Even though Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir have taken a couple of swipes at each other while hyping their upcoming UFC heavyweight title unification match, the former Bismarck State College wrestling champ said there's no real animosity between the two. "I don't dislike Frank in any way other than he's got a win over me," Lesnar said in a conference call on Wednesday. "This is a sport. I consider myself a gentleman, and sportsmanlike conduct should take precedence." That doesn't mean Lesnar, the champion, won't be trying to bring the pain when he and Mir, the interim champ, hook it up at UFC 100 on July 11 in Las Vegas. Especially since Mir (12-3) handed Lesnar (3-1) his only mixed martial arts defeat, in Lesnar's UFC debut. "The only thing I've got going for me is Frank's got a win over me, and I don't like to lose," Lesnar said. "Revenge is a key factor me." Mir also defused the notion of bad blood. "If there is any animosity, I think it's coming from both of us in that we don't have the respect we want in the division," Mir said. That didn't prevent Lesnar from getting in one dig at Mir. In a previous interview, Mir called himself a mixed martial artist, while saying Lesnar was "a professional fighter" - someone who was in it solely for the money. "He has his desires to fight and I've got mine," Lesnar countered. "I truly love what I'm doing. It just so happens that I get paid a lot more money than he does." Lesnar has been a money generating machine for UFC since his debut loss to Mir in Feb., 2008. Mir was trying to revive his career at that point. The former heavyweight champ was coming back from a serious motorcycle accident. Lesnar overpowered Mir and was dominating the first match with wrestling and ground-and-pound. But Lesnar got reckless gong for the finish. Mir, a jiu jitsu expert, caught him with a kneebar, ending the bout in 90 seconds. Since then, both fighters have picked up big wins. Mir's next bout was for the interim heavyweight title - created while Couture was in a legal battle with UFC. On Dec. 27, he scored a second-round TKO of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to earn a shot at Lesnar. Lesnar dominated veteran Heath Herring, then knocked out MMA legend Randy Couture to win the heavyweight title last November in just his third UFC fight. "I've improved dramatically since my first adventure of even thinking about getting in mixed martial arts," Lesnar said. "... When I first got started, I was very lucky to get my break that I did. "Now having so many more hours in the gym and so many more hours on the mat, in all aspects of the game - I can't believe somebody even let me into the octagon."
During Wednesday's media conference call, the event's two main attractions UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and UFC interim heavyweight champion Frank Mir offered up their thoughts on why boxing has declined and why MMA, driven by the UFC, may have taken over the fight scene. It is a debate that may be absolute to some for advocates of both sports, but may still be a question to many.
Brock Lesnar: "I’ve never been huge fan of boxing. I’ve always been an amatuer wrestler first. The thing that caught my eye was when the first UFC came out. When I watched it, I saw the capability of two guys, say Dan Severn, a wrestler, vs. a jiu-jistu guy or a boxing guy or a karate guy. There was something intriguing about it. All these disciplines, against each other.
"Boxing to me is very vanilla, very plain. The decline of boxing went down when -- what sticks out in my mind -- Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear off. Not one instance has anybody in MMA bit anybody. We're highly-trained athletes who love and respect the sport, trying to make this thing global. I think boxing is something of the past.
"I talked about it earlier, the evolution of the sport has evolved so much. It's so intriguing. Joe Blow can sit on his couch, channel surfing, come across an actual (MMA) fight, and he can’t stop watching it. That’s the beauty of this. And we have not seen anything yet. This thing is going to blow up evern bigger than it is now."
Lots of articles on Brock bein posted today. Here's another from 5thround.com:
UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar fights for many reasons, however he makes no bones about his love for collecting paychecks as massive as his stature. With the biggest event in MMA history just days away, Lesnar hopes to cash-in big time, in more ways than one. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to provide for your family,” Lesnar said of his unwillingness to fight for small paydays. “I mean this is a business for me and it just so happens that I make more money than [Frank Mir].” That was an unexpected jab thrown by Lesnar, whether he intended to or not. Perhaps you would have to dive deeper into Lesnar’s financial history to completely understand where he is coming from. “I’ve [gone through] blood, sweat and tears for 18 years,” Lesnar stated on today’s UFC 100 conference call. “I’ve had a lot of time in the gym and gotten paid zilch. “This is prize fighting for me, if you look at it any other way then you might as well fight in the underground, you know with bare knuckles and fight in the streets as far as I’m concerned.” Although the former WWE employee is honored to be a part of this blossoming sport, specifically to headline an event as monumental as UFC 100, he isn’t about to fight for chump change. Regardless of what’s at stake. “I enjoy getting up everyday and going to work,” Lesnar emphasized. “When this is all said and done and everything’s over with, I want to live comfortably. You put your body and your mind through so much discipline so I can honestly say ‘no,’ I wouldn’t fight for peanuts.” Mir, the division’s interim champ, and Lesnar will battle on July 11th inside the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada to determine who will become the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight champ. And that is something that money can’t buy.
Brock Lesnar at 275, Won't Have Trouble Making Weight for UFC 100 (credit: mma.fanhouse.com):
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has a 265-pound limit for its heavyweight division, but that weight limit usually doesn't matter because most fighters weigh well under 265 pounds. For UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, however, it's a little bit different. Lesnar, the enormous former WWE star, has to get into the sauna to sweat off a few pounds on weigh-in day to get down to 265. But he told me today that he won't have any trouble making the 265-pound limit when he fights Frank Mir at UFC 100, and that his current weight of 275 is just right for the heavyweight class. "It's not difficult for me," Lesnar said on a call to promote UFC 100. "This camp, I've made weight three or four different times during the camp. I've been watching it, eating really well, and it's not a huge task for me to make 265. I do have to put some thought into it, and a little extra effort, but it's not difficult." Lesnar will probably be about 20 pounds heavier than Mir when they step into the Octagon on July 11, but he added that he doesn't think size and strength are going to be the determining factors in the fight. "It just so happens that the weight limit is 265 and that's exactly what I weigh the night before," Lesnar said. "Come fight night, whether it's him or me, somebody's got to be better that night, and that's what we'll have to wait and see for."
UFC's Lesnar not just about fights (credit: metro.us)
Brock Lesnar sure is soft-spoken for a 6-foot-3, 265-pound pain machine. He’s the UFC heavyweight champ. He was one of the top stars in professional wrestling. He won an NCAA wrestling title and was signed by the Minnesota Vikings. But Lesnar’s also a self-described “country boy” who manages to mask any cockiness while promising victory. He punches other men in the face for a living, but he’s “at peace” these days. And why not? Lesnar, who will try to avenge his sole mixed martial arts defeat against Frank Mir on July 11 at UFC 100, is one of the most feared men on the planet. He’s at the top of his sport as the owner of half of UFC’s split heavyweight title (Mir has the other), and at the top of his game after a convincing win over Hall of Famer Randy Couture his last time out. “I’m at the top right now, not because I’m the UFC champion or anything like that, but just because I’m happy,” Lesnar told Metro yesterday. “I’m happy with my family. I’m at peace. I feel good ... It’s a long road to travel when you’re out looking for something and you don’t know what it is.” The only thing that scares Lesnar, he said, is losing a family member. Any other heavyweight? Not a chance. “I’m not threatened by anybody, really,” he said. “Feeling challenged and feeling threatened are two different things. There are guys out there I feel a challenge from, and Frank’s one of them. But feeling threatened? Absolutely not. Brock Lesnar said he isn’t the fighter Frank Mir submitted any more. “In the first fight, Frank was fighting a wrestler,” Lesnar said of their bout on Feb. 2, 2008. “This time, Frank’s fighting the UFC heavyweight champion. Big difference.” Lesnar holds the UFC belt, and Mir has an interim championship. They’ll be unified July 11. “He’s got a make-believe belt around his waist,” Lesnar said. “I’ve got the real one. If I were him I’d want the real one, too, but he’s not getting it.”
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UFC champ Lesnar unfazed by Mir's striking (credit: winnipegsun.com)
Don't count UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar among those impressed with Frank Mir's striking in his win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Nogueira (31-5-1) had never been stopped prior to UFC 92 in December and had only been knocked down five times in his previous 36 mixed martial arts bouts. Mir, known more as a ground fighter than a striker, floored him three times in less than seven minutes en route to a dominant second-round TKO. "Anybody's standup looks good when you're standing in front of a zombie," Lesnar told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. "Nogueira was in no shape to fight that night - and didn't fight. "Anybody's standup's going to look good when you're fighting against a guy who looked like he was on his death bed to me." UFC president Dana White said later Nogueira was battling a staph infection going into the Mir fight. There was also talk of a knee injury. The 31-year-old Lesnar takes on Mir, a former heavyweight champion in his own right, on July 11 in the main event of UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The two were originally slated to meet May 23 at UFC 98 but the fight was pushed back because of a knee injury to Mir (12-3). The super-sized Lesnar, a six-foot-three behemoth who has to cut some 10 pounds to make the UFC's 265-pound heavyweight limit, has a score to settle with the 30-year-old Mir. The former NCAA amateur and pro wrestling champion lost his UFC debut to Mir at UFC 81 in February 2008. The frenetic fight only lasted 90 seconds and a rampant Lesnar probably dominated 85 of those, only to make a mistake and have his jiu-jitsu black belt opponent submit him via leg lock. Lesnar (3-1) says he is a different fighter 17 months later. "Plain and simple, Frank fought a wrestler the first time he fought Brock Lesnar. This time he's fighting a UFC heavyweight champion. That's the major difference." In the interim, Lesnar battered former Pride veteran Heath Herring en route to a unanimous decision and won the title from 45-year-old Randy (The Natural) Couture. The UFC 100 showdown ends a four-fighter heavyweight mini-tournament that involved Lesnar, Mir, Nogueira and Couture. The victory over Nogueira netted the six-foot-three, 240-pound Mir the interim heavyweight championship. Nogueira had earned that lesser title with a victory over Tim Sylvia at UFC 81 - when Couture had been embroiled in a contract dispute with the UFC. With Couture out of the picture, the UFC wanted some sort of title for its heavyweights to go after. After stopping Nogueira, Mir walked over to the side of the cage where Lesnar was sitting and said: "You've got my belt." Prior to that Mir-Nogueira bout, Lesnar gave the interim title a degree of respect, saying the fight between the two belt-holders would decide once and for all who was the real champion. He has since changed his view. There is no respect for Mir's title. "After giving it a little more thought - and after this training camp - absolutely not," said Lesnar, who correctly calls it a "make-believe title" designed to keep fans interested during Couture's exile. "No, I don't think it holds any water." NOTES - Lesnar is the 19th man to fight for a UFC title with less than 10 fights under his belt. Of those, only four succeeded in winning the championship: Lesnar, Couture, Mir and Mark Coleman. ... Lesnar and Couture both won the title in their fourth UFC fight. ... Nogueira and Couture are scheduled to meet at UFC 102 on Aug. 29 in Portland.
Frank Mir was interviewed by different websites yesterday. Here are some of the things he said about the much anticipated bout of Lesnar vs Mir II (credit: lasvegassun.com, yahoo.com):
“I think Brock knows enough that he’s already worried. If I say anymore, I might not get him in the cage”. “I might as well try to boost up his confidence so he shows up on the 11th and I can get paid.” “Anybody that size that gets behind a punch and sits down on it can catch me on the chin. If I’m cocky and put my hands down, obviously it will be a short night for me and I can go home and cry about it later.” “The fighter I was then compared to the fighter I am now is leaps and bounds,” Mir said. “If he chooses to stand up, I’ll knock him out. If he chooses to take me down, I’ll submit him.” Mir said he feels like he's moving like a middleweight and Lesnar simply won't be able catch him. He also thinks Lesnar will be confused as he tries to process everything being thrown his way. "There's so many things going on in the fight. I think his mind will be paralyzed because he's having to deal with so many new elements. Instead of going for things real slow and powerful, I may as well go for speed so I can add more chaos to his brain." Mir said Lesnar is too slow. He added that Lesnar would have little chance to beat some of the top light heavyweights like Griffin, Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida.
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The Lesnar/Carwin controversy (Lesnar claiming he met with Carwin to test who got the better striking power, Carwin claiming they never did) has been cleared. Apparently the website which posted the interview with Brock was hacked so the whole interview was a fake. The owner of the site just posted that statement.