During the UFC 111 media conference call Mir & Carwin made some comments about Brock.
Frank Mir on getting another shot at Brock Lesnar: "Obviously, I want another shot at Brock. But if I don't beat Shane Carwin, the chances of me ever getting another shot at Brock aren't very good, so I have to take care of business."
Carwin on Lesnar: "I think Brock is good for the sport. He brings in a lot of new fans. It's good to have him back."
Mir carries on in search of facing Lesnar once again. But standing in his way at UFC 111 is undefeated challenger Shane Carwin, who Mir says may actually be a tougher opponent.
"I think he's very similar to Brock Lesnar," Mir told MMAjunkie.com. "He's somebody that's strong, and he's a good wrestler. But I think that Carwin, in a lot of ways, is actually more dangerous for me."
The similarities between Carwin and Lesnar are evident with just a cursory glance. The two massive wrestlers have changed the face of the heavyweight division in short order with their powerful builds and overwhelming strength.
But Mir believes Carwin possesses something extra.
"Brock and Carwin are both better wrestlers than I am," Mir said. "Most likely, they'll both be able to take me down. Most likely, they'll both be able to win the fight if I get stuck against the cage on my back with my head jammed up. But with that being said, with Lesnar, on my feet, I have no real anxiety about standing there and boxing. He's knocked people over because he clubs people with his hands, but he's not really a knockout artist. Carwin has actually knocked people out.
"In a fight with Lesnar, the goal is to keep it on the feet, and I'll win the fight. With Carwin, if I say just keep it on my feet and I fall asleep on him while looking for the shot, I can easily go to sleep if I get caught. He's shown the ability to knock people out. To me, he's a dual threat."
With the interim title on the line in the March 27 matchup, an eventual shot at the champ hangs in the balance. But UFC president Dana White has said that a fight between the winner and Lesnar isn't a guarantee.
Top contender Cain Velasquez, who turned in an impressive performance against MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in February, could leapfrog the newly crowned interim champ if injuries prove a factor.
Mir once again stated his desire to face Lesnar but also said he would understand if he was forced to wait.
"The competitor in me wants to face Lesnar as soon as possible and be the first one in line," Mir said. "As far as if it worked out, I don't feel like holding the heavyweight division hostage. If after, if I'm victorious on March 27, and I had an injury that didn't allow me to fight, and Brock wants to take a risk to fight Cain first before he fights me, more power to him."
Mir admits he views Velasquez as a credible threat. In fact, he thinks Lesnar might feel the same way and should probably avoid that particular confrontation.
"I think [Velasquez] is a dangerous fight for [Lesnar]," Mir said. "I would be willing to bet that maybe he would be more comfortable waiting for me."
"If you haven't worked out with him [Brock] and felt that athleticism and explosion, it's hard to comprehend. As big and strong as he looks, he actually feels more powerful and more explosive," Konrad confided. "It's hard to believe. You get so used to going with a guy that big, that explosive, that powerful, that when you step back and get in with someone who isn't on that level you think 'Well, wait a minute here.' Because he isn't in the same league as what you are used to seeing."
From an interview with WWE commentator Jim Ross (all credit to Heavy.com):
Heavy.com: Let's shift to Brock Lesnar for a bit. You worked closely with Brock for several years. Brock never seemed to enjoy pro wrestling or the life you have to lead in order to be in that business. Do you think Brock has finally found the one thing he loves to do?
Jim Ross: Oh yeah. He's found the perfect storm for himself. I recruited him out of Minnesota for WWE when I was executive vice president of the company, in charge of talent. He wrestled for Jay Robinson, and Jay was roommates with Jerry Brisco, one of the guys I worked with. Of course, Jerry's brother Jack, who just passed away about a month ago, was a national champion at Oklahoma State at 191lbs. He lost one match in college. He was one of those heroes that I talked about earlier. He was a football star. He was the most recruited high school athlete in Oklahoma his senior year. He signed a letter of intent to play football at OU, which was a tremendous thing in that era. And then he changed his mind. The NCAA, at that time, would let you sign another letter of intent for another sport, so your first letter of intent wouldn't be legally binding. And Jack signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Oklahoma State. So he was a folk hero here when I was growing up, and he also became a great star in pro wrestling.
So Jerry was a great recruiter and really helped us a lot. I think we met Brock as a junior at Minnesota. And how could you not be attracted by the look of this guy? There are a lot of parallels between MMA and pro wrestling. Now, the MMA purists, and maybe some of the MMA management, would not want to freely admit this. But looking at marketing of a star, making a star, marketing a PPV? There's a lot of similarities. The issue is that pro wrestling matches are pre-determined and MMA fights aren't. But if you exclude that element, then they have a lot in common. There are heroes and bad guys in MMA just like there are in pro wrestling. You can hear it when the guys come to the cage. Some are booed and some are cheered.
So we saw Brock, and we saw a guy that was an amazing athlete with a phenomenal look. He was a natural 285lb guy with freakish quickness, agility and balance. He was pretty sure that he wasn't interested in pursuing wrestling internationally when he finished college. I didn't have any conversations with him regarding MMA, because he wanted to make some money right away. Of all the guys that I signed, and I signed some intriguing guys like Steve Austin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and others, he made it to the seven figure level faster than anyone we'd ever signed. I don't think there's been anyone in the history of the business who made that much money, and as quickly, as Brock Lesnar did.
I think the thing that really turned him off of wrestling was the insane travel schedule. It just takes so much of your time. You're either at work or you're traveling to work. Travel, travel, travel. It can be challenging. I think he liked the money. Who wouldn't? He was very good at it. He was incredible. He did things that big men just aren't supposed to do. The shooting star press he did off the top rope? I've seen small guys do it, but never anyone that was around 300 pounds.
Heavy.com: Wrestling fans used to hear about that shooting star press all the time, and it seemed impossible to believe, like one of those Danny Hodge folk stories we were talking about early. Could this guy really do it? And sure enough, he did it.
Jim Ross: And he did it on the grandest stage our business has, at WrestleMania, against Kurt Angle. That was a great pairing for old-school wrestling fans, because you have the 1996 Olympic gold medal winner in wrestling against this heavyweight NCAA champion. Athletically speaking, if you sand the veneer off the showbiz aspect of those two guys, it was a pretty remarkable thing.
But the travel got him. And Brock Lesnar isn't the first guy that got burned out on the wrestling business because of travel. It's not a sin. Quite frankly, if the wrestling business had seasons or cycles where the guys were off work, it would be better for everybody. But Brock got burned out and eventually tried his hand with the Vikings. I think it was because of the challenge. Brock loves challenges. He's a real warrior, and he wanted to try something that he knew he was going to be pushed to the max physically and mentally. He hadn't played football since small school, high school football in South Dakota. He's jumping from small town high school football to an NFL team. That's quite an adjustment.
When he signed with the UFC, it was a marriage made in heaven. Maybe for his opponents, it was a marriage made in hell. He's a perfect fit for that world, because he can fight a handful of times a year. It gives him time to be himself. He's a family guy who loves to hunt and fish, and he loves solitude and being in his comfort zone. There's nothing wrong with that. He has his priorities straight, and I admire that. But when it comes time to get ready for a fight, he goes into battle mode. It's pretty damn amazing to me. He has to cut weight to make 265, and 24 hours later he's back to 285.
Heavy.com: We talked about the purists not liking the similarities between MMA and pro wrestling. A lot of fans were up in arms about the promo he cut after UFC 100. Do you think he was bringing some of those aspects of his pro wrestling past, or was that simply the real Brock Lesnar?
Jim Ross: I think it was a heat of the moment thing. He went on his instincts and how he felt at that time. He got a little carried away. He's an emotional guy, a very spirited and proud guy. When you look at it in total, here's a guy who has been training on a mat in a combat sport since he was a young kid. He paid the price to be a star from high school all the way to college, the WWE and now the UFC. He comes into the cage and he's in great shape. He's got the right demeanor and he's got the right look. He's got the right skill set. And he's getting booed? He wondered what he could have done to piss off all these fans. It can be frustrating when you've worked so hard to get there.
He didn't back into the Octagon, you know. He walked in. He was ready to go. He was inexperienced and very green to that world. But anybody could see that he had the ability, and has proven since he started, to be pretty extraordinary. I think it was just natural, raw emotion that overcame him in that moment. When you're surrounded by a hostile crowd, you can't really prepare how you're going to respond. How do you replicate that moment in practice? How do you replicate that moment in reality? You really can't. You can create it in pro wrestling. And since he was tasked to be a villain in pro wrestling, he was prepared for that moment. If he's getting booed and he's a villain, then he's doing his job very well, even in the UFC. So you encourage it and you go with it. But he got into a real sports environment and got booed because people didn't want to accept him because of his past in showbiz.
Frank Mir was a product of the MMA environment. He's a purist. He's a very skilled martial artist. But don't think that Frank Mir doesn't know how to verbally manipulate an audience. He's one of the best. He's the kind of guy that, if I were still recruiting wrestlers for WWE, and he was a young guy that was interested in following that path? He could make a fortune in pro wrestling. He's just got a natural gift of gab. He's very articulate and very intelligent. He's a hell of an athlete, too.
Brock just got caught up in the emotion of the moment. It's hard for any of us to understand the motivation that it takes to be a world-class athlete like Brock, to get into an emotional combat sport like mixed martial arts. The crowd feeds your adrenaline. He's an amazing individual. He said what he was feeling. We've all been in positions where we say things we wish we hadn't said. I officiated high school and college sports for 20 years, and I've had run-ins with coaches who just got caught up in the moment. They weren't bad guys, but they just said things that they wish they could pull back, but it was too late.
Brock is in the perfect world for him. His best days are still to come. He's learning his craft, and it's quite the learning curve. There's a lot of technique he has yet to grasp, as we saw in the first Frank Mir fight. He left a leg exposed and he got heel hooked. He had to tap. But that was a human error, a mistake of inexperience. And to Frank's credit, he was trained enough to recognize the opening and capitalize on it. Mir could see and feel what he was dealing with -- a living, breathing beast of a man. And he found, literally, Brock's achilles heel and was able to turn a disadvantage into an advantage.
To me, that's what MMA is all about. You have to turn disadvantages into your own advantages, sooner than later. And Brock is learning to do that.
WWE commentator Jim Ross wrote in his latest online blog:
"Many MMA fans who visit this site ask a variety of MMA questions and many questions regarding Brock Lesnar. Brock is a perfect fit in MMA and his personality and demeanor are better suited for UFC than pro wrestling. There were likely several reasons that Brock wanted to leave the wrestling biz but none more prominent than the amount of travel that came with the job. I’ve always believed in the adage, “Do what you love and love what you do.” Brock Lesnar loves competing and being the best at whatever he’s doing so being able to actually fight a few times a year and earn big bucks isn’t a bad gig for a guy who simply wants to spend time with his family and hunt."