Spike TV will air all of Brock's UFC fights this upcoming saturday.
Episode 407 - "Lesnar vs. Mir, heavyweight title bout" Marucio "Shogun" Rua vs. Chuck Liddell from UFC 97 Nate Quarry vs. Jason MacDonald from UFC 97 Nick Catone vs. Tim Credeur from UFC Fight Night 18 Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir from UFC 100
Episode 307 - "Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar" Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara from UFC 82 Marcus Aurelio vs. Ryan Roberts from UFC Fight Night 13 Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden from UFC 82 Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher from UFC 69 Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar from UFC 81
Episode 313 - "Lesnar vs. Herring, Penn vs. Sherk" Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring from UFC 87 B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk from UFC 84
Episode 406 - "Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar" Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga from UFC 96 Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle from UFC 93 Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar from UFC 91
Heavy.com reports that UFC is internally targeting July as a potential return date for Lesnar and that the Lesnar/Carwin bout could headline the UFC's initial foray into Massachusetts. A July date has been secured with the TD Garden in Boston for a card that will serve as the centerpiece of the UFC's summer 2010 schedule.
MMAweekly.com recently interviewed Brock's coach Greg Nelson on Brock's condition:
MMAWeekly: What’s the latest on Brock?
Nelson: He’s feeling much better, but he’s still on the mend and not really doing any kind of major training.
MMAWeekly: Is he out of bed?
Nelson: Yeah, he’s walking around and moving around. He’s not ready to jump into that cage, that’s for sure at this point. But he’s got his new baby, so it’s time for him to hang out with his son and his daughter, get some quality time on that end of life.
MMAWeekly: Did he ever go to the Mayo Clinic?
Nelson: No, he never went there.
MMAWeekly: But the final diagnosis was diverticulitis?
Nelson: Yeah, that was pretty much the deal, and everything that goes on with that.
MMAWeekly: As far as you know, when do you think he’s going to be able to start training again?
Nelson: I’m not 100-percent sure right now. We’re not really pushing it right now. We’re just letting things take their course so he can be 100-percent healthy when he starts to train. He’ll probably start lifting weights to get his strength built up and do the exercise bike when he starts to get going, and shadowbox when he gets to feel better. But right now, he’s just taking the time to properly heal.
He’s real anxious of course, but that’s the worst thing you can do, is jump up and start going too quick and then break down again. It’s more of a burden for him to sit at home and not work out, but that’s the thing he has to do right now.
MMAWeekly: So you’ve advised him to take it easy?
Nelson: Mentally, he wants to get back in there. He wants to jump in. You get a guy like that who’s used to being able to do whatever and moving around and train, throw hay around, whatever he wants to do, then you’re stuck inside your house... that’s tough. Mentally, it’s tough.
MMAWeekly: Has he talked to you about how his day-to-day life is now?
Nelson: Not really. He’s not a guy to jump on the phone and start talking to you.
MMAWeekly: How often do you talk to him?
Nelson: I think I talked to him a couple weeks ago, and I hear stuff if Marty’s talked to him or one of the other guys has talked to him. He’s one of those guys, if he wants to pick up the phone and talk to you, he’ll pick up the phone and talk to you. But generally, he’s one of these guys who likes his privacy.
Buffer: The only thing I can tell you is what all of us already know. It’s up in the air. He had a bacterial intestinal situation, and whether that was Crohn’s Disease or whatever is being speculated on the internet, he still had to go in for an operation. And you have to ask yourself what kind of operation could that be? And knowing people that have had bacterial issues, sometimes that means removing part of your intestines. So we can only speculate and let’s just hope that he is back in that 6 month period that they claim he will be back to give us the entertainment value that the fans and non-fans of him want to see. He is the ultimate heel for the UFC. You have people that want to see him win and you have people that want to see him lose. I like Brock. I think he is a cool dude, and I look forward to having him back.
Q: What does that mean for the Heavyweight division?
Buffer: I’m not big on Interim belts, but when it comes time and you have to have one, then you have to have one. I think what’s happening now is that there is so much talent in the Heavyweight division that it either means that we still allow these people to fight down to see who deserves that title shot, or if it is obvious that two people do deserve it, and Brock’s not back for 6 months, then there probably has to be an interim belt as there has been before. But again, time will tell.
Earlier this month, M-1 Global exec Jerry Millen made waves by claiming Fedor Emelianenko would be willing to fight Brock Lesnar for free.
UFC president Dana White recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio that he's prepared to call Millen's bluff.
"They'll do the fight for free?" White asked. "That's [expletive] weird because I offered them millions of dollars to take the fight and he didn't take it. Now [Emelianenko] wants to fight for free? When and where? I'd love him to fight for free.
"I'll make that [expletive] fight right now for free. Let's do it."
Fight fans have long clamored for Emelianenko to appear in the octagon, but contentious negotiations between White and the former PRIDE champion's representatives at M-1 Global have prevented "The Last Emperor" from joining the UFC.
White said he sees great irony in a camp offering to fight for free when they once demanded a 50-percent share of the UFC's business.
"That's funny that they say they'll do it for free now when they were dealing with us and negotiating with us they wanted 50 percent of our business," White said. "They wanted 50 percent of our business to do that fight, but now they'll do it for free?"
White had a bit of extra venom for Millen.
"[Millen] is a [expletive] clown that talks out of his ass and has no business (discussing the negotiations)," White said. "That guy is a nobody. When we did the big Fedor negotiations, you think he was in it? He wasn't even in it. That guy's full of [expletive]. Tell him to go frost his [expletive] hair again and beat it.
"You don't think I want to make that fight? Of course I want to make that fight. But it takes two people to make a deal, not one guy."
White has often referred to Emelianenko's handlers as "crazy Russians" when it comes to addressing their negotiating tactics. But this time, the UFC exec utilized a different depiction.
"We offered [Emelianenko] lots of money – so much money that it caused lots of [expletive] with our other fighters," White said. "That's how much money we offered him. And guess what he said. 'No, we want 50 percent of your business.' That's some Russian strong-arm [expletive]. They can get away with that [expletive] out in Russia to the baker that works down the street. They're not coming to America and doing that.
"If Fedor wants to fight the best in the world, he can call right now. We can [expletive] cut a deal right this second, and we can do it."
Of course, prior to any Emelianenko vs. Lesnar contest – free or otherwise – the UFC champ will half to nurse himself back to fighting shape. White remained relatively tight-lipped about Lesnar's exact condition but did insist he would do everything possible to assist in the heavyweight's recovery.
"[Lesnar] had minor surgery," White said. "He's kicking back, healing up, seeing how he feels. No matter what, we're sending him down to the Mayo Clinic to get checked out by the best doctors in the world. From there, we'll see what happens.
"He's still very much in limbo, and we don't know. All I really care about is that the guys healthy and can come back."
White also said he was amazed that it took such a tragic situation for fans to realize what Lesnar brings to the table.
"It's funny because it takes something like this for the fans to appreciate Brock Lesnar," White said. "Whether you love him or you hate him, when you sit around and go, 'Holy [expletive, he might never fight again,' that sucks. You don't want that to happen.
"I just think he brings so much to the sport, especially to a heavyweight division that has been dead for so long."
Mir recently told MMAjunkie.com that while a potential second run as interim champion could prove interesting, it would only serve as a path to Lesnar.
"The long-term goal for me and my own satisfaction is to take off Brock Lesnar's arm," Mir said. "At the end of the day, that's what my goal is when I go to the gym and train. But being an interim champion would get me one step closer to doing so."
Mir is busy preparing for a Dec. 12 bout with Cheick Kongo on the main card of "UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez." But Mir admitted a rematch with Lesnar, who is currently out while recuperating from intestinal surgery, is always on his mind.
"[Lesnar's sickness] has thrown my mind for a spin," Mir said. "When you go in the gym, you've got a certain goal that you're going for and going for. Not that he was, obviously, my next opponent, but to face him again was the long-term goal – the short-term goals being obviously Cheick and whoever else. Now I've just got to turn it around that the interim would be another short-term goal."
Mir defeated Lesnar in the former WWE superstar's February 2008 debut with the UFC, but a July rematch at UFC 100 didn't yield the same results. The trash talk between the two didn't stop even after the fight, and Mir wants nothing more than to revisit the result.
UFC president Dana White hasn't yet committed to the need for an interim title, and Lesnar's return date has not yet been determined. But with a win over Kongo, Mir's name would have to be placed near the top of an increasingly impressive roster of heavyweight fighters that includes Shane Carwin, Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez along with Gonzaga and Nogueira.
And while an interim title shot would give Mir a third run as a UFC champion, the 30-year-old said it will just be a step toward his ultimate focus.
"If Brock Lesnar is unable to enter the cage again, that's going to give me a hard time," Mir said. "That's been pretty much my drive and focus to go to the gym every day, to change myself and grow as a fighter, is the opportunity to have a rematch with him. To know that there's a slight possibility that that will never happen, that's going to take me [some time] to wrap my head around it."