A few hours from the start of perhaps the most important fight card in UFC history, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Lorenzo Fertitta, took time to address fans at the UFC Fan Expo inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Saturday morning.
Q: Were you hesitant to sign Brock Lesnar?
Fertitta: "You know, I have to give props to Dana White on that one, he called me up one day and said, 'You know, I want to get Brock Lesnar.' I had watched Brock fight in that show in the Coliseum. I think it was a K1 show and I was really impressed with his athleticism and I could tell that he was no joke. The other thing we looked at was that this guy was a world-class athlete. The reality is that if the UFC back when Brock got out of college was what it is today, he would have come straight here. But there was no outlet at the time. He's the real deal. He's a real athlete. So we knew we might take some hits here and there because people will say, 'Oh he's a pro wrestler.' But we believed in him."
WWE commentator Jim Ross has a new blog up. Here is what he wrote about Brock:
UFC 100 is hours away in Vegas and I plan to watch it with the Mrs. on PPV. Because she's met Brock Lesnar on many occasions and got to know Brock when he was with WWE and I was the EVP of Talent Relations she has developed an interest in MMA. Plus she's always been a boxing fan but with the boxing business on life support Mrs. J.R. has switched her interest from boxing to MMA which is great by me.
Lesnar weighed in at 265 at the official weigh in on Friday but you can count on Brock tipping the scales at 280ish come Saturday night. Brock will likely outweigh his adversary Frank Mir by approximately 30 pounds and even with that size disparity Mir won't have an edge in speed and quickness. Mir does have a decided advantage in MMA experience and has talked a damn good game going into the fight to help sell PPV's. I stick by my prediction that if Brock doesn't make any foolish mistakes early that Lesnar will destroy Mir who will be a HUGE favorite in the arena. Brock once told me that getting booed motivated him to scary levels like when he was a heavyweight wrestler at Minnesota and they would travel to Iowa to compete and where Brock was looked upon as if he was Satan himself there in Iowa City. Lesnar will be booed out of the arena Saturday night in Las Vegas and I don't think that he would have it any other way.
Our new blog is up! This time of course John discusses the matches of UFC 100. Who does he think will come out on top and why?! Don't waste a minute and check out his blog [navi: Blog > Part 12].
Excerpt from the new blog:
Hey everybody welcome back once again to the UFC 100 NBG SPECIAL! This blog is going to be ALL about UFC 100 but before I get there, I want to comment on some things that have happened over the last few weeks. Number one, I am extremely happy to know that Steve Mazzagatti will not be refing the Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir fight. Instead it will be Herb Dean and Dean seems to be a stand up guy and unbiased as well. The thing about Mazzagatti is that he is close friends with Mir and naturally he favored Mir because of that very fact. [..]
Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir – The Ultimate Re-match! That’s right, I’m calling it like I see it! To me this is the biggest re-match in recent history! This is bigger than Couture-Liddell in my eyes! Not only have these two men had history but also they are both champions! Two titles on the line in one match! Only one man will walk out as the undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion of the world! I’ll start by going back to their first encounter. February 02, 2008, yeah it’s been that long! Brock had just signed with the UFC and Dana White was very skeptical about Brock wanting to be a part of the UFC. To try and call Brock on his bluff, he picked a UFC veteran to face the new comer in Frank Mir. It was said at the time that Brock Lesnar had absolutely no business in the UFC because he came from the WWE. Most of these remarks came from Mir himself. When the fight took place Brock Lesnar came swinging like no tomorrow and within the first 10 seconds of the fight he takes Mir down to the mat and starting laying the hammer fists. [..]