Frank Mir said something dumb

Frank Mir pulled the ultimate "no no" when he told a Pittsburgh based radio station:

"I want to fight Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person, I want to break his neck in the ring, I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries."

Mir's comments have the unfortunate pleasure of coinciding with several sports related deaths as a women was killed at a NHRA race, the controversial death of a Georgian luger and the recent death of a boxer. 

Obviously these types of comments cause knee-jerk reactions from a variety of sources. It isn't hard to see why MMA fans and observers are sensitive to the d-word as the sport is often dragged through the "human cock-fighting" mud by politicians or old journalists who want to complain about how the "good ole days" were better. 

Yet, no one has ever died as a result of injuries suffered in the UFC. While some might not see that as the highest of standards to be held to that can't be said for most sports and spectators. If you were to assemble a butcher's bill of lost lives from sporting events you may want to include the thirteen year old girl who died at Columbus Blue Jackets game when struck by a puck or the football player that drops dead during a workout and so on. Athletics, and life for that matter, are dangerous. All we can do is try to mitigate the risk as much as possible.

These comments from Mir aren't all that unexpected. Frank has been trying to build hype for a potential rubber match with Lesnar since the fall of last year. If you were to Google "Frank Mir obsessed" the results would feature a plethora of Mir's statement calling out Brock from 2009 to 2010. With so much rhetoric being thrown around, it quickly becomes background noise and the instigator needs to say more and more outlandish things to grab the headlines. While we might bemoan it as trite and deplorable it ultimately works. Look at Chael Sonnen's masterful performance with the media in the run-up to UFC 109. Whether it was constructed or genuine it received a lot of attention and Sonnen went from being a middle of the pack middleweight to a star (it helped that he won). 

In that context we know that Mir is trying to build heat though he deserves to be admonished for the "d-word" and the specificity of his actions. But WKR suggests you read and listen to Frank's entire statement before latching on to his professed desire to be the Grim Reaper.

"I like to think that just for the reason that I'm pretty candid when I speak about things. A lot of individuals are so worried about being politically correct and you know a lot of fighters you know we're all together I hear them, "Oh, don't say that because you know the fans won't like you!" I'm like you know what dude, I've realized a long time ago you're going to have fans who love you and fans that hate you and I'd rather go ahead and say what's on my mind than to sit there and come up with some PC you know "Oh you know the guy's a great fighter and I have a lot of respect of him!" And if I don't mean it, then why is it even coming out of my mouth because whose interested in hearing that? You see the same cookie cutter responses. "Oh, who do you want to fight next? Well, whoever the UFC deems me, I just want to fight anybody!" I'm like man, I've heard that a thousand times! I want to fight Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person, I want to break his neck in the ring, I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries. That's what's going through my mind."

“I would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks,” said Mir. “I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts.  I’m sorry that I stepped out of line.”