Frank Mir was left under a lot of pressure after a fellow fighter made an interesting remark in the moments before he had to fight Brock Lesnar.
In possibly the defining moment of his career, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner rose to the occasion, submitting the WWE legend in the first round.
Frank Mir admits one comment made him feel a lot of ‘pressure’ before Brock Lesnar fight
On a night he’ll never forget, Frank Mir made one of the most intimidating men to have ever walked the face of the Earth tap to a brutal kneebar.
The victory cemented the American’s status as one of the best heavyweight mixed martial artists of all time.
However, while the icon oozed confidence in the cage, he went into the match-up feeling extremely nervous.
And that was because of a remark that was made to him right before he had to face the music.
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When Chris Van Vliet asked if he expected to destroy Brock Lesnar in the first fight, Mir replied: “No, contrary. I looked at him like, ‘Oh, I’m fighting a guy who’s a national champion wrestler’. So, I mean, he’s up there with pedigree that’s extremely high.
“So, I looked at Lesnar as a very legitimate threat because of his wrestling background.
“I was backstage getting ready for the fight. One of the fighters who was on the card grabbed me on the back of the shoulder and goes, ‘Hey man, you’ve gotta do this, it’s MMA vs pro wrestling’.
“I looked around, and I was like, ‘You think he’s a pro-wrestler, the dude is a national champion wrestler. So, that actually put a lot of pressure on me.
“I was sitting there going, ‘People are gonna think he’s just a pro-wrestler? No’. Give me anybody else. Most of the other pro-wrestlers don’t have a background in combat. So, that was upsetting. I was really focused on taking him out.”
Frank Mir recalls near-fatal training session with UFC icon known for his wacky antics
It goes without saying that Lesnar isn’t the only competitor who’s fallen foul to Mir’s lethal submissions.
Over the years, a plethora of athletes in the gym and on fight night, have been left with no choice but to tap.
But what happened when someone refused to give up?
The former heavyweight King recently revealed that a training session with a former UFC star almost ended in complete and utter disaster.
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