The ire of the MMA world was raised with Frank Mir's recent comments about UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar, and his wish for the death of the fighter in the Octagon. UFC president Dana White responded to the comments yesterday, and Mir himself issued an apology on Tuesday acknowledging the statement was out of line. That said one of the harshest critics of the sport, Mike Wilbon, defended Mir's comments on "Pardon the Interruption" on Wednesday.
"It's not out of line, I'm sorry this wouldn't even make the top 50 awful things Mike Tyson said he was going to do to an opponent some time that week before a big match in Vegas," Wilbon said when asked about Mir's comments.
"This is just how you promote boxing, MMA, wrestling, this is par for the course."
Wilbon went on to say that former heavyweight boxing champ, Mike Tyson, was the king of saying controversial things before his fights, so much so it actually frightened him at the time.
"Mike said things that when I was sitting there I got scared and wanted to leave the press conference," Wilbon commented.
Dan LeBatard, a columnist for the Miami Herald and ESPN contributor, who has been a fan of MMA for some time, brought up the fact that the sport is still trying to battle certain perceptions.
"Dana White is fighting something with this sport when John McCain calls it "human cockfighting", this sport is safer than boxing, because people don't know it, they look at it, they look at it and it's violent," LeBatard said. "It's safer than boxing. So when you have this thrown in it's something that Dana White's trying to get rid of with this sport."
ESPN programming has been featuring more and more MMA coverage lately, and a feature spot on one of the most popular programs, "Pardon the Interruption" can only be good for the future of the sport.
9 comments:
Mir sucks as a person and as a fighter , I hope he beats Carwin so Brock can lump his face up yet again !!
Do you know Mir personally? How do you know he sucks as a person? Hell, Ive met him in person and I cant say I know him as a person. Seems like a strong, confident, very well spoken individual to me. Didnt realize these were bad traits to have as a person.
How can you say he sucks as a fighter? He's one of the most decorated ground fighters of his time, and being a heavyweight, that says alot about his dedication to the sport. He's a former champ whos first reign was only stopped by a motorcycle accident. He's 1-1 with the current champ who had the title GIVEN to him, and has beaten several contenders in the division so your argument is flawed my friend.
Szaltax you rotten douchbag!!!!!! Just cause you met him, doesnt mean you know him!! So dont even go there!!!!
How do you know he was who he was, while you saw him, look these guys have to put on an image you know...your comment is VOID!!!!
Mir will say somethings that make me laugh and I'll take his side, then he does something stupid like saying he wants to kill Lesnar, and I just think of Mir as a big bag of douche. That whole Tyson thing is right though. I remember hearing him say he wanted to eat Holyfield's kids or something. Anyway, I'd like to see Lesnar/Mir III especially since Mir added bout 20 lbs of muscle. But I think these trilogy fights would be close to each other, have it in a year or two. I'd much rather see Carwin/Lesnar. They are bout the same size. Both wrestling backgrounds. Lesnar has better wrestling but Carwin has those 5XL gloves or what some call cinder blocks. He knocked out Gonzaga and it didn't even look like Carwin put that much force into it. Lesnar Vs Carwin would be a really good fight. And I got to agree with the second half of Szaltax comment. Not sure bout the first though.
@ Ron....Read my comment carefully before you make fun of someone. Yes, it says Ive met him, however it also says i CANT say I know him. Nice try though. I agree whole heartily that just because you meet someone you cant say you know him. So thank you, for agreeing with me indirectly. Proves my point even further. <3
I dont get how people hate Mir so much. Ok i get that he should of not said wat he said, but are u telling me you never felt that way about some one? Now if Lesnar would of said that i am pretty sure no one would say anything. I dont get how people like Brock more than Mir. Brock is more of a disgrace to the sport. Mir said that out of anger i cant blame him for feeling that way. Do you guys not remember wat Lesnar did to Mir after the fight? I mean that is a reason to for any one to hate him. Also i am pretty sure there has been worse stuff said before in other sports. Look at Tyson, wow really people. Lets lash out at Mir but praise Tyson for the things he did. You are just saying that because you guys dislike him. I bet if that was ur favorite fighter saying that u would be on my side. I do agree that he should of kept it to himself.
So take a chill pill guys hes not going to kill Brock he is saying this also to build up the fight. I think this will be the biggest fight trilogy in UFC history.
Lol lesnar said he is going to rip Franks arm off. Now how are you guys to going to react to that?
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