Cro Cop: What kind of sport is Mir promoting?
“(Mir) is a very good fighter. First-class grappler, solid striker – nothing special, but solid – but a first-class grappler….
“(Mir) is a very good fighter. First-class grappler, solid striker – nothing special, but solid – but a first-class grappler. Definitely he will try to take me down.”
“I didn’t talk to Frank Mir when I mentioned being unprepared, I was talking to my fans and the UFC fans, just for them to respect the fact that I was taking the challenge because of them, and at late notice … I have been a soldier for 20 years and I need a rest; my wife is pregnant, I am sick of travelling all round the workld, so many things… the UFC call me and ask if I can do them a favor, I said yes.”
“At the end of the day I don’t think Frank Mir is a bad guy, he is just a guy who likes to talk and insult his opponents … I was raised as a kid to respect other people. I don’t think Mir has anything against me personally, that’s just how he likes to promote his fights, that’s his right. But I just don’t like it; definitely we will have a good fight. There is nothing more I can add.”
“My conscience is calm because I really did jump in at the last second. When you have five weeks notice, at this level, in the middle of a family holiday in the summer, this is the last, last minute – maybe over the last minute. But I am a grown man, a competitor and I don’t want to ask for any excuse. I will fight and I will do my best to beat him and that’s it. You will never hear from me all this insulting, spitting… that’s not my style.
“Second, this sport is hard enough in itself without insulting each other.
“Third, many people around the world look at us as if we are some savages for fighting in the cage, some people look at it like this. They don’t consider MMA a sport and think they we are savages that want to take each others heads. I don’t want to add any fire to that, I want us to act normal because we are sportsmen and for me this is my job and there is really no need to say these kind of things. I think Frank Mir is doing the wrong thing, when he says to Lesnar that he wants him to die in the Octagon – what kind of sport is this he is promoting?!”