Fighting Fathers

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On Saturday night, Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar face each other in a rematch UFC fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. But it was just a month ago when Mir’s wife gave birth to a son — and one day later, Lesnar’s wife gave birth to their son.

Mir and Lesnar — who already were fathers — tell me that having a newborn is not distracting them from their fight, and in fact it’s been a joy.

"It’s been really nice," Lesnar says. "It’s refreshing to come home and to hold your own child and feed him and change diapers.

"You only want to think about the fight when you’re training. (But) once you’re outside your training … it gives me something to do, so I’m not wasting my brain cells on a fight."

Mir says some people "get crazy" by focusing too much on what they think could be a distraction. But that’s a cop-out, he says.

"People look for excuses to make things look difficult, so they can bail" on responsibilities, he says. "Having another baby wasn’t difficult. I love my son. It’s rewarding in itself, so it’s just part of life."

Lesnar even stood in the room with his wife while she was delivering their baby near their home in Minnesota, he says. He’d done that before with a daughter and thought it was a miracle.

"I wasn’t gonna miss it for absolutely nothin’," Lesnar says, then jokes: "He was 16 pounds 8 ounces. After we circumcised him, he was 8 pounds 14 ounces."

Lesnar says he will happily continue to raise his kids in the Midwest and "not with all the filth" in someplace flashier such as Los Angeles.

"I’m a country boy, man. I live in the country. I have no desire to hang out with the yuppies," Lesnar says.

His head isn’t turned by the bright lights of Hollywood or even by UFC promotions.

"I’m not out to prove anything. I’m just out to win fights and be good and stay the champion. To try to do anything more than that complicates your life and complicates your fighting style," Lesnar says.

"A lot of these other guys get clouded and blinded. They want to be movie stars and all this other stuff. I just never had a desire for that. Focus on one thing, and that’s good enough for me," Lesnar says.

Lesnar says he’s already gone down the path of newfound fame, when he was 22, World Wrestling Entertainment champ, performing in a different city every night.

"This isn’t my first time on TV, you know?" Lesnar, 31, says. "Life on camera and promotional radio spots — trust me, it’s all very plain Jane to me now, and boring. I just enjoy fighting — just getting in and fightin’. I’ve been through enough (expletive) already. (Celebrity) is a big distraction. That’s why I live in Minnesota, to train and enjoy life and hang out with the family."

Meanwhile, Mir is training and raising his family here in Las Vegas, where he was born and raised. Vegas is flashier than Minnesota. But Mir, 30, avoids the glare, he says. He doesn’t go to clubs unless he’s paid to make an appearance.

"The last time I was at a club was about a year ago, and that’s because she had friends that came to town and they had to do the Vegas thing. And most of the time, you’d see the look on my face was pretty miserable," Mir says.

He used to shop more often with his wife at Wal-Mart. But Mir started curtailing his outings, because fans approach him so often he couldn’t keep up with his wife in the aisles.

"The last couple times, I would be at Wal-Mart, trying to help her shop, and she had to shop on her own while I’m talking to people," Mir says. "So we figured it’s a little difficult for me to go shopping with her."

Mir says he likes talking with fans and posing for pictures. But he’s also had to draw the line with people who want to pose wildly with him.

"Every once in a while, it will be like they want to take a picture of me choking them — or them choking me!" Mir says and laughs. "I’m just like: ‘No. Just relax.’

"I’m always afraid someone’s gonna say, ‘Hey, put me in a choke and take a picture.’ And then a month later, I get subpoenaed: ‘Yeah, man, this guy can’t feel his legs, says you choked him and says he’s got a photograph of it.’ "

Mir appreciates, though, that he’s a lifelong Las Vegan, fighting in his hometown, which is home to the UFC.

That means, for a fight, he doesn’t have to drag his friends and family across the country to stay in different hotels in a different city.

"Fighting’s already a stressful situation, so whatever you can do to make yourself more relaxed" is welcomed, he says.

And he’s got his own niche carved out as a homebody, he says.

"I love going to the movies. I love hanging out with the children. So to me a perfect day is eat at a nice restaurant, hit the movies and come home," Mir says. "To me, that’s the ultimate.

"I’m kind of a nerd, to be honest with you."

Contact Doug Elfman at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.