MMA Nation Overtime: Frank Mir's death wishes.
I'm trying out a new segment where I go into more detail about the hottest topic of the radio show once we go off the air.
These videos are still very much amateur hour and a work in progress. I'm going to let these organically develop. Let's see where this goes.
almost 2 years ago
Luke Thomas
22 comments
1 recs |
Email
PrintComments
agreed!
which do you want to buy? “BJ Penn Killing GSP in a Fight to the Death, and I Am Not Joking About This?” OR “Mir Breaking Lesnars’ Neck in First Ever Octagon Related Death!” ?
sell it as hard as you can. nobody buys if nobody cares.
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
Mir's record isn't THAT clean.
He has spoke before about going that extra step and hurting another fighter if they deserved it (by whatever Mir’s logic is).
I want to say he has even said that he regrets not breaking Lensar’s ankle in the first fight even though Brock was tapping. I think the comment went so far as to say that he wished the ref had been slower to react to the tap.
Personally, I am not crazy over this, but I do think the layer of specificity that Mir went to does somewhat transcend from sport analogy (We’re gonna kill the Colts on Sunday) to pseudo threats (We’re going out there to hurt Payton Manning).
Again, words, his record is clean of any rule violation, I don’t know if that’s exact, but I believe that’s what Luke meant.
"You hit too hard, too hard, too hard..."
Ah, the its only words defense...
let keep this in mind next time everyone gets crazy over a Dana F-bomb…
Regardless, I don’t feel that the reaction to this has been overblown for the most part.
Well
That’s not my argument exactly, but this is just a short clip. When the Sherdog piece comes out, my position is more fully fleshed out. I’ll save my arguing for that.
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
Not "the its only words defense"
I’m just explaining to you what I thought the “clean record” comment meant (which is about behavior in the octagon, opposed to words spoken in interviews). I’m not diving into this polemic, no thanks.
"You hit too hard, too hard, too hard..."
To be fair, I don't really care so much.
I kind of go back and forth as to what to think of Mir. I find myself a fan at times and other times thinking he is a real tool. My only point was that he has made comments in the past that related to this event and also indicate a willingness to step over the line in the Octagon if/when he feels it is warranted. I know he hasn’t so far, but those statements are still out there and deserve some notice because they do differ from the norm.
The reality is the what Frank Mir says is probably not far from what many other MMA fighters think and feel, but are smart enough not to say.
Slight tech nitpick, when you are putting emphasis on things speaking to no one into a camara it just makes me think you only like the acoustics of your own voice. It plays on radio, but not on a video monologue. Maybe you need someone to talk to, to riff with.
Some people think I am a dumb, ugly human being, but really I am a beautiful ape, with exceptional verbal skills.
Seriously?
I honestly don’t get what the big deal is. Inside of a ring (or especially octagon), it’s a fighters main goal to completely obliterate their opponent. Mir just voiced that. Not to mention, whose to say that it wasn’t just a tactic by Mir to get into the head of Lesnar. They obviously dislike each other. The fact that this comment is getting so much attention is ridiculous. I like hearing stuff like this. It makes for a more interesting fight when such strong emotions are involved…
I believe it would be different if Mir said that he wanted to catch Brock on the street and shank him. Within the confines of the octagon, trash talk is acceptable. Can’t knock Mir for expressing how he feels, if he even really means it.
Kind of reminds me Ali and Frasier….
"That's a new level of nuance that other fighters just aren't good at."
No, its called professionalism and not being an idiot… most fighters, and journalists, have already figured it out.
Its interesting that the, “Editor-in-Chief” of this mma community, a community that wants to see mma sanctioned in every state and to be taken seriously as a sport to larger mainstream audiences doesn’t see the difference between a fighter saying, “to the death” or “i’m gonna remove a horseshoe out of his ass” and “I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries.”
Its a quote that opponents of the sport can easily pick up and use against the sport… get a clue.
by bleve_ on Mar 1, 2010 1:40 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I see that there is a difference
i just think the difference is overplayed and not particularly significant.
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
That's well and good
If its a perspective coming from a fan. If its in the perspective of “expert analysis”, if you will, then it needs to be viewed in the context of a growing sport trying to attract casual fans and favorable media attention outside of our mma media bubble. Not sure how that’s not even mentioned.
I definitely talked about that on the air. Remember, this is 5 minutes of me ranting or something to that effect. Not exactly an exhaustive look into the issue.
I don’t think the concerns about what impact Mir’s words are misplaced. The comment isn’t exactly great. It’s worth considering, but after evaluating what happened and what it sets up I’m coming to different conclusions than some others.
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
I agree with Luke. When talking to other mma fans I compare what Mir said to the countless other death threats made by other fighters. Most folks come back with how much detail he went into and that is what made it wrong. So by this logic its ok to say you are going to kill some one but not in detail.
I like the new segment Luke…keep it up.
Yes
Concerning a euphemism: “When a phrase is used as a euphemism, it often becomes a metaphor whose literal meaning is dropped.” (Wikipedia)
Examples: “I’m gonna tear him apart” isn’t taken by a listening audience to mean he’s actually going to dismember his opponent. Opponents in chess as well as combat sambo may exclaim, “To the death” whereas no one really believes there will be a dead person at the end of the match.
I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries.
That’s not a euphemism, that’s a vile fantasy by a guy who represents the sport not only in the cage but also by being a regular commentator and analyst in the media.
All of the death related comments are hyperbolic. Mir’s just seems to got a bit further by saying "octagon-related". Agreed, at first it’s off-putting as a bit much, IMO. But when you think about it, would there be similar reactions if he’d said "I hope he dies from my fists against his skull" or "I’m going to turn his brain to soup" or "I’m going to splatter the Octagon with his greymatter".
"I love it when a guy is bleeding on top of me." -- Diego Sanchez, post fight interview about his fight with Clay Guida
This is a tough one.
Honestly, I haven’t gotten a chance to listen to last night’s MMA Nation, and I haven’t read much on this quote besides what’s here. I may, in fact, be a little behind many others.
From the beginning, I understood what Mir was doing. It really wasn’t something I took seriously like most of the other fight hype that goes on. Certainly, there’s a place for this stuff, but, generally speaking, it’s not why I tune in to see MMA fights. I do understand, however, why MMA fans would be aggravated by Mir’s statement. These same fans are the fuel powering the push get MMA into the mainstream and legalized in places where it’s prohibited. Mir describes, with a decent amount of specificity which has been discussed, wanting Lesnar to be the first competitor to die in the Octagon (at the hands of Mir, of course). Isn’t the fact that no one has died due to injuries sustained in the Octagon an important arrow in the quiver of the MMA community?
Furthermore, Mir’s one of the more eloquent fighters in the sport with a prominent role in WEC programming. I don’t think there’s anything sinister behind Mir’s comments, but if Dana White’s words matter then so do Mir’s. White’s over-the-top behavior appeals to a significant number of MMA fans and potential fans just as “good theater” appeals to many.
My feeling is that this, along with a lot of what people say, shouldn’t be a big deal. Unfortunately, that’s not really the world we live in. I think some of the debates undertaken in this very venue (Bloody Elbow) is evidence of that. Everything is not to be taken seriously, and hype shouldn’t be utilized out of context. Unfortunately, all things uttered are of a serious nature to some.
Since Brock Lesnar thinks this is much ado about nothing...
…I’m not sure what everyone else is getting all frothy about.
Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ.
I blog at TangleBones - you should follow me on Twitter here.
If you like it, you should put a rec on it.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
MMA Rankings
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
