Brock's BBJ coach Comprido made the following statements during a recent interview (credit: examiner.com):
Q: How has working with a man of Brock Lesnar's size and wrestling ability helped you with your Brazilian jiu jitsu?
Comprido: He's not just bigger and stronger than me, he's also more athletic and faster. He's a huge challenge. I have to be much better on all the details when I train with him, my technique has to be perfect. He's kind of a nightmare.
Q: Not many people expected a submission win for Brock at UFC 116 against Shane Carwin, what were your thoughts?
Comprido: Yeah, I expected it, even if he had pulled a sub off from the bottom I would have expected it. He's very talented and learns fast. He's the first person to have ever handled a straight punch from Carwin and survived. He had that illness (Diverticulitis) and he came back even better. I think he could submit Cain in his next fight too, but Cain is also very good on the ground.
James Toney participated in a live chat with fans hosted by MMAFighting.com in which he again demonstrated those qualities and also offered a little insight into the process by which his opponent was determined.
"The person I wanted to fight right off the bat was Brock Lesnar," Toney typed to fans. "He's a champion, I'm a champion and I wanted to do it. But they said I couldn't do that. Then they said, 'How about Kimbo?' But I said, 'That's too easy. That's like kicking a little kid's butt.' But then Randy started saying he wanted to fight me, so I said, 'OK, you're the first one getting it.'"
"I told Dana my goal is to hold the heavyweight championship of the UFC and in boxing at the same time," Toney said. "So as long as it takes me to get Brock Lesnar, that's how long it'll be. If Lesnar gets by Cain Velasquez, I'll fight Lesnar in February or March. But right now my focus is on Randy Couture. Randy's gonna get it. I ain't playing with that dude."
Toney also explained that he believes Cain Velasquez has a serious chance of defeating Lesnar, whom he believes to be a coward based on his recent comeback win over Shane Carwin.
"I like Cain Velasquez, and I think he has the ability to knock Lesnar out," Toney said. "I think that fight is a toss-up. Lesnar ran away from Shane Carwin like a girl, but then Carwin ran out of gas and quit. But I'll fight any of them, any time anywhere. That's my motto."
Shane Carwin talked about how hard he punshed Brock (credit: The Garv):
"I feel like he took shots that were hard enough to finish any of my other opponents. Brock is a real tough fighter and a true Champion. He did what Champions do, he found a way to win and did so through adversity. My hat is off to him and his camp."
-Champ Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez (for heavyweight title) -Matt Hamill vs. Tito Ortiz -Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Brendan Schaub -Martin Kampmann vs. Jake Shields -Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago -Patrick Cote vs. Tom Lawlor -Ryan Jensen vs. Court McGee -Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor -Chris Camozzi vs. Dongi Yang -Todd Duffee vs. Jon Madsen
2 DeathClutch camp members on the card in Brock and Jon Madsen.
Exclusive news you won't find anywhere else (for now): One of my contacts to the family of Brock's wife Rena informed me that Rena gave birth to a healthy boy yesterday. Congratulations to Brock and Rena!
The latest numbers for UFC 116 seem to be reporting higher. As we figured, there appear to have been a ton of replay order buys based on all the talk about the show, including all the mainstream news show coverage after the event. Various cable estimates have ranged from 1 million to 1.28 million, and as noted, internally it is being said it's the third biggest in history, which would be a lot closer to the former number than the latter number. [credit: Wrestling Observer]