Mir Pledges 'Vicious' Win Saturday in Crusade to Rematch Lesnar

Frank Mir’s thoughts never stray too far from UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Which makes Shane Carwin, the man that Mir faces for the interim heavyweight title this Saturday at UFC 111 in Newark, N.J., an unfortunate obstacle in the Las Vegas fighter’s eyes.

“The fight with Shane Carwin this weekend means a lot to me -- obviously, winning the title back, I have to get the interim title first and move on,” said Mir on Wednesday at a press conference held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. “And any other dreams of anything that’s going to happen after that will be stopped real quickly if I’m not successful on Saturday.”

On Saturday, Lesnar will not only serve as Mir’s mental motivation; the 300-pound former NCAA wrestling champion will also be in Mir’s eyeline. The 32-year-old champion, who’s been absent from the cage battling a serious intestinal infection since his brutal UFC 100 victory over Mir last July, plans to attend Saturday’s event at the Prudential Center. UFC President Dana White said the reclusive Lesnar will watch the bout from cageside -- the winner will unify the two heavyweight titles against Lesnar this summer.

Lesnar’s reaction to Saturday’s outcome will probably play heavily into the pay-per-view broadcast. Both Mir and Carwin have voiced dislike for Lesnar, who earned the title in only his fourth professional fight against Randy Couture at UFC 91 in November 2008. However, the heat between Lesnar and Mir seems to be mutually stronger.

Both hold victories over the other. Mir submitted Lesnar with a kneebar in their first encounter at UFC 81 in February 2008. Lesnar pummeled Mir to a second-round victory in their rematch at UFC 100, then confronted a bloody and battered Mir seconds after the bout finished.

In February, the UFC made Mir publicly apologize for comments he made about Lesnar during a WXDX radio interview. During the interview, Mir said he wanted Lesnar to be “the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries.”

On Wednesday, Mir described the comments as a “very poor (use of) terminology” and said that he hoped they would become a “dumb side-note in my life.”

The 30-year-old fighter said he didn’t hold Carwin in the same regard as Lesnar, though.

“With Carwin, it’s purely competitive,” said Mir. “I actually have no issues with him on a personal level. He’s a family man. He’s a father, newly. Actually, everything he stands for I agree with. I like how he represents the sport.”

Still, the former heavyweight champion pledged a competitive bout with the 1999 NCAA Div. II wrestling champion.

“When you close the cage door, it doesn’t matter who’s in there with me,” he said. “I want to come through victorious in a vicious way.”

It’s not as if Mir doesn’t see a challenge in Carwin either. He openly identified Carwin as the superior wrestler in Saturday’s bout.

“I feel very confident with my striking and jiu-jitsu, but obviously I’ve had a little bit of an issue with the wrestling-type of opponent,” said Mir. “I think Carwin’s a really good wrestler and I look forward to proving how I’ve developed more as a mixed martial artist.”

Mir also cited the 35-year-old Carwin’s limited cage time -- none of his eleven victories have left the first round and only one has gone past two minutes -- as a liability.

“I think that if I had to coach someone in defeating me that jumping on me early is never a good thing,” said Mir. “I’ve had quite a few fights in the UFC that have ended very quickly and decisively. Drawing me into deeper waters would always be the better approach and Carwin’s never been even past the third minute of a fight. He has to either change his game plan or take a very dangerous route if he wants to be victorious on Saturday.”

Mir, who blew past Cheick Kongo in 72 seconds with a knockdown and submission finish against the Frenchman at UFC 107 in December, credited recent muscle gain for his added explosiveness. He told fans to be ready for similar action on Saturday.

“I’m not really out there to throw 30, 40 punches,” said Mir. “Cain Velasquez is much better at that than I am. I just want to throw a couple and put you to sleep.”