Cain doing some Spanish-language television spots and embracing that part of his background.

The UFC is really attempting to turn Cain into a star in Mexico and Latin America to bring those very passionate and vocal fight fans to the organization. But I'm not sure the way things were presented on the debut episode did a lot to move towards that. The family background helped set the stage, but it wasn't all that intriguing for the television program.

Once again fans got a flashback to Lesnar's days in Webster, South Dakota, which if you were a fan of Lesnar's from his WWE days is something you've seen before. But it was a slightly interesting setup to his backstory to explain his small town roots.

But where the series excels is the training footage. That's what this show was partially lacking, as it took a backseat to some of the background stuff, but what was shown did provide a good look at both fighters.

Velasquez's cardio was given the hard sell, and the shots of him sparring and training were good, even though they were few and far between on this show.

It was Lesnar, looking like a viking with his new full beard look, that looked every bit the monster the UFC wants to sell him as. The rope excercise that he makes look easy is not, and seeing him ragdoll Pat Barry and work his ground game against his behemoth wrestling training partners in the Death Clutch camp.

This is what the UFC is selling to the casual fan, and it works. It may not have been the best episode of the series, but I think they've set themselves up well to follow up with some interesting storylines in the next two weeks. With the background information now established, they can move forward and give us some more interesting stuff from both fighters.

974,000 viewers tuned in for this episode, likely a result of its late timeslot and lower viewership for this season of TUF, but they'll continue to get people to tune in and get hyped for this fight on October 23. It wasn't a homerun first effort for this series, but it was effective and both Lesnar and Velasquez will benefit come UFC 121 in Anaheim.