Carwin fires first shot at Lesnar

by Jeremy Botter on July 12, 2009

I cannot say I was surprised by anything that night other then Brock’s reaction to beating a very tough Frank Mir. Frank is a legend and a great guy who got out powered not out classed. The sponsor issue, you need to talk to your manager not the fans or Dana.

The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a Champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a Champion. The fans are why we do this Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama it is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did last night. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you can’t earn your peers respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. We have no scripts in this sport, no pre-determined earning amount and no pre-determined outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you win or loose it matters how you win or loose.

From leaving the venue all the way to the Airport I have had fans of the sport ask me to take out Brock Lesnar for them. The thing is I have a very tough fight ahead of me that IMO is every bit as tough and talented as Brock. Cain is no joke and he may have had a tough fight against Kongo but I got rocked against Gonzaga. Fact is we are at the top of the HWT division and anyone we fight moving forward is going to be a real test. Cain is nothing short of a super athlete with amazing wrestling and he trains with one of the best camps in the country. I am sure Joe Silva told Cain the same thing he told us, winner gets the title shot.

Shane told us on The Takedown on Saturday night that he would rather face Lesnar than Mir, so the fact that he’s starting the process of calling Lesnar out isn’t a surprise in the least to me. Shane is a smart guy and I’m sure 99% of what he’s saying here is pure bluster, because he can’t seriously believe Brock Lesnar doesn’t train like an animal and that he’s just in it for the money. If he valued money above all else, he would still be in World Wrestling Entertainment, and he probably wouldn’t live in the middle of the woods and drive a $8,000 car.

Anyone who hasn’t done so should go read Dave Meltzer’s excellent piece today about Lesnar’s actions last night. Sure, Brock needs to dial down the intensity a bit (and needs to never, ever insult another UFC sponsor again), but the way to push this thing into the mainstream and gain the visibility we need is not sportsmanship, because the mainstream media will never, ever see the sportsmanship and decide that mixed martial arts isn’t a violent and horrifying sport.

The way to push this thing to greater heights is to have fighters that people are emotionally invested in, and that doesn’t mean they have to love you. As I’ve said hundreds of times since last night, every compelling story needs a bad guy to root against, and Brock Lesnar, for better or worse, is that bad guy. He’s the Tito Ortiz to your Ken Shamrock, or the Muhammad Ali to your Joe Frazier. It’s why he’s the biggest pay per view draw since Oscar De La Hoya against Floyd Mayweather, which makes sense because Mayweather knowingly made himself into a bad guy character to face off against the everyman De La Hoya and he’ll do the same thing if he ever faces Manny Pacquiao. He does it not because he wants to be loved, but because he understands the true nature of the game. The UFC is where they are today not simply because of Griffin and Bonnar, but because of Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz.

Like I said at the top, I like Shane Carwin a great deal. He’s super strong, he’s a good wrestler, and I will be very interested to see him face off against Lesnar. But that doesn’t mean I believe he has a chance in hell to beat the current heavyweight champion, because I don’t think he does. Brock Lesnar is a scary fighter with an intensity that is unmatched in the sport, and I don’t think anyone currently on the UFC roster could be considered a favorite against him. Certainly not Cain Velasquez, who may be a good wrestler and a gym warrior, but would be severely overmatched in a fight with the current champ.

Last 5 posts by Jeremy Botter

Lashley Signs With Strikeforce - December 11th, 2009
Site News: New Inside Fights Editor - November 6th, 2009
Lesnar out of UFC 106 with severe flu - October 26th, 2009
Machida steals one from Shogun - October 25th, 2009
Henderson, UFC negotiations grind to a halt - October 16th, 2009

Tags: Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, shane carwin, Tito Ortiz, ufc 100

Jeremy Botter

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Jeremy Botter is the editor-in-chief of Inside Fights. He has covered the pro wrestling and mixed martial arts industries since 1994 and is a graduate of the University of Texas. Jeremy lives in Houston, Texas.

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http://thiswillhurtme.blogspot.com/ Kris

“Win or loose”?
Carlos Rosado

Jeremey I totally disagree with your assesment that we need to have “bad guys” in order to get more mainstream attention. The fact is that MMA is getting bigger and bigger by the day. You have MMA fighters starting to get into acting, you have big sponsorship deals like GSP with Gatorade, UFC with Bud Light. Now you have video games fighting to get into the market. We were getting along just fine without all the “bullcrap” from people who disrespect fans, sponsors, and other fighters who just fought their heart out with them. We need guys like GSP, Anderson Silva, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin, because when kids see these guys they inspire to be like them. I don’t know about how you feel but I would like my kids to grow up with positive role maodels. If Brock Lesnar like people is all what MMA was about I would hve tuned out 15 years ago.
Respectfully
Carlos Rosado
Nate

A bad guy always sells fights. Lesnar is going to be a huge pay-per-view draw for his entire career, more so if he is the villian. Even if that means everyone is rooting against him.
http://diehardgamefan.com Aaron Sirois

There is no damned honor in this sport. Look at the way they’re treating Henderson. They don’t think a rematch against Silva will sell as many ppvs, so they’re not going to give him a title shot, despite the fact that they said the winner would get that shot.
http://jbotter.wordpress.com Jeremy Botter

They didn’t say the winner would get a shot – they said that BISPING would get a shot if he were to win that fight. They never said anything about Henderson, mostly because they want to wait and see what happens with Demian Maia.
Jason Jones

What you all are failing to understand is that he is not in the UFC for entertainment. If he was he would still be in the WWE. Brock is there to prove to himself that he is the best. Who cares what the fans really think.
http://insidefights Big Steve Philly

Jeremy,
Good piece. Some points I agree with and some I don’t.Carlos made a excellent point on mentioning the stand up names/fighters in the sport who are keeping it in check.
Though not a Lesnar fan I was glad to see him silence/get revenge on his old employer the WWE for how they made him look like a ass in his last per for view with them.
However I think he needs to keep the BS to himself and this sport isn’t about Brock Lesnar.He needs to forget about all the WWE entertainment crap and recognize that he’s involved in a real sport now with big time sponsors ,not the candy bar and DVD game sponsors of the WWE.
Dana White did a hell of a job in squashing his BS and hopefully will do so in the future.I think there ought to be suspension clause put into place for such actions as the other night.
Can’t agree with the bad guy statement you made.It’s the reason boxing is in the bad shape it is in.I don’t need Merryweathers for my kids to respect as athletes but good solid guys as the ones previously mentioned in MMA.
The UFC is in a tough spot here.They got Lesnar because of his name and size but now they have nobody his size to put him in his place.They need to draw some big fighters to do so if not it’s going to be unfair fights(size wise) from here on out and it will ruin the drawing power.I believe us MMA true blues want to see a guy his size manhandle Lesnar and put him in his place.
Frank Mir wasn’t out fought he was just out sized.If he were Lesnar’s size he’d have the belt now !
I believe the UFC needs to look at the international market and bring in a animal his size to kick his ass for good.
BringBackHackney…

I just saw they paid Frank Mir $45K for the fight. That is absolutely disgusting. Now I see why the fighter’s are leaving UFC and can’t stand that cheap-ass Dana White. $45K, after the millions from PPV?
If I could ever fight like these guys, I would NEVER fight for $45K. Ridiculous. You could lose an eye or have heavy brain trauma .. for $45K?
The UFC management are cretins. I can now see why Ortiz, Couture and the others said ‘no mas’.

Re. Lesnar, he completely turned me off the UFC. I let my 12-year old son watch the match as an intro, and got to see and hear the biggest piece of white trash in the world insult the crowd, the main sponsor and his wife. Never again … and I am far from alone.

Mir showed great heart and guts. I hope he is OK and fights again. However, he looks far from the 245lbs they had him listed at. He looked like 220 at best.

Get Bob Sapp to get into a slug fest with Lesnar (Shrek). THAT I would love to see, and pray that Sapp knocked the white trash a-hole out.
John Doe

I don’t know why people complain about Lesnar’s actions. The fans were very direspectful towards him, Mir talked alot of trash to him, and still you want this guy to take it with a grain of salt? The fans that booed deserved the middle finger, his in their to fight not to become close friends with the so called fans.
Someone

Bob Sapp? Didn’t he just get KOed by Bobby Lashley, another former WWE guy? I’m sure he’ll stand a chance against Brock.
timothy polzin

I really liked seeing brock lesner beaty the crap out of mir. all that trash talk from both their fights was entertaining. every sport has a bad guy no matter what the human psyche needs it. also it is the heavy weight division. if you dont think it was fair for mir to give up like 30 pounds to lesner look at how it was ten years ago when their was no weight class. thats what mma is all about, who is the best fighter. right now its brock lesner. even if he did use his weight to win its mirs job to over come that. hats off to lesner, the whole night went my way so i was very happy. i do think its kind of lame how much they get paid if they lose.
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nick

Jeremy is right.. In order for this sport to grow it needs its share of “villians”. It makes the wins by the “good” guys like GSP and Rich Franklin that much better. Especially if it was against somebody that you dont like. For instance.. BringBackHackney, you would pay absolute top dollar to see the fight between Brock Lesnar and Sapp and you would be emotionally charged the entire fight (even though i don’t think the fight would last very long.. poor Sapp). And if Sapp DOES win, it would make your entire month.
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