UFC 100 Video: Brock Lesnar Infuriated By Frank Mir, Steve Mazzagatti

Brock Lesnar has two reasons to be happy about UFC 100: He's getting a rematch with Frank Mir (who beat him at UFC 81), and Steve Mazzagatti is not the referee this time. But Lesnar doesn't seem happy.

Lesnar has made no secret that he despises Mazzagatti, the ref who worked the first Mir-Lesnar fight. In that fight, Lesnar was dominating Mir on the ground until he hit Mir on the back of the head and Mazzagatti stood the fighters up to deduct a point from Lesnar for an illegal blow. Lesnar believes that was a mistake on Mazzagatti's part, and a mistake that cost him the first fight.

And as he prepares for the rematch on Saturday night, Lesnar is getting motivated by anger toward Mazzagatti, both for the stand-up and for what Lesnar believes was Mazzagatti's slow reaction to Lesnar tapping out when Mir caught him in a knee bar.

"I don't know how many times I had to tap his leg," Lesnar said on the Countdown to UFC 100 promotional show. "Mazzagatti was a f**king d**khead. He should have been thrown out of the f**king arena. I'd like to punch his f**king mustache right off his face."

Lesnar ended his interview on the Countdown show by saying, "How many times did I tap his leg, with Mazzagatti -- man, I hate that f**king guy." And with that, he stormed out of the room, breaking a door in the process.

This, folks, is how you sell a fight.

We'll have live UFC 100 results and a UFC 100 live blog on Saturday night here at FanHouse.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-08-2009 @ 8:29AM

jay said...

I was kind of shocked to see them stand up after the blows to the back of the head, since most cases a warning is fired off per-say. But, with Mir's bitchy reaction, I guess I'm not totaly surprised, and really can't blame Mazzagatti.

7-14-2009 @ 6:35PM

mnsonfrkofworld said...

They're streaming it live over at http://unlocksports.com/watch28015.html for free if you wanna watch it online.

Also if you miss the live stream you can go download the replay at http://unlocksports.com/file2018451.html (it takes them at least 20 minutes to upload the replay though fyi)

7-08-2009 @ 9:00AM

Frederick said...

I am not one to expect a ref to be perfect.

Mazagatti made a mistake in my view when he stopped the fight. The replay shows only hit going to back of the head and that is when Mir is rolling.

What I do have a big problem is when he took a point off. I often get a feeling with Mazagati that he is almost as big a part of the fight as the fighters.

I like my refs to be discret(if everything goes well they should not be part of the post fight talks) and decisive. Big John is a master at that. I also like Mario Yamazaki alot as a ref.

7-08-2009 @ 9:22AM

kevin said...

after watching that i agree with lesnar Mazagati was all for mir winning, the part with the door though i think that was planned because the camera was already set up for that scene

7-08-2009 @ 12:11PM

imshortyk said...

Mazzagatti has an awful track record for bad decisions inside the octagon, and this was one of his worst. Everybody knows a fighter gets at least one warning, and most refs give a good three or four before deciding to jump in. Either Mazzagatti was a big Mir fan, or he was amped up on an energy drink and suddenly crashed when Brock was trying to tap to save his leg from breaking.

7-08-2009 @ 12:25PM

richardbikle said...

I guess Lesnar would be really pissed if he knew Mazzagatti did make a mistake but did it on purpose. Mazzagatti should never had been allowed to ref that fight as a life long family friend of Mir; that and his incompetence.
Mir was all but out except for Mazzagatti saving him by getting Lesnar off him and giving him, letting Mir up, a rest. I'm disappointed in the way Mir took advantage of that bs.
Mir was the one turning his head, Lesnar wasn't targeting the back of his head.
Thats how a ref can throw a fight.

7-08-2009 @ 4:41PM

neozoo said...

until all your recent posts and info, i had no idea that mazz and mir were so connected.
it was definately unethical to have him ref that fight not just on ufc's part but especially on mazz's part himself. he shows himself to be an ass for taking that fight to ref.
i have never seen a stand up and point deduction
for that type of shot. and as everyone noticed it was more mir turning than brock hunting for the back of the head.
maybe this is the reason i'll be rooting for brock, i just don't think he will be able to overcome mir's skills at this point in time.
however, if he does beat mir...WOW!
brock may own the heavyweight division for awhile.
and then maybe people will shut up about the whole pro wrestling thing.
it is a fact that even though pro wrestling is scripted and fake, that it takes more of a toll on your body and mind than mma.
lesner and lashley have both attested to that.

7-08-2009 @ 6:49PM

Neo you're right on all accounts. Scripted it may be, but professional wrestling is very hard on those guys. Most are complete physical wrecks after their career is over.. and hey, how can you not stop channel surfing to watch a couple of 300# behemiths (sp) fly thru the air? those guys amaze me.
Mazzagatti owns karate schools in las vegas, so does Mir's dad. they've know each other for years. no way he should have been allowed to ref that fight. actually, even if he didn't know Mir, he's not a good enough ref for championship fights- maybe high school wrestling, but thats about it.

7-08-2009 @ 9:48PM

Todd miller said...

All this talk about this and that. Frank will shut his mouth this saturday. Only this time I hope frank snaps his foot off. Lesnar dont belong in the ufc, according to his manager he said brock is basically a 3rd degree brown, and basically unbeatable. So basically he is almost a president or basically he is god. Better yet he is just a wrestler who can take some kicks and slaps. but frank beat him once but everyone says the ref caused that one. So when frank beats him again, lets see what excuses Lesnar has this time.

7-08-2009 @ 11:20PM

todd, i am the first to say i think lesner will not be able to overcome mir's overall abilities. but to say lesner doesn't belong in the ufc is just plain igorant. yes, lesner is still green as far as mir's submissions. and if lesner loses, as i think he probably will, it just means he is not as good mma wise as mir.
mir is definately one of the most talented mma guys on the planet.
mir's face showed it wasn't easy the first time.
as i said before, i will be rooting for lesner.

7-09-2009 @ 12:54AM

neozoo. i say lesnar doesn't belong in UFC because it is MMA fighting. The last I knew MMA stood for Mixed Martial Arts, Not Talking and rabbit punches like lesnar does.

7-09-2009 @ 1:41AM

Niv said...

I have to tell you I'm personally tired of all the Mazagatti garbage.

These ref's are damned if they do, damned if they don't. The ref stopped the fight too soon, the ref didn't stop the fight fast enough, "I was tapping", the ref let it stay on the ground too long, the ref stood them up too soon. Man I hate this stuff, but I guess that's human nature.

Reality here is Mazagatti was correct in stopping the fight as Lesnar did hit Mir in the back of the head, and yeah he was wrong to deduct a point. That point deduction had no bearing on the fight, it lasted 90 seconds.

Mazagatti owns karate clubs all over Vegas so this makes him being a ref a conflict of interest because Mir's dad has the same, ok. Well half of the fighters under contract to the UFC have clubs in Vegas also, should they be banned from fighting there?

Have any of you considered the entire sport is built on conflicts of interest? The UFC and every other MMA organization out there is acting as manager, owner and promoter in each and every one of their fights, that's a much bigger conflict of interest in my books.

How about this conflict of interest, Lorenzo Fertitta was a member on the Board of Directors at the Nevada State Athletic Commission for 4 years. What about his direct influence to the board and the ref's and judges that board employs?

We as MMA fans are all between a rock and a hard place as far as conflict of interest goes, and the fighters even more so.

Let's just hope that this sport doesn't stray too far, as I can see it coming apart at the seams one day if there aren't some real changes in how the MMA business is handled.

7-09-2009 @ 1:30PM

Niv, a few points. Mazzagatti's conflict isn't owning the schools, it is his friendship with the Mir family. Also, Mazzagatti may have acted within the rules, but not convention. If a fighter is turning his head you dont stop the action and deduct points and take the advantage away from the other guy. a verbal warning during action would have been enough.
Different schools or camps do not present a conflict of interest, maybe if they were all the same camp you could argue that, but not different.
Niv you seem to be mudding the waters here, but fact is a life long friendship should have dis qualified Mazzagatti, in addition he's just a bad ref.
Niv you certainly seem smart enough, and you are informed enough too know better.

7-09-2009 @ 6:11PM

Richard thanks for the response, and if you noticed I completely agree with you on the fact that a warning should have been the outcome of the blow to the back of the head, either way the outcome was the same.

I personally don't know Mazagatti and if he's a family friend of the Mir's you are right as that is a conflict of interest.

I am intentionally muddying the waters here to provoke some thought into the entire MMA scene. I love MMA, I love watching fights put on by all organizations, but I am concerned about how this sport is evolving. As my post above states there are even bigger conflicts of interest here than a ref overseeing a buddies fight (as bad as that is).

I've been trumping this for a while now as fans should voice their concern in hopes of opening things up a bit.

One of my solutions (and I know their is no perfect solution) is to have a single unified title holder for each class regardless of where they fight. I'd like to see open tournaments between champions of all organizations every year to determine who truly is the best, and have these tournaments all over the world. I know most MMA fans have a problem with WAMMA, but I think they are on the right track and I hope more people look at the concept at least.

There should be more cross promotions to get away from the incessant, promoter, agent and owner conflict of interest that exists throughout this sport.

So after all of that, I'd like to say I enjoy reading the majority of the posts you've put out there, you seem to have a good grasp of this sport.

Take care.

7-10-2009 @ 1:59PM

Thank you Niv, i very much appreciate your kind words.
As a MMA enthusist, i completely agree with you.
The problem i see with your suggestion is that as soon as Fedor or Barnett KOs Mir or Lesnar, the UFC just became an inferior organization. The UFC is way more about market share than world's undisputed champion.

7-10-2009 @ 10:45AM

Dolly said...

Bilko you are once again so right and so wrong at the same time. Lesnar has apparently yet to leave the WEC all the way behind him witness that bit of door breaking drama. I'm not impressed by his little tantrum. However, like I said before Mir nearly lost his a-- in the first fight and it would shock me if Lesnar didn't hand Mir his head in rematch

7-12-2009 @ 11:11AM

jhovany said...

frank mir shoud have lost he has to learn that u cant just lay on people wen u have a 20 pound advantage and u cant just wrestle mazagati should have stood them up but if he had there was no dout frank mir should have one that fight