Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:55 am EDT

Brock Lesnar is one of kind in the mixed martial arts world. While 99-percent of the fighters are easily accessible and an open book, Lesnar is a little closer to what we're used to when covering major sports like the NFL, NBA and MLB. He's really only available during the lead-up to his fights and he's one of the only fighters who brings along his own PR/security staff to media sessions. Lesnar showed up to the Wednesday workout day with two fellas he called his lawyers. They essentially play the role of the bad guy to call an end to Q & A sessions after about 10 minutes. They did the same after the UFC 91 press conference when they trumped UFC PR in deciding who was worthy of getting one-on-one interviews.
At the end of the UFC 100 Wednesday workout session, one reporter asked Lesnar if he disliked dealing with the media since he's had a couple of run-ins/explosions (Tom Farrey interview, before UFC 87, UFC 87 postfight, when being asked about Fedor Emelianenko). Lesnar responded in disbelief. It made for a nervous 15 seconds as everyone waited for a Lesnar explosion (VIDEO).
Lesnar's antics at yesterday's UFC 100 press conference were comical. After the other five fighters on the dais stood in front of the media, gave their opening comments and then sat down, Lesnar made his remarks and tried to leave. It was an awkward moment as Dana White had to grab Lesnar and quietly coax him into staying for the open question portion of the event (VIDEO - 29:10 mark)
Yahoo! Sports Dan Wetzel pounded away at Lesnar with a "who does this guy think he is" approach:
Afterward White shook his head in disbelief at the scene, “the guy’s trying to leave the UFC 100 press conference?” Two other times during the hour-long session, White had to talk to Lesnar about not leaving Mandalay Bay early. Lesnar had decided he was too good to continue promoting an event that will earn him an estimated $3 million.
Wetzel was rubbed the wrong way by the Lesnar entourage the day before:
On Wednesday, he was surrounded by lawyers and agents that take themselves way too seriously. He got shuffled about in a self-important manner that runs counter to the down-to-earth style of every other star in mixed martial arts. Everything around him seemed stressed.
Let's say it straight out, Lesnar doesn't like doing the media stuff. He's a no nonsense guy who gets annoyed by many of the canned answer questions we're often obligated to throw his way. But I'll defend him, He adds a different element. It's real. Which means the possibility of a great quote is a lot higher than the guy that Wetzel props up in his column, Georges St. Pierre. GSP is a great guy but he's become incredibly programmed and withdrawn. It's seems like the mild controversy that erupted after he walked into the cage back at UFC 63 and confronted Matt Hughes, has changed his style. He rarely speaks off the cuff. GSP is more like an Alex Rodriguez-type, almost too polished. I prefer the Lesnar-types who may explode on an opponent or a media member, any day of the week.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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40 Comments
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I kind of agree with Lesnar though. All the hype's done, the event sold out weeks ago, and not many more people are gonna need convincing to catch this on PPV. Unfortunately UFC has to make nice with the big media coverage that they covet and need to have these press conferences even if the bulk of them is just going through the motions.
And yeah, GSP's approach is very generic. You can almost write a checklist that a lot of these fighters seem to follow.
1) Say it's the best training camp you've been in.
2) Refuse to comment on speculative match ups before your fight and say you're not looking past your current opponent.
3) Even if you win, refuse to comment on speculative match ups after your fight and say you'll fight whoever the UFC chooses for you.
4) Your gameplan is secret and you don't want to give anything away.
5) Be generally as vague as possible during the pre-fight presser.
6) Thank the UFC.
7) Thank Dana White.
8) Lather, rinse, repeat.
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Who' obliging you? It's certainly not us. I think I speak for most people who watch SportsCenter and follow on the internet when I say that if all you have is "canned answer questions", then don't bother. I don't like Brock, but I don't blame him for getting sick of being asked the same stupid crap over & over again. If you don't have a question for the man that your readers actually WANT the answer to, the just STFU. Athlete interviews are 99.999% boring, recycled crap. If you don't want to ask the questions, they don't want to answer them, and we don't give a crap either way, why not just drop this whole charade?
Oh, yeah. No paycheque for the sports "reporters". What a shame.
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I hope Lensar destroys Mir...I like his antics, I find them amusing much like Nutcrackers. I like a guy who says WWE is lame after he has used them to secured his families future and comes to a sport where it's not scripted and has succeeded because he is a beast. Honestly, screw the press and all the writers, it's what he does in the octagon, not what he says before or after the fight that matters to me. I always liked John Taylor of the 49ers, came to work, did his job well and didn't talk to the press. Granted Taylor had a wee bit more class than Lensar, but I like a guy who gives a big middle finger to the press. There are enough press darlings, say like GSP (snooze), that its nice to see some one not give a damn what people think.
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Lesnar also still gets the business about:
- Steroids (despite a lack of proof)
- Not being a "real" MMA fighter (despite training at Minnesota MMA the past three(?) years)
- Not deserving his title shot (despite winning)
- Getting lucky in his title shot (despite winning by TKO)
Everybody wants to ask GSP about what it was like growing up poor in Montreal, but nobody cares about Lesnar's background, college wrestling experience, or home and family life. Don't get me wrong...I like GSP. But Brock has every reason not to treat the media the same way GSP does.
Treat him nicely and with the respect he deserves (after all, he IS a 2-to-1 favorite), and maybe he'll return the favor. You read yesterday how when he and Mir met in the hallway, they talked about their families. From all accounts, they were civil and pleasant to one another even though tomorrow they're going to try to bash each others' skulls in for money.
I like Wetzel's work most of the time...but I'm with Steve on this.
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It's just a vicious cycle. Barry and the media got along fine until BALCO. Then it was just a downward spiral.
- You ask questions I don't like.
- I respond in a way you don't like.
- You smear me in your newspaper as being surly and unfriendly.
- I don't appreciate that.
- I'm even more of a jerk in later interviews.
If Lesnar wins, maybe things will cool off before they get out of hand. Though one wonders if people will ever think he's legit until he beats someone with a triangle choke or a Peruvian necktie...or until he beats Randy again, or Noguiera, or Velazquez or Carwin...or Fedor.
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