Brock Lesnar faced the media as the hype is in full gear for this weekend's
UFC 100 mega-event. Lesnar talked with reporter Adam Hill of THE LAS
VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, and no doors got knocked off their hinges.
Brock Lesnar thinks he has come a long way as a fighter
since suffering the only defeat of his brief professional mixed martial arts
career to Frank Mir in February 2008.
He will have his chance to prove it Saturday night when
the two meet for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title
in the main event of UFC 100 at Mandalay Bay.
The loss came in Lesnar's
second pro MMA fight and his first in the UFC.
"It's been a year and a half,
and I think I've evolved rather well under the circumstances," Lesnar said.
"They threw me to the lions right away, and that's how I wanted
it."
Lesnar (3-1) said he did not
execute his game plan in the loss to Mir. Instead of keeping the fight standing
up, Lesnar relied on instinct and immediately took the dangerous jiu-jitsu
specialist to the ground.
Though Lesnar pounded on Mir
for more than a minute, he eventually was caught in a knee bar and forced to
submit 1:30 into the bout.
Lesnar insists it won't
happen again.
"I think you'll just see a
guy that's going to be patient," he said. "It only takes one punch, and I'll
find the right time to issue that."
Since that loss, Lesnar has
risen to the top of the heavyweight division.
He first dominated Heath
Herring for three rounds to gain a unanimous decision over the veteran. Then,
Lesnar showed he had arrived by knocking out UFC legend Randy Couture to take
the title in November.
"There's a lot of
responsibility with being a champion now, so I definitely have to elevate my
game," he said.
Mir, too, has used the first
bout with Lesnar as a springboard. The victory gave him the opportunity to fight
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the interim heavyweight title in
December.
Despite being a sizable
underdog, Mir knocked out Nogueira early in the second round, setting up
Saturday's unification bout.
After the victory over
Nogueira, Mir looked right at Lesnar in the audience and called him out, saying,
"You have my belt."
Mir and Lesnar have traded
verbal barbs through the media in recent weeks.
Lesnar claims he doesn't want
to get caught up in the rivalry or the fact that the rematch will headline the
historic card.
"It's just another fight to
me," he said. "I don't want to go into this fight with any more emotion than
necessary. I just have to go in and stay calm."
Lesnar, who will turn 32 on
Sunday, said part of his ability to remain calm comes from the fact that he
finally feels at peace with his life.
In the past, he has
complained of the lifestyle that he was drawn into when he was one of the
biggest stars in World Wrestling Entertainment. There, he was constantly
traveling and performing several nights a week.
By most accounts, Lesnar was
doing better financially as a professional wrestler, but he said he simply was
not happy.
"When I left the
entertainment business, by any standard I guess I was doing all right," he said.
"I guess it really broke down for me to being able to get in and do something
that I really wanted to do and enjoyed doing. That's why I feel so fortunate to
be a part of this: to be able to actually do something that I love and enjoy and
to get paid for it, as well."
Fighting for real in the UFC
also enables Lesnar to be home with his wife, Rena, in rural Alexandria, Minn.,
far from the public eye. The couple just had their first child, a son, and each
has a daughter from a previous relationship.
"I'm so relaxed and so calm.
I'm in a really good place in my life. I'm very grounded. I'm not searching to
be someone I'm not. When I was a pro wrestler, I was living two, three,
sometimes four different lives," Lesnar said. "So, I'm not soul-searching every
day. I found who I am.
''I'm a fighter, and I'm
happy with that. I work for a great company. I've got a great wife and great
kids. A lot of people search for a hell of a long time, so I'm pretty
fortunate."
Lesnar and his wife try to
remain as private as a star athlete and three-time Playboy cover model possibly
can, but he said dealing with the spotlight is the one thing he has brought with
him from wrestling.
"That's why I have a simple
life, because I've already been through that," he said. "I've already made a lot
of money, and now it's just a matter of staying grounded, being close to my
family and being happy."
