UFC
UFC NEWS: Brock Lesnar excited to coach TUF, says Junior Dos Santos is a "roadblock" on his way back to the title
Jan 26, 2011 - 9:01:03 AM UFC NEWS: Brock Lesnar excited to coach TUF, says Junior Dos Santos is a "roadblock" on his way back to the title

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Brock Lesnar's first interview since his loss to Cain Velasquez took place during a media day for The Ultimate Fighter on Tuesday in Las Vegas, and HeavyMMA has now posted video of a large portion of that interview.

Lesnar, who has been very reclusive and has shied away from being in the spotlight until his fights, is taking six weeks away from home in Alexandria, Minn. to film this season, but he seems to be in good spirits about the project at the outset of filming.

"It’s thirty below zero in Alexandria right now," Lesnar said. "I had enough of the ice fishing and trouncing around in the snow. My wife had enough too. Dana [White] did all the right things for us to be here. And Spike. Is Las Vegas a place I’d want to be? No. There are other warm places I can think of. But it’s not painful. At least it hasn't been yet. Talk to me in five weeks and we’ll see. But right now, I’d have to say that it’s pretty accommodating."

"I never thought I'd ever be down here to do this," he added. "It's kind of refreshing."

Lesnar is looking forward to the opportunity to help impart his knowledge, as well as that of his coaches, on this group of "young and eager" welterweights. But while some have already questioned his merits as a coach, Lesnar has no worries about their ability to successfully do their job during this six week show.

"You guys can sit and discredit me, but in my mind, I’ve got just as many fights as Junior," Lesnar said. "I've been competing my whole life. I've got a great coaching staff, guys that have been coaching top fighters, top wrestlers. Marty Morgan is a 16 year veteran at the University of Minnesota with National Championship teams, Erik Paulson, Greg Nelson, [Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros]. I think we're well capable of coaching underqualified guys to become the next Ultimate Fighter. I’ve got faith in my people. These guys made me a champion, so why can’t we make these young, eager kids successful? I think we can."

"I was the UFC heavyweight champion. What more qualifications do you need? ... I am [excited to be a coach]. Yesterday was pretty cool, being here and picking our teams. It's kind of like being back in the wrestling room again. These kids are young and eager, their eyeballs are this big, they're excited to be there and the atmosphere is good."

Lesnar says his goal for his team on the show is simply to win. He and his coaches want to win, and he believes between the knowledge and experience that he and his staff bring to the table, they shouldn't have any issue helping improve these fighters.

"I've been a human sponge since I've got into this sport, I've tried to evolve and better myself," Lesnar explained. "We're going to train the guys exactly how I'd train for my training camps, we're going to evaluate their fights, we're going to try to make these guys, at the end of the day, win. We want to win this thing, that's our goal."

"I can teach these guys, I've got the staff. I'm not going to be able to get in there and pound with these guys, but I don't know what coaches have even done that, maybe a couple of times [on TUF]. I would have to say the kids that we're coaching don't have a quarter of the background that myself, or my coaching staff, has. So if we can't teach these guys something than there is something wrong."

At the end of the road for this season is a fight with Junior Dos Santos, but while this will make for a big heavyweight showdown, don't expect any trash talk or mind games from Lesnar on the show like we've seen over the past few seasons between coaches.

"I'm here to train and I'm here to make these guys better," Lesnar re-iterated. "Junior Dos Santos is a roadblock on the way to me getting my title back, and that's it. I have no beef with Junior. He's a nice kid. He's just in my way, and I’m gonna do what I can to get him out of the way. I'm not here to stir any s*** up, I don't need to do that. I ain't a mindf***er, I'm an ass-kicker, that's what I try to be."

The former UFC Heavyweight Champion and biggest draw in the sport knows full well that the UFC bringing him on this show, and him agreeing to do so, was a smart business decision. When it comes down to it, the money to be made and the exposure to bring the sport with him on Spike TV for 12 weeks is a good move. However, Lesnar again professed his love for the sport, nipping the belief from many that he's looking to tuck his tail and run from the sport at the first signs of adversity.

"This is business at the end of the day… we're all here on business," he said of The Ultimate Fighter. "Dana White understands the business, I definitely understand the business. At the end of the day, me and my ugly face on Spike TV and people getting to see Junior Dos Santos I'm sure we're going to have a good pay-per-view buy.

"I love this sport. I do. I would not be here if I didn't enjoy this. I could definitely do something else with my life, but for the time being this is who I am and this is what I want to be. If I'm here to reach new households for the sport I think it's a good thing."

Penick's Analysis: At least for the early part of this show, it looks like Lesnar will be a straight-forward coach, and with the staff that he's got with him he is absolutely going to be an asset to the welterweights that find their way onto his team. I'd encourage people to watch the full interview (search "Brock Lesnar Interview: Part 1" posted by "heavy" on YouTube), as the context of his comments and his demeanor when making them is important as well. Lesnar is calm, he seems genuinely interested in helping these fighters out, and he knows being on TV for this show is going to be a good thing overall. The nice thing about this season as well is that it won't bring the manufactured bad blood and rivalry or the forced trash talking that we've seen recently, especially in Josh Koscheck last season. This will be two heavyweights who believe they're two of the best in the world at heavyweight, competing with these fighters for six weeks and preparing to fight for a title shot. It's straight-forward, it's going to be entertaining, it's going to be memorable, and I'm looking forward to the March 30 debut on Spike.

[Brock Lesnar art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]