MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani recently took some time away from interviewing mentally handicapped freakshows to get back to his roots as MMA’s top correspondent, questioning UFC 146′s headliners, Frank Mir and Junior dos Santos, on everything from Nick Diaz’s recent suspension to whether or not Daniel Cormier should be the man to face the winner of their Saturday night title fight.
When asked his opinion on the NSAC’s aforementioned ruling in the case of Mr. Diaz, Mir seemed to side with the “what kind of bullshit is this?” crowd, stating that “…obviously just having metabolites in his system means that he was not under the influence of marijuana in contest the night they tested him, but I guess that’s why they wear suits and I wear no shirt when I go to work.” I hear you there, bro. Mir also discussed his plans for dos Santos, mainly, that he will pull guard on the champ if need be, because shooting on “Cigano” will likely not be a viable option.
Helwani’s interview with dos Santos was decidedly different, as “Cigano” spent a good amount of time trying to clarify earlier statements he made about Mir’s lack of heart, and the fact that he is “not a man.” If that sounds like a bit harsh of a criticism considering the source, the heavyweight champion only meant to say that when the going gets tough, Mir gives up. Although Big Nog might disagree with that notion (as well as the driver who nearly took Mir’s life), do you think it’s a fair assessment of the former heavyweight champ, Potato Nation?
But perhaps even more unexpected than dos Santos’ semi trash-talk was his claim that, given a few months of training, he could take WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO & The Ring Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, or anyone else in the world for that matter (conversation begins at the 5:30 mark). Whereas a statement like that might come off as arrogant for any other fighter, there’s something about the way Junior delivers his words (ie. in hilariously broken English), combined with the ever-present smile pasted across his face, that just makes him seem more genuine than some of the other guys out there. SO WATCH YOUR BACK, WLADIMIR.
Since we haven’t asked this in at least a week; who you got, Potato Nation?