Brock Lesnar: More Money than Mir?

UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar fights for many reasons, however he makes no bones about his love for collecting paychecks as massive as his stature. With the biggest event in MMA history just days away, Lesnar hopes to cash-in big time, in more ways than one.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to provide for your family,” Lesnar said of his unwillingness to fight for small paydays. “I mean this is a business for me and it just so happens that I make more money than [Frank Mir].”

That was an unexpected jab thrown by Lesnar, whether he intended to or not. Perhaps you would have to dive deeper into Lesnar’s financial history to completely understand where he is coming from.

“I’ve [gone through] blood, sweat and tears for 18 years,” Lesnar stated on yesterday’s UFC 100 conference call. “I’ve had a lot of time in the gym and gotten paid zilch."

“This is prize fighting for me. If you look at it any other way then you might as well fight in the underground, you know with bare knuckles and fight in the streets as far as I’m concerned.”

Although the former WWE employee is honored to be a part of this blossoming sport, specifically to headline an event as monumental as UFC 100, he isn’t about to fight for chump change. Regardless of what’s at stake.

“I enjoy getting up everyday and going to work,” Lesnar emphasized. “When this is all said and done and everything’s over with, I want to live comfortably. You put your body and your mind through so much discipline so I can honestly say ‘no,’ I wouldn’t fight for peanuts.”

Mir, the division’s interim champ, and Lesnar will battle on July 11th inside the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada to determine who will become the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight champ.

And that is something that money can’t buy.