Friend of our site


MMA Headlines


UFC HP


Bleacher Report


MMA Fighting


MMA Torch


MMA Weekly


Sherdog (News)


Sherdog (Articles)


Liver Kick


MMA Junkie


MMA Mania


MMA Ratings


Rating Fights


Yahoo MMA Blog


MMA Betting


Search this site



Latest Articles


News Corner


MMA Rising


Audio Corner


Oddscast


Sherdog Radio


Video Corner


Fight Hub


Special thanks to...

Link Rolodex

Site Index


To access our list of posting topics and archives, click here.

Friend of our site


Buy and sell MMA photos at MMA Prints

Site feedback


Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

Erik Paulson looks back at Lesnar/Carwin fight and previews upcoming Lesnar/Velasquez fight

By Zach Arnold | September 3, 2010

Print Friendly and PDF

INTERVIEWER: “Erik, we all know that you train Brock Lesnar. Let’s revisit that fight (with Carwin). What do you feel about that fight?”

ERIK PAULSON: “I felt that, uh… the year off for Brock, just like anybody, made him rusty and I think that basically the biggest goal in that fight, getting ready, was for conditioning so he did mostly tons and tons of conditioning. Lots of strength exercises, lots and lots of cardiovascular aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Probably not as much as sparring, more pad work trying to sharpen and crispen stuff. I think we probably could have done more sparring. Sparring makes you more comfortable to use stuff because of the pressure factor and you know a lot of pad work just to get the technique work back and crisp and you know on pads he looked great. There was a little bit of nervousness going into the fight when he stepped there into the beginning because Shane was coming gunning for him and have the intention and he’s a big, strong formidable opponent you know. I think of anybody who’s the most dangerous it would be probably him and now they’re talking Cain Velasquez, but I know that Shane really worked hard and physically is pretty comparable to Brock as far as strength-wise. I don’t know about athleticism but I know strength-wise and definitely power in the punch.”

INTERVIEWER: “We saw Brock get clipped by an uppercut by Shane. In between rounds, what was going on? Let’s move back, when you saw him get hit with that uppercut, what was going through your mind?”

ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… boy, he got caught, and when he crumbled up we’re like, move, grab him or move, and you know it was kind of a blur for me because it was like he got hit and then all of a sudden he kind of crumbled and then hit the fence and then they kind of went to the ground and then Brock fetal’d up which was weird for me because I thought he would try to scramble so I think he really got rocked with that shot and the time on the ground and the defending actually gave him enough time to get his bearings back and kick him off a couple of times. Also allowed Shane to drop a couple of bombs but if you look, a lot of those hits weren’t hitting him, they were hitting the arms and the ref twice if he was OK and he responded and pushed him away, so it was close. I mean we were all nervous.”

INTERVIEWER: “Now, we’re in-between rounds, Lesnar comes to your guys’ corner, what are you guys telling him?”

ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… keep your hands up, you got to go first, you got to him, you got to drop your hands, fire when you’re fired on, stay away from the right hand, keep moving to the right and you know if you get hit, tie-up and get him down, you got to get him on the ground. I have a piece of paper written on the counter that I wrote, it said ‘Brock will win round two/three via shoulder triangle choke.’ And it’s sitting on my desk at home right now. I wrote that as a… because I knew that was only move that Comprido had been working the whole time was one submission that was getting either half-guard or side-control and getting that shoulder triangle and then really surgically putting the head down, getting the hips right, and getting up on the toes and putting your hips forward so I think that was kind of the key and when I saw him do it in practice over and over and over, I just go, ‘Brock’s going to finish Shane with a head and arm triangle.’ Once he got that on, I go this fight’s almost over and then Brock had it tight and then he looked up at the corner and we’re like, head down, put your head under, and then create that angle and try to get that angle on the body and get up on the toes and rotate your head under and you could see Shane at first was like this, he kind of rolled and then he kind of went back and you could see his eyes, he looked up, he was like… it’s on, and he started fighting and turning and boom.”

INTERVIEWER: “What was the mood like after the fight?”

ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… well, everyone was happy and surprised and it was just like… but I think by Brock getting hit and almost losing I think the respect factor in his head, he was a lot more humble I think to the camera and I think the crowd really like did a 180 on him and said, wow, that was good and the fact that he didn’t showboat afterwards is really good and showed some respect, that was very good.”

INTERVIEWER: “It was announced by Dana White that Brock will be facing Cain Velasquez. Cain’s a really tough test for Brock as he possesses good speed, good hands. How do you see that fight going? What do you want to train Brock specifically for Cain?”

ERIK PAULSON: “Well I think what Brock needs, more than anything, is good sparring partners that can kick box and grapple. So he’s got some guys in his camp that actually can throw down with good striking, good takedowns, and good takedown defense so I’m sure the goal for that camp will probably be bringing in some good strikers in.”

INTERVIEWER: “Would you care to give a prediction on that bout? How do you see it coming out to?”

ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… It’s the same as Randy. Randy scientifically formulates game plan strategies and tactics according to a person’s strengths and weaknesses and Brock’s the same way and he’s going to try to bring in quality guys and formulate a game plan. I already know a game plan that would work for him should be like but it’s just word of advice and whether or not he follows through with that, it’s up to him, I don’t know. Marty’s (Marty Morgan) in charge of his camp and he brings a lot of different guys in so you know that’s their choice, all you can do is offer a comment.”

INTERVIEWER: “Now if you can comment about it, what are some weaknesses that you see in Cain Velasquez?”

ERIK PAULSON: “He’s real tough, there’s a big size difference, though, with Brock and him so the power factor but he hits hard, he’s fast, he’s in-and-out, he’s a good wrestler so he can actually stop stuff and get out of stuff. I don’t know if he’s used to going against someone as big and powerful as Brock. I think that’s a big thing. Fighting someone that’s actually equally as aggressive and powerful as Brock.”

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Comments

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-spam image