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Frank Mir reveals the thing that was said to him right before he fought Brock Lesnar that ‘put a lot of pressure’ on him
Frank Mir was under a lot of pressure after a fellow fighter made an interesting comment right before he was scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar.
In perhaps the defining moment of his career, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner rose to the occasion and submitted the WWE legend in the first round.
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Frank Mir admits that one comment made him feel a lot of 'pressure' before Brock Lesnar fought
On a night he will never forget, Frank Mir delivered a brutal knee tap to one of the most intimidating men to ever walk the earth.
The victory cemented the American's status as one of the best heavyweight mixed martial artists of all time.
Although the icon exuded confidence in the cage, he went into the match feeling extremely nervous.
And that was because of a comment made to him just 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, on the 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 a 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 on the card grabbed me by the shoulder and said, 'Hey man, you gotta do this, it's MMA versus pro wrestling.'
“I looked around and thought, 'You think he's a pro wrestler, that guy's a national champion wrestler.' So that actually put a lot of pressure on me.
“I sat there and thought, 'Are people going to think he's just a pro wrestler? No'. Give me someone else. Most other pro wrestlers have no background in fighting. So that was disturbing. I was really focused on getting him out.”
Frank Mir recalls a near-fatal training session with UFC icon known for his crazy antics
It goes without saying that Lesnar isn't the only competitor to have fallen foul of Mir's deadly submissions.
Over the years, a plethora of athletes in the gym and on fight nights have had 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 turned into a complete disaster.
Sheesh: 'He hit like a truck'… Khabib Nurmagomedov admits the UFC icon who hit the hardest
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