Enigmatic Lesnar defies definition
ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – After training in a nondescript warehouse in this small, blue-collar town, Brock Lesnar got to a glamorous…
ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – After training in a nondescript warehouse in this small, blue-collar town, Brock Lesnar got to a glamorous post-workout lunch at Subway by riding shotgun in an old Pontiac G5 (his ’89 Dodge rust bucket is in the shop, he said).
At the Subway, he stood in a 10-minute line like everyone else, talked about the Minnesota Vikings with an old man and then got a foot-long meatball on wheat.
And some fans think this guy is arrogant, out of touch, and bad for mixed martial arts?
That’s at least the sentiment advanced by Shane Carwin, who will challenge Lesnar for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title November 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
One of the reasons Carwin got a shot at the title were his blog posts in the hours after Lesnar defended his title against Frank Mir at UFC 100.
After that one, a fired-up Lesnar not only got in the face of the beaten Mir, he threw a couple of middle fingers at the fans booing him, claimed he was going to drink Coors Light, not UFC-sponsor Bud Light, and basically acted like a heel from pro wrestling (which, of course, he once was).
The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME (sic), Carwin wrote the next morning. He may be a champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a champion.
Carwin went on and on, hammering an essential point – it doesn’t matter if you win or lose; it matters how you win or lose.
Months later, as he’s begun training to fight Carwin, Lesnar isn’t impressed.
* Not with Carwin’s supposed defense of all that is good and sportsmanlike.
I’ve run into more people who said it was great, Lesnar said of his postfight antics, which he apologized for soon after. A lot of guys get up, they hug each other; cookie cutter. I’m not doing that.
* Not with Carwin’s 11-0 record.
I would be embarrassed to fight some of those guys he beat, Lesnar said. His only good fight was Gabriel Gonzaga. Shane’s really 1-0.
* Not with Carwin’s full-time engineering job.
He’s a weekend warrior. Fighting is my full-time job.
* Not with Carwin’s comparable size (both will weigh in at 6-3, 265 pounds).
In college I wrestled against guys who were supposed to be bigger and stronger. They lost. Is he more talented than I am?
* And certainly not with Carwin’s credentials, which include a NCAA Division II wrestling national title. Lesnar was national champ at Division I.
There’s no comparison between Division I and Division II. The reason they have Division II is for the guys who can’t make it at Division I, Lesnar said, beginning to laugh. That’s fine. They need to have something to feel good about themselves. Those guys have to have something to do with their lives.
So Carwin’s comments helped get him a title shot. It also got Big Brock’s full and undivided attention.