Frank Mir does not want to see Brock Lesnar leave the cage.
The former heavyweight champion said he hopes the ailing champion gets well soon.
Why? He's obsessed with a rematch.
"That's pretty much been my driving focus to go to the gym every day, to change myself and grow as a fighter," Mir said at a Q and A session for the WEC on Tuesday.
Lesnar was hospitalized last week and diagnosed with a bacterial infection of his intestines -- a local news affiliate in Minnesota called it a severe case of diverticulitis, a digestive disease in the large intestine -- prompting the indefinite delay of a title bout with Shane Carwin.
UFC president Dana White on Monday told TMZ that Lesnar might never fight again but appeared to back off those comments in subsequent interviews, saying the champion's fate depended on the severity of the condition.
If Lesnar was out for good, Mir said it didn't matter that his prospects in the division improved.
"To know that there's a possibility that (a rematch) might never happen, that's been taking me a couple of days to try and wrap my mind around," he said.
If a 10-fight card, including a world title bout between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson, wasn't enough, World Extreme Cagefighting is pleased to announce that four of the sport's biggest names will be heading to the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, to take part in the fight week festivities.
WEC Vice President Peter Dropick, along with General Manager Reed Harris, on Sunday confirmed two huge events that will take place at the Covelli Centre in the days and hours leading up to WEC: Cerrone vs. Henderson.
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, former UFC heavyweight champion and current WEC color commentator Frank Mir will join former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver and former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber for a unique Q&A session at the Covelli Center. Time will be announced at a later date.
Then, just hours before the first fight on Sept. 2, one of the greatest fighters of all-time, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, will sign autographs on the main concourse at the Covelli Centre from 4PM-6PM EST.
"For our first trip to Ohio, we wanted to make sure fans were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Dropick said. "To attend a title fight is a special experience. To have four of the best fighters of all-time also in attendance makes this an absolute can't-miss event."
Cerrone vs. Henderson will be televised nationally live on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber's picks for the UFC 100 title fights.
Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves (Welterweight): GSP in my opinion is the much more complete fighter and is the more disciplined fighter. As far as just being a fighter and, in general, the type of guy that loves to get down and probably would be fighting once a week on the street anyways if he wasn't fighting, you gotta go with Thiago on that one. You've got a killer instinct on that guy that is really dangerous, but unless he can knock out St. Pierre, I think St. Pierre is gonna take it.
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir (Heavyweight): Lesnar has been improving quite a bit. With the right training partners, he's gonna be very, vary hard to stop. But Frank Mir is crafty and this is the most dedicated he's been in the sport and working the hardest, more than he ever has in this sport. He looked the biggest, the strongest that I've seen him as well. I'm expecting a great fight. It's either gonna be Lesnar by TKO or Mir by tricky submission.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir join MMAWeekly.com partner BetUs.com to talk a bit about his training, his strategy and his thoughts on fighting Brock Lesnar for the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship this Saturday at UFC 100 in Las Vegas.
Head on over to BetUS.com to listen to the interview with Mir and, if you choose, you can get in on this MASSIVE UFC betting event with BetUS.com, and receive $100 free for a $100 deposit, AND a free entry into an exclusive UFC 100 Poker tourney.
UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar talks about Frank Mir being insecure and afraid of their rematch at UFC 100 on Saturday night. (Courtesy of Steve Cofield)
Round 5 figurines for Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski, "Big John" McCarthy, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, comprising Series 3 of the popular mixed martial arts collectibles, are now available at retail, it was announced today by Round 5 C.E.O. Barron Lau and President Damon Lau. They join the first two Round 5 Series which can be purchased in outlets throughout North America and online at www.Round5MMA.com and in the MMAWeekly.com Online Store.
"We are extremely pleased with the final products for Series 3," said Damon Lau. "Each of the athletes had extensive input into their development, and I know that fans will enjoy the 'small touches' that make Round 5 figurines unique."
Round 5 also confirmed today that Series 4, scheduled for late July/Early August release, will now feature five athletes, Gina Carano, Dan Henderson, Cung Le, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Matt Serra. The Fedor Emelianenko figurine, originally intended to be issued as part of Series 4, is going through an additional redesign and will instead appear as part of a future Series.
"We continue to work closely with Fedor and his team on making his figurine as accurate and true to his persona as possible," added Lau. "Consumers appreciate Round 5's commitment to producing collectibles that capture each athlete's individual style, and we look forward to completing the Fedor figurine with that goal in mind."
Round 5 is also preparing for its large presence at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas in July, where near-complete prototypes of Series 4 will be on display.
In addition to this week's release of Series 3, Round 5 has issued two Series of four athletes each: Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and Tito Ortiz comprised Series 1 while Rich Franklin, Sean Sherk, Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva were released in Series 2.
Below are images of the Round 5 Series 3 figurines, scheduled to be available at retail in the next month. The Series 1 figurines (featuring Quinton Jackson, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, and Tito Oritz) and the Series 2 figurines (featuring Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, and Sean Sherk) are currently available in the MMAWeekly.com Online Store.
Mark Ecko, founder and famed designed of Ecko clothing, could be in a serious financial squeeze according to report in the New York Post. Ecko has also recently stepped up and started sponsoring several prominent MMA fighters including UFC heavyweight champion, Frank Mir, TUF 9 coach Michael Bisping, and "Ultimate Fighter" winner, Nate Diaz.
The story says sources have indicated that Ecko has hired investment bank, Peter J. Solomon, to help refinance at least $170 million in debt that are owed to 2 key business partners.
Because of this debt, Ecko may be forced to sell off pieces of his businesses to help financial woes and pay off creditors.
According to the report, Ecko owed over $100 million to Li & Fung, a global trading company that helps manufacture his products, and that the rough holiday season played a major part in the recent struggle.
Ecko has also now apparently defaulted on a $70 million loan from commercial lender, CIT, and as quoted in the story from the NY Post, Ecko is "scrambling to avoid bankruptcy so he doesn't lose every stitch of equity he's got."
Sources told the Post that Ecko's executives and business partners are in a scramble to sell off pieces of the business to rivals in exchange for immediate cash. Apparently, Ecko is also trying to lease out space in his huge 280,000-square-foot headquarters on West 23rd Street, in New York City.
How this could affect the MMA fighters that Ecko currently sponsors is not known. Independent sources indicated to MMA Insider on Friday that the financial struggles felt by Ecko could partially be a reason why the clothing giant fell out of the running for their bid for the Elite XC assets, of which they were rumored to be in contention for.
The NY Post contacted Ecko chief marketing officer, Michael Golden, who stated, "we're pretty confident that this isn't an issue that's life-threatening at all, in our case, we have more than enough assets to pay off that term loan, and we have more than enough time."
Stay tuned to MMA Insider for more information on this story as it becomes available.
Frank Mir did an interview with Bodybuilding.com at the Arnold Sports Expo on Friday saying that he will not fight Brock Lesnar on May 23. He is hopeful that they can still fight in the summertime, but it now appears the UFC 98 is out of the picture.
There's no easy way to say it: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira got his ass kicked by Frank Mir.
The 32-year-old Brazilian did not look like the fighter that, save for one Russian, lorded over one of the best collections of heavyweight talent in history at Pride Fighting Championships, nor the man who came from behind to win the UFC interim heavyweight championship last year. He looked sluggish, out of step, and sadly, old.
But there was a reason for it, says UFC president Dana White.
White maintains the former champ was suffering from a serious case of staph infection going into the Dec. 27 bout.
"I think Nog had staph real bad like six days before that fight," White told reporters on Thursday.
Though he didn't have blood tests to prove his theory, his eyes gave him all the evidence he needed.
"He had these things all over his body," continued White. "I can't explain what they looked like."
Since the fight, Nogueira has remained silent on the circumstances leading up to the fight. Last month, he underwent knee surgery to repair an injury that also hampered his preparation for Mir, according to trainers.
Last week, Nogueira accepted his first bout since the loss, a meeting with former heavyweight champ Randy Couture at UFC 101 in August. Sources say he will do most of his preparation for the fight in Los Angeles.
Friday night will be a huge show as MMAWeekly Radio will feature interviews with former UFC heavyweight champion, Mark Coleman, just over a week away from his 205lb debut against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
Coleman will discuss his training for the fight, the feud that exploded between the Hammer House and Chute Boxe after the first fight against Rua, and much, much more.
Also, tonight will feature an interview with 2 time UFC heavyweight champ, Frank Mir, fresh off of his TKO win over Antonio Rodgrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 in December.
The champ will talk about the big win and his strategy going into the fight as well as his next match-up this spring to unite the heavyweight titles against Brock Lesnar.
Tune in tonight at 9pm EST/6pm PST to hear both Frank Mir and Mark Coleman on MMAWeekly Radio!
In the final edition of Dana White's UFC 92 video blog, he goes backstage for the fights that took place on Saturday night. The event featured two title changes...Rashad Evans winning the light heavyweight title and Frank Mir taking home the heavyweight crown.
Junie Browning was the thorn in everyone's side on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter. He was the instigator, the reactor, the gnat that buzzes in your ear...
After the show was over, many of the other fighters came forward saying that Junie planned to play the bad boy role well before he ever made it to the fighter house.
In a report by Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press, Krzysztof Soszynski said, "To be honest with you, he did everything for show. It was a whole joke to him. Basically he told me the very first day we met - and before our fights to get into the house - he basically said 'If I get into this house, I'm going to be the crazy guy.'"
Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader echoed Soszynski's statements, but Phillipe Nover only partially agreed. In Davidson's report, Nover said, "He was definitely trying (to be the bad boy) and he was... It's a reality TV show and your true colors will show. Especially after a week or two of being in the house. You can't fake an act for a month straight. He definitely showed his true colors. He was a crazy maniac type of kid."
After he defeated Dave Kaplan by armbar on Saturday night, Junie himself was asked about his "act" on the show by UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan.
"It wasn't all planned. It was just more the fact that I didn't let the cameras dictate the way I was going to act," Browning said about his behavior on the show. "Somebody messed with me, I just snapped. If I'm going to get pissed, I might as well make it entertaining."
Taking the show as a learning lesson, Browning has obviously grown up since the filming finished. He even offered an apology to former coach, Frank Mir, who has been openly critical of his former student on the show in recent weeks.
"I gave (Frank) Mir a hard time on the show. I just want to apologize to everybody, everyone watching and stuff," said Browning. "Mir was actually an awesome coach. It was more my fault. I don't think I would have put up with myself either. I apologize to Mir and the rest of Mir's team, they were awesome coaches."
Frank Mir gets why Brock Lesnar is UFC heavyweight champion. Lesnar is big, strong, but most of all, marketable.
In a teleconference for "The Ultimate Fighter" season eight finale that takes place this Saturday, Mir admitted that the heavyweight landscape had shifted dramatically, but not surprisingly.
"Our sport is twofold: one is your performance in the ring, second is the draw you cause with ticket sales and pay per view buys," he said. "It's a combination of those two that enable the 'ranking system' if you really want to put a ranking system, of who gets title shots and who doesn't. For example, Cain Velasquez, (a) phenomenal heavyweight fighter, but very few people are talking about him. He's very formidable in the ring; outside the ring, I don't know how many tickets he sells.
"But then you have Brock Lesnar, who has phenomenal fan appeal sells tons of tickets. He was 1-1 in the UFC, and he gets a title shot."
Mir has been fighting in the Octagon since 2001, and has gotten used to the breaks. The organization's politics still grate with his vision of the fighter as martial artist, but he's learned to let it go.
"I could point to Jon Fitch who was 8-0 before he got a title shot," he said. "Is that right? No, but guess what, this isn't like an Olympic sport where (it's) number one guy versus number two guy. It's like boxing; it has that entertainment value to where if no one wants to see you fight, you can be 30-0 and it won't matter. No one cares."
To Mir, Lesnar's title grab was a mixture of business and probability. Lesnar got there because of his stature, but won the title because of the unpredictable nature of the sport. If anything, the victory reinforced his misgivings about the way marketing decides who fights who.
"With Brock getting that first shot at Randy, did I think that was acceptable?" Mir asked. "No, I think people have to work their way up a little bit more, but that's just me as a fighter. And I realized that's why I think people need to work their way through the ranks, because anybody on any given day can get caught with a shot and lose. So now you have the champ who's 2-1 in the UFC, and I think that's what a lot of people are now upset about. But again, people buy tickets to see Brock Lesnar. That's the way it is."
Should Mir be victorious against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 92 on Dec. 27, he will get a chance to defeat the man he's already beaten, and in the process, mark the biggest achievement in his career. So while Mir isn't necessarily thrilled that Lesnar is the new champ, he's just one step away from proving that art can overtake commerce.
ESPN's MMA Live is at UFC 91 and host Jim Anik and guest host Frank Mir are on the scene to break down the main event between UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture and challenger Brock Lesnar.
At the Nevada State Athletic Commision meetin on Wednesday, the Commission determined that Mario Yamasaki would be the referee in charge of the action when UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture defends his belt against Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 on Nov. 15 in Las Vegas.
Also called to work for the bout were judges Jeff Mullen, Cecil Peoples, and Tony Weeks.
The bout marks Couture's return to the Octagon following more than a year mired in legal battles with the promotion.
The winner between Couture and Lesnar will face the winner of the bout between interim champion Antinio Rodrigo Nogueira and challenger Frank Mir, who are fighting on Dec. 27 at UFC 92. That unification bout will likely take place in early 2009.
Tickets for UFC 92 "The Ultimate 2008" go on sale to the general public beginning Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. PT. There are presale options to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Starting Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. PT, tickets for UFC 92 go on sale to UFC Fight Club members. And on Friday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. PT, tickets go on sale to newsletter subscribers.
UFC 92 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It features three of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's highest profile fights of the year. Forrest Griffin puts his newly won light heavyweight championship on the line against Rashad Evans, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defends his heavyweight interim belt against fellow Ultimate Fighter 8 coach Frank Mir, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson returns to the Octagon to try and avenge two brutal losses to Wanderlei Silva.
The latest episode (#22) of MMA Live from ESPN features Jon Anik, Kenny Florian, and Franklin McNeil focusing on the Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock debacle that occurred at the recent CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights in Florida.
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