Mixed martial arts is a rough sport, but it can be an even rougher business.

Brock Lesnar will be making just his second appearance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship tonight when he takes on Heath Herring. Yet already there are rumblings that if Lesnar loses to the veteran Herring, UFC could cut ties with the former Bismarck State College national wrestling champion.

The new MMA startup company Affliction is seemingly trying to corner the market on marquee heavyweights. So it's hard to believe UFC would simply release a potential drawing card like Lesnar, especially considering how impressive he looked in a losing effort to former UFC champ Frank Mir in February. Regardless, Lesnar doesn't plan on going 0-2.

"There's always pressure to win in any circumstance," Lesnar said in a conference call. "Me, being very new, nobody wants to follow a loser. I wouldn't say necessarily my back's against the wall. I put pressure on myself to do well in everything that I do."

The main event of the UFC 87 pay-per-view is a welterweight title bout between Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch. But with the event taking place in Minneapolis, the prime local draw is Lesnar, who won an NCAA championship for the University of Minnesota.

As in the Mir bout, Lesnar - who will be competing in his third MMA match - will be facing a fighter who is far more experienced. The 30-year-old Herring, known as the "Texas Crazy Horse," has a 29-13-1 career record. Herring has fought many of the world's best heavyweights, including Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and UFC's current interim champ, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira three times.

"Heath is a well-respected fighter in this game," Lesnar said. "Like I said from Day 1, I didn't want any easy fights, and Heath Herring is not an easy fight."

That is definitely true. But even though Herring has a huge edge in experience, on paper, his style offers a more favorable matchup for Lesnar than Mir's did.

Though Herring has a solid ground game, he's not the submission expert Mir is. Herring has also struggled with his takedown defense, even against fighters not known for their wrestling. Plus he may be more vulnerable to Lesnar's ground-and-pound, which almost finished off Mir early.

"He's definitely going to be a challenge. You've got to deal with his size, a guy coming in with a great NCAA background," Herring said.

Of course Herring, a versatile fighter, will present problems for Lesnar, too. He has strong standup skills, and Lesnar hasn't had to take any hard shots yet in his brief career. Herring has won fights by submission, and Lesnar's aggressiveness left him open a couple of times against Mir, even as Lesnar dominated the bout with his strength and quickness.

"I've worked a lot of standup this camp," Lesnar said. "We worked on all aspects, of wrestling, a lot of jiu jitsu defense, a lot of leg-kick defense.

"Heath's got a strong right hand," he continued. "He's well-rounded with his kicks. We haven't left any rock unturned for this fight."

The years Lesnar spent in pro wrestling turned him into a star, which was evident in his first UFC fight. According to Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports, UFC 81 did 600,000 buys, more than any other MMA or boxing event this year. Now Lesnar has the chance to show he has the ability to merit that kind of interest.

"I plan on being around for awhile," Lesnar said. "I hope everybody is intrigued and enjoys watching my fights."