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Frank Mir on Why His Opinion of Brock Lesnar Changed, Why He Wants a Third Fight Lesnar, How He Viewed Lesnar for Their First UFC Fight

December 31, 2019 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Brock Lesnar Smackdown 9-17-19 Image Credit: WWE

– In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, former UFC champion Frank Mir discussed his former rival Brock Lesnar and how he still wants to face him again for a third fight, his opinion of Lesnar changing, and a whole lot more. Below are some highlights.

Frank Mir on how his opinion of Brock Lesnar changed: “You know what? My opinion of Brock changed in the sense of, I still want to stomp his ***. I don’t want him to be the first Octagon-related death anymore. *Sarcastically* Paraplegic, maybe? No *Laughs*. Yeah, we’ll see. Obviously, look, he has kids and a wife. I hope he can breathe the next day after our fight. I just wanted him to struggle a little bit to do so. Maybe just can’t chew his steak for a month would be nice. But as far as his ability to react and sell in there [for pro wrestling], blows my mind because I see how hard it is for me. There was one time Austin [Aries] was doing a splash, and I’m supposed to lay down, and he’d show me how to take it. Then he goes, and I do my interpretation of a sell on it. He just starts laughing at me. I go, ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Until you get somewhat better, I’m just going to keep laughing at you.’ I was horrible because I’d been taught my whole life not to show pain, not to show discomfort. Even in the fight with Roy Nelson. One of his left hooks kind of got an inadvertent thumb to the eye. And so, my vision in my right eye completely went out. You jam someone hard enough, it’s just a blur. Well, if I start blinking and touching my face, you know. So, I have to sit there and I’m looking at him, and I’m moving my head. I can’t see for s***! I can see with my left eye, so I have no depth perception. I’m sitting there, going, ‘OK. It’s going to come back. It’s going to come back.’ And then all of the sudden, pump a jab a little bit, let me walk away from my blind side. And then boom, my vision came back in. … So that reversal of having to portray emotion and tell a story with my expression. That’s difficult. It’s hard.”

Mir on a rematch with Brock Lesnar happening in wrestling over MMA: “Well, right now, he’s retired MMA, so I don’t know how I’d be able to get that. [Van Vliet on how fighters frequently go back on their retirements] I’m hoping. Look, I think it only makes sense the two of us fight again. I made him tap the first time. He finished me with strikes the second time. I mean, both the fights were exciting for people to watch. So, I don’t think he wants — I’m sure it bothers him every time people talk to him about me. I made him tap. I made him scream uncle. He sat there and slapped my leg, asking the referee to save him from disfigurement. He has to sleep with that, you know what I mean? The same thing, hey, he kicked my *** in one of the fights. I got up, didn’t know where I was, and he gave me a good *** whupping. Why wouldn’t he want to go in there and finish it off one last time? I do.”

Mir on if he went into the first fight with Brock Lesnar of wanting to destroy him: “No, contrary. Honestly, it upset me a little bit because I looked at him, watching film and what not, getting prepared, I knew who he was from wrestling in Minnesota. So, I looked at him, I’m fighting a guy who was a national champion wrestler. He lost his junior year to Stephen Neal, who to me, was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. This guy, his junior year, Stephen was a senior. Stephen Neal was already a national champion from his junior year. I think the runner-up his sophomore year. So, he’s up there with a pedigree that’s extremely high. Neal went ahead to go on in 1999 and was the world champion, Dan Hodge recipient, and the only reason he didn’t continue on wrestling was because he went over to the Patriots and got a couple Super Bowl rings throwing guys around there. So, I looked at Lesnar as a very legitimate threat because of his wrestling background. Big, strong, athletic guy who knows how to wrestle and will always be in a good position, right”

“And then, I was backstage getting ready for the fight, the week of, doing PR and stuff. One of the other fighters on the card — the story would be better if I could remember who it was — but I was just so in shock that after what he said to me, I just remember the kid grabbing me on the back of the shoulder going, ‘Hey, man. You gotta do this. It’s MMA vs. Pro Wrestling. You can’t lose.’ I looked around, I’m like, ‘Oh. You think he’s a pro wrestler. Please tell me no one else thinks this guy’s just a pro wrestler.’ The dude’s a national champion wrestler; like legitimately. I’m like, ‘What?!’ So, that put a lot of pressure on me because people are going to think he’s just a pro wrestler. Like no. Give me anybody else, most of the other pro wrestlers don’t have a background in combat [sports]. That’s why the wrestling looks the way it looks. They don’t really know what an armbar is or how to legitimately hit a double on a guy who doesn’t want to go down. And so, there are some guys that I look at, and I see them throw a punch, I guarantee that dude’s never been in a real fight in his life. Oh god. And so, here have a guy, Lesnar, who legitimately was a fighter. He didn’t become the champ because he sucked, you know? And so, that was upsetting. So, I was really focused to take him out.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.