Oldschool UFC warrior Don Frye finally got the respect he deserved at UFC 199 when the organization announced he’d be the latest addition to the UFC Hall of Fame. Frye was one of the first guys to actually mix his martial arts, using a combination of wrestling, judo, and brawling to win the UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournaments. That was back in the day when fighting three times in one night was the norm, and people still weren’t convinced that a death wasn’t right around the corner at these insane no holds barred events.
Our friends at Submission Radio interviewed Frye about his inclusion in the Hall of Fame, and the ever opinionated fighter also offered up his thoughts on Brock Lesnar returning to the UFC. Frye understands what Lesnar is about more than most — in addition to being an MMA pioneer, Don also swung between fighting and pro wrestling throughout his career.
That doesn’t mean he’s picking Lesnar out of solidarity. On the contrary, Frye thinks Brock is about to receive a rude awakening at the hands of the heavy hitting Mark Hunt.
“Oh my God, why? Why?!?” Frye said when asked what his reaction to Brock’s fight at UFC 200 was. “Mark Hunt is going to destroy him. It’s going to be such a fun fight to watch Mark kick his head off. So I’m looking forward to it.”
“Mark’s an animal. Yeah he’s an animal. I mean, goddamn, he’s one of the better fighters walking the planet. You know and he’s got the strength and the speed and the skill, and s**t, he’s like ten-foot-tall and bullet proof.”
For clarification, Mark is actually 5’10, but it’s an easy mistake to make since the guy carries himself like a Samoan god.
“I thought they were going to give him some fish,” Don continued. “Who’s that pro wrestler that keeps bailing out of his fight all the time? Yeah, I mean, give him CM Punk (laughs) or somebody worse than that.”
“But jeez, I gotta give it to Lesnar for accepting the fight. First you gotta step into the cage, and then I’ll give the guy all the credit in the world just for being man enough to let that door close behind him.”
With many fighters including former opponent Frank Mir agreeing with Don’s opinion, this is a much different welcome than Brock received during his first appearance in 2008. But Lesnar’s weakness — getting punched really hard in the face — was exposed by the end of that run, and it just happens to be exactly what Mark Hunt is good at.
On the other side of the coin, Mark has never been great off his back, and Lesnar happens to be one of the greatest amateur wrestlers to step into the Octagon. It’s a classic clash of styles, and whoever can implement their gameplan is likely to walk out of the cage with all their brain cells intact. Unless they decide to pull a Don Frye and just swing for the fences til someone drops. How epic would that be?
(via Submission Radio, transcript by MixedMartialArts.com)