Mir: I would crush Lesnar standing now

UFC heavyweight Frank Mir returned to his co-hosting gig at The Fight Corner on Wednesday morning and discussed his demolition of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in Brazil.

It was the first time Mir saw his hand raised in the Octagon in since Dec. 2011. As it turns out, the fight almost didn’t happen for a pair of reasons.

When he landed in Sao Paulo, Brazil from Los Angeles, Ca. Two 9mm bullets were found in his luggage. Mir was temporarily detained, his passport taken away and he believed he’d be arrested since guns are illegal in Brazil.

Additionally, Mir had a hand injury that he kept under wraps as well. Three weeks before the fight, he sparred at full tilt and walked away with what he thought was a broken hand. Days later, his hand was much more swollen. The injury was severe enough to prompt him to have x-rays done. Mir thought he had broke his hand and contemplated withdrawing from the fight.

Luckily, that wasn’t the case. But Mir explained it was the reason he chose to finish Silva with elbows as opposed to punches.

After securing the first round finish, Mir said in the post-fight press conference that he’d entertain the idea of a trilogy fight with either Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira or Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is still under contract with WWE, but there has been speculation that after WrestleMania 31, Lesnar could return to the UFC. Even this week, the Wrestling Observer reported that Lesnar left Monday night’s RAW due to a disagreement with Vince McMahon over negotiations for Lesnar to sign a new WWE contract.

If he does return, it’s a fight Mir wants. At UFC 81, Mir submitted Lesnar in the first round with a kneebar. At UFC 100, Mir lost a title unification bout to Lesnar. He was stopped with strikes in the second round. The former UFC heavyweight champion broke down what he believes would happen in a rubber match.

“I think I would crush him standing up now,” Mir said. “I think that on the ground and stuff, I’ve worked with Ricky Lundell and stuff a lot and learned how to nullify the wrestling. I wrestled three rounds with Daniel Cormier who’s an Olympic level wrestler and he had a difficult time taking me down. I think that Lesnar would really have to throw caution to the wind and really rush through and I don’t think that he’s gotten any better at wanting to take punches.

“I’ve always heard those rumors from his camp that he doesn’t like to get hit and we’ve seen it in the hfights,” Mir continued. “The jab-hook combination that I landed on Bigfoot would have floored him too. And then ground and pound I threw on him, to Bigfoot, I think that the same thing that happened with [Lesnar] and Velasquez – when he finally hit his back, screaming for the fight to be stopped. I just don’t know that he’d have time to scream with me.”

The heavyweight showdown is one that fans want to see happen. Perhaps in a month’s time, we’ll know if Lesnar will return to the UFC to make it happen.

Mir: I would crush Lesnar standing now