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UFC’s Mike Swick: Brock Lesnar ‘probably the most hated fighter in MMA history’
By Zach Arnold | July 17, 2009
A note about transcripts: You can use the material on your site, no problem, but at least link back to us if you can. Reading this article, I could tell our handy work is already popular.
UFC Welterweight fighter Mike Swick did an interview on ESPN 1100 in Las Vegas (audio here) and made some very candid comments about UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. (You can access many ESPN 1100 radio interviews over at Cage Writer.) Although he made his case in a somewhat respectful tone, it is clear that Swick and other MMA fighters have little patience for Brock Lesnar’s antics.
TRANSCRIPT
Interviewer: “What did you think about like about that 90 second rant that he went on? What was the worst part about it? As a UFC fighter, was it the fact that he would not get out of Mir’s face after he beat him? Was it the fact that he flipped off the crowd? Saying that about the sponsor or what he said about his wife?”
Mike Swick: “I think it all is, man. I mean first of all you know you should have respect for your opponent, you beat him, the fight’s over, you shouldn’t go get in his face. You know that’s the first thing that left a bad taste in my mouth, you know and then you move on to the sponsor thing it’s like you know the UFC has built such a great promotion and we’ve gotten so big now, you know because of sponsors and because of fans and because of you know where we are and you know you can’t go out there and you know diss the sponsors that make the UFC you know what they are you know and that support the UFC and that come on board and show support for the fighters as well you know and that’s you know you make a Bud Light or any of these other major sponsors upset you know it hurts all of us you know and maybe he doesn’t need Bud Light but you know the UFC and the fighters appreciate the support and he shouldn’t, it’s not up to him to get into that you know and then obviously the comment about you know his wife was you know over the top, too, I mean all of it I mean all of it in general wasn’t very positive and you know I wouldn’t say he’s an ambassador for our sport and you know it was just sad, you know and everyone I know obviously we’ve talked to after the fight you know hates him and like you said they want to see him fight again, he does have the ‘it factor’ for sure, I mean everybody wants to see him fight again, I’d like to see him fight Cain my teammate you know or Shane Carwin or some of these other guys because I don’t think he’s technically a top fighter, I don’t think I mean he’s just so big and strong and imposing that he’s going to beat the majority of fighters he fights because of that but he’s going, I feel run into a heavyweight that’s going to beat him up and you know I think I can name a couple of them, so, you know a lot of people want to see that fight happen, they want to see him put where he belongs and the thing is you know like he said he has that ‘it factor’ so I mean he’s going to sell PPVs and he’s going to a big draw but I just hope you know the newer breed of fighters coming up don’t look at him and try to be like that, you know, I mean we’re not WWE, you know, we’re a different organization and the two big differences between us and WWE are the facts that you know we are real, you know I mean, I give them respect for the acting and for the athleticism, they’re very talented guys for sure, but it is a big difference what they do and what we do. We go in there and we fight and people get hurt, you know, you put everything on the line in the Octagon and it’s real and on top of that, another great difference between you know us and them is that the amount of respect we have. We respect each other, we’re always showing respect to each other, there’s always a little bit of talk here and there to build up a fight but at the end of the day when the fight’s over you know we respect each other and we respect the sport, we respect the fans, WWE because it’s acting often times can get away with not showing that respect and you know not respecting Vince McMahon, not respecting the fans, not respecting this and it’s OK because everyone knows they’re acting, everyone knows it’s just a show you know and so that’s OK but for our sport it’s not because it’s real, we’re not acting and people know that, so I don’t want that to you know to become I don’t want people to think that’s what we’re becoming, you know.”
Interviewer: “Speaking with Mike Swick here on ESPN Radio 1100. I was saying earlier I can’t believe this doesn’t happen more often because it seems like the emotions, not exactly what happened, but it seems like the emotions that you have in the Octagon before you know your fighting somebody and then it’s so quickly Joe Rogan’s right there with a microphone in your face, how hard is it to you know bring it back and just be able to talk in a civil way after you basically trying to you know destroy your opponent?”
Mike Swick: “You know, I will admit it is you know you’re definitely full of adrenaline and I’ve said a lot of things that I regret saying, not nothing like that but I mean like you know you get…”
Interviewer: “Like what?”
Mike Swick: “You know I mean just nothing that’s like disrespectful but I mean you know a lot of times your adrenaline is going so high and like you know you don’t think right you know so I can kind of understand that aspect and I think he’s you know how like when you train so hard and you work on techniques for so long they become natural when you fight I think it’s the same with him and WWE you know his normal thing is to act that way you know he’s been in WWE for so long that that’s what is normal to act like so I think after he won with all that emotion he just fell back into what he was used to doing and it’s like you kind of understand that aspect but you know it was still obviously very negative and very bad for our sport. But you are right, I mean, you know a lot of fighters maybe call people out and you know you say this and that and it’s fine but you know that’s a little overboard you know I mean you can look at every fight in UFC history and I’ve never seen nothing like that.”
Interviewer: “Yeah and Dana [White] said that multiple times in the press conference afterwards, Mike, and so you’re basically saying and you know I would think that it’s going to sell more PPVs after this but in the short-term so it could be good for something like that but long-term you think it’s bad because of as you mentioned the guys that are coming up now they might try to emulate this guy and you don’t want anything to do with that.”
Mike Swick: “Exactly, I mean look at Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter with Chris Leben. And then look at how many guys acted like him after that, you know, I mean you know I just don’t want to send I hope it doesn’t send that message that that’s what you need to do to have ‘the it factor’ because he does have ‘the it factor,’ I mean everyone wants to see him fight again because they want to see him lose, and he’s probably the most hated fighter in MMA history. I mean he’s outdone the best of them you know especially with that fight so he definitely has the ultimate negative ‘it factor’ which works good for PPVs like you said but you know I care about the sport, I’m a fan of the sport and I got into the sport for the right reasons and it’s all about respect, about competition, it’s about challenging yourself, it’s about giving back to the fans, you know it’s about caring about your sponsors and you know it didn’t show that so obviously someone like me you know I don’t like seeing that you know it’s not the way I run my career you know.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The overwhelming reaction to Lesnar’s remarks have been a bit of a surprise to me. Is this not professional fighting where grown men are paid to be the toughest possible athletic specimen they can be? This aint golf people, don’t expect everyone to be as cordial as Georges St. Pierre.
The sport has had more than its fair share of bully-type personalities (legitimate and/or fabricated) that have had varying degrees of success (Tank Abbott, Tito Ortiz, Nick Diaz, Gilbert Yvel, Mike Kyle, Tim Sylvia). Lesnar just happens to be one that has size, power, athleticism and most importantly a desire to improve his skillsets; in tandem with his experience at being the ‘heel’ he’s destined to be a huge success.
I suppose if I were a fighter like Mike Swick, I’d be pretty upset too. In a sport that fighters have labored hard in for many years, Lesnar walks in the door to the front of the line, gets one the largest payouts in UFC history, stomps on the tradition of the sport, spits on the major (beloved) corporate sponsor and makes himself the hugest star the company’s ever had. I’d be very angry indeed.
People love a story with a lot of heat (and red meat, right Zack) and this one will not stop for a long time. And just think about it hard-core MMA fan, this guy could actually beat Fedor maybe. I love it when the cage gets rattled.
Mike Swick said ‘you know’ roughly 300 times in that interview. Somebody get him a thesaurus.
I must admit I’m amused by the talking point that Brock spent so long in WWE that he couldn’t help himself, when he’s been out of WWE for over 5 years now and has been an MMA fighter for about the same amount of time he was on the WWE’s main roster.
Someone should make Swick read that transcript.
I hate reading quotes that edit out words. Good job.
Please edit the “you know’s” out of this so I can read it. Good lord I stopped reading halfway through his first answer because I couldn’t understand. You know?
I think that Swick is just saying… and others are saying… that Lesnar seems to be an asshole. Perhaps people sense that he’s an asshole and they’re somewhat jealous of his status as top dog in the UFC.
There’s really not much more to this than that, imo.
holy cow that was so annoying i couldnt even finnish reading it!! You know, you know, you know!!!!!
#6. i agree that they are jealous of brock’s success and I MYSELF think that brock being labled the most hated man in mma history from 1 incident is going way overboard and these same people are going to be in for quite the surprise when, in his next fight, he wins and acts humble afterwards like he did in the randy fight, and gets cheered widly, like he did in the herring fight, or they will most likely just try and act like they never said it to begin with. fighters like tito, the diaz bros, gilbert yvel, and most recently hendo, babalu and soku have done things much more heinous than what brock did and while catching some flak, never where given this label. what a joke! brown and swick really surprise me with these remarks. jealousy and envy can be really ugly.
I’m sick of hearing this BS line by fighters, “I got into this sport for the right reason.”
What’s the right reason? That you’re not a good enough athlete to play the big money sports?
I love MMA. I really appreciate the guys who fight for our entertainment. But let’s give all this pride and honor stuff a rest. Mike Swick would be installing after market car stereos or something unexciting like that if it weren’t for MMA. This right reason stuff is ridiculous. Most people get into MMA to get free stuff and pussy.
Lesnar is in MMA because he likes to compete and wants to be the best at what he does. That’s a pretty good reason. But maybe not the right one?
It’s not as though he got into MMA solely for the money. He had money and a high paying job available to him, and likes to live where property values are low.
I still hate Tito more. Once Brock starts ducking contenders, I’ll reassess the situation.
There’s no doubt about it. Intentional or not, Brock has a done a great job getting attention. Yes, he’s perceived as an ass. But fans need to give the guy credit & respect. He beat established veterans to get to the top and all within the rules. Like in real life or business, you can’t get to the top without hurting anyone else’s feelings or trampling over someone.
Sure, Lesnar got a title shot pretty quickly. But he took that opportunity and capitalized on it. We all know that sometimes you’re only given one chance to succeed. And Lesnar took the ball and scored a major touchdown.
Thanks for typing this up Zach. I have to agree with Swick, and Mr. Roadblock is a goddamned moron. That is all.
[…] little over a week ago Mike Swick stated that Brock Lesnar was probably most hated man in MMA. In the past two days that title may have […]