Mir followed up Tuesday saying, ““I would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks. I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts. I’m sorry that I stepped out of line.”

Mir and UFC cahmpion and second-ranked heavyweight Lesnar are tied 1-1 in their series of fights.  If Mir beats sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) at UFC 111 in Newark March 27, they’ll have a rubber match for the trilogy and UFC title.

Business Week ranked Emelianenko the 82nd most powerful athlete in the world in their annual Power 100 rankings and Lesnar came in at 96.

Most would assume Lesnar would rank higher than Emelianenko.  Lesnar has been a bankable star since debuting in the WWE in 2002.  His title fight versus third-ranked Frank Mir (13-4) at UFC 100 in Las Vegas last July attracted the largest number of pay per view buys in UFC history.

Neither fighter’s total earnings is known, but Lesnar is sponsored by Wildlife, Jack Links, and Dymatize Nutrition while Emelianenko has no key sponsors.

However, fight performace was taken into account by Business Week to project future earnings.  Lesnar lost his UFC debut to Mir at UFC 81 in Las Vegas in 2008 and, at the time the rankings were being created, Lesnar future in MMA was questionable after a bout with  diverticulitis.

Emelianenko is certainly a better bet to continue winning, but, if Lesnar had been healthy while Business Week projected his earning ability, would he have outranked Emelianenko?  Now that Lesnar has announced he’s healthy and will return, should he outrank Emelianenko?

Remember, the Power 100 is a ranking of ability to earn money, not whose a better fighter.  While North America isn’t the only large MMA market in the world, Emelianenko’s inability to speak English severely limits his ability to attract sponsors in this very large market.  While already the biggest name in American MMA, Lesnar has a higher ceiling of marketability worldwide than Emelianenko’s ceiling in North America due to language and, let’s be honest, his aloof demeanor.

Emelianenko’s advantage is his earning power not being entirely determined by Strikeforce’s success, while Lesnar will likely go the way the UFC goes.

However, there’s every likelihood the UFC will continue to grow both in North America and worldwide, so doesn’t it seem like Lesnar has higher earning power than Emelianenko?

We will also be sharing some information on the Fight Mafia versus fighters they have sponsored and have Matt from Hell and Back Inc. as a guest to give us the details of the surgery Fighters.com and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) was lucky enough to avoid.

You can join us every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST to listen live by going to www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel and if you would like to join in the chat all you need to do is take about a minute to register at BTR as a listener and you can chat with us and ask our guests questions.

Fighters.com fourth-ranked middleweight “Great” Nate Marquardt (29-8-2) is a man many should take notice of as he is not only a great fighter but an amazing human being. Nate was just recently named the Sharon Antcliff Foundation’s “True Warrior” for 2009.

The Sharon Antcliff Foundation (SAF) is a charity that  works to help families who have a loved one suffering from young-onset Alzheimer’s.

As you read this, there are roughly 500,000 diagnosed cases of young-onset Alzheimer’s in the United States. Those families face a battle every day, not just against the disease, but against the impact it has on their family, their relationships, their finances, and their way of life.

Young-onset Alzheimer’s can strike those in their 50s, 40s, and even their 30s. This disease does not care who it attacks. It doesn’t care if you’re under 65. It doesn’t care if your grandchild was just born. It doesn’t care if you still want to travel. It doesn’t care if you’re making the money that supports your family. It doesn’t care if you still have kids at home that need a parent full time. And it doesn’t care that there are nearly no programs set up to help these families. SAF does and works towards these goals each and every day.

Kevin Antcliff, whose mother Sharon passed away due to this disease, formed this organization to help those families struggling. He then set up the SAF Warriors program with the purpose of finding others willing to stand in the corners of young-onset victims and caregivers as they fight the effects of this cruel disease every day of their lives. Nate is one of these Warriors.

Nate was approached by the director through Facebook on what he admits was nothing more than a shot in the dark. He asked Nate to help promote a local cause with national aspirations and amazingly Nate agreed.

Nate was named the winner of the Tequilla Cazadores Spirit Award before his fight at UFC 102. At this time Nate named SAF as the recipient of a grant on his behalf. Nate’s involvement with SAF Warriors and the Sharon Antcliff Foundation has allowed them to gain access they otherwise may not have had to the MMA community. Within the MMA community the foundation has found people willing to spread their message, seek donations, seek volunteers and help them to foster relationships. Perhaps the most important aspect of all is that Nate is doing this an has asked for nothing in return. Something we rarely find anymore, a straight from the heart act of kindness and generosity.

Today as MMA looks to move forward and become one of the top sports in the world, men like Nate are needed more than ever. These are the stories we should be telling rather than allowing the main stream media to focus on the post-fight antics like we saw at UFC 100 with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1).

Nate truly is a hero and an unsung one at that. Nate will get plenty of press for his fight with seventh-ranked middleweight Chael Sonnen (23-10-1) at UFC 109 on February 6 and sadly this story, his involvement and the Sharon Antcliff Foundation will likely go unnoticed.

The sport of MMA can use this type of publicity and can take a lesson from the NFL who is always spotlighting players and the charities they work with.

If you would like to learn more about SAF Foundation or SAF Warriors you can visit them at http://sharonantclifffoundation.org and http://www.safwarriors.org/. Let’s all take the time to thank Nate for being a true hero a positive role model in mixed martial arts.

Lesnar detailed his battle with diverticulitis, an intestinal disorder of inflamed pouches on the exterior of the colon.

“I went to the hospital in Canada, realized quickly that I had to get out of Canadian healthcare, and get down to Bismark, to the United States, at Medcenter One,” Lesnar explained Wednesday morning.  “I take my hat off to this doctor there. They diagnosed me with diverticulitis, I had a severe case, I had a rupture of one of my diverticuli, which means I had a hole in my stomach.”

Lesnar added, “So, I pretty much had it in my mind that I was going to have surgery.  My answer was I have to have the surgery, and I didn’t want to if I could beat the odds, I was going to do everything in my power to do that. I had another check-up after the first of the year, I went home, I went back to the gym, got my weight back up, I put about 30 pounds back on, went back into the doctor January 5th and a miracle. They were dumbfounded. They couldn’t find any signs of any problem in my stomach, it’s a miracle to me.”

UFC President Dana White confirmed thta an interim heavyweight title fight between third-ranked Frank Mir (13-4) and sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) will co-headline UFC 111 in Newark March 27 and the winner will fight Lesnar in the summer.

The appearance was confirmed by a UFC spokesperson in an MMA Junkie report.  UFC President Dana White had indicated earlier this month that a doctor’s checkup the second week of January would determine Lesnar’s future in mixed martial arts.

Lesnar has been sidelined since October with what White has repeatedly called a “career-threatening” ailment.  Lesnar had surgery to repair a perforated intestine, but White has indicated that the surgery wasn’t the entire story of Lesnar’s illness.

White has also insisted that Lesnar has been treated at the Mayo Clinic, though Lesnar’s camp denies the claim.  And, Lesnar’s trainer, Greg Nelson, told MMA Junkie Lesnar will definitely fight again, though White has been casting doubt.

Lesnar’s Wednesday appearance on SportsCenter will evidently set a conclusive time table for his return.

In the meantime, an interim heavyweight title fight between third-ranked Frank Mir (13-4) and sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) will co-headline UFC 111 in Newark March 27.

 There is no denying that Lashley is an athlete. He is a two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) wrestling champion. He wrestled in the Army and was training to compete in the Olympics in 2003 before being injured. After the injury Bobby went to professional wrestling where he would later become a “world champion” He has natural athletic ability but his wrestling credits are not on par with the likes of another pro wrestler turned MMA fighter, Fighters.com’s second ranked heavyweight and UFC champion Brock Lesnar (4-1). Brock’s success inside the Octagon have come from his massive size advantage accompanied by his elite wrestling abilities. It is tough to compare a NAIA champion to a NCAA National champion but most would agree that the better wrestler would be the NCAA champion. Brock is not someone we can compare Lashley to despite the parallels in their careers. Bobby is not Brock and will not see the success Brock has seen thus far in MMA.

I do like the fact that Bobby is taking things slow and not trying to rush into the largest fights right away. He wants to try and develop his skills the right way however his ability to grasp the finer points of the sport at 33 years of age with minimal training is something that will hamper his future. I have seen all four of his fights and have not seen the progression in his game that I expected to see training with a team like American Top Team.

His last fight against “The Beast” Bob Sapp (10-5-1) was evident of his lack of progression. He talked about showing off his hands in the fight but I think we all knew better. He went in for the shot right away and took Sapp to the spot he did not want to be, on his back. Once there Lashley worked some ground and pound but what stood at to me was that he stayed in Sapps’ half guard. I like half guard for some good ground and pound but passing and going to side control gives you so many more options to finish a fight. Bobby has the hips of a wrestler and can control people with them so I was shocked he never attempted a pass. It leads me to believe that his ground game is not evolving as quick as it needs. Most wrestlers seem to do well from the top and have very little trouble transitioning from dominant position to dominant position.

There are a couple other issues with his development that I have noticed. First would be his inability to take down an opponent like Jason Guida (18-22). Guida is a journeyman fighter that has fought in the WEC, EliteXC, World Victory Road and on The Ultimate Fighter. His submission game is good but I have never been impressed with is take down defense. When this fight started Lashley went for the take down and had it stuffed by Guida. He tried multiple take downs which were unsuccessful. If these were take downs against an accomplished wrestler then I could give him some leeway but I feel he should have been able to get Guida to the ground much quicker. If he continues to have issues taking fighters to the ground then he will need to bring his stand up game along much faster than what we have seen thus far.

Next would be the striking game we have seen from Lashley. His stand up is quite wild and he throws very wide, looping punches. He has only had four fights but I thought we would see little bits of improvement from him from his first fight to his last against Sapp. This however was not the case and this is a major problem considering the aforementioned issue with getting take downs. I will give him credit for some head movement even though it waqs minimal and seemed to fade as his fight went into the second and third rounds. It is tough to get a true indication of his striking game since the fight with Sapp went to the mat right away so his next fight I will be watching closely to see if he is picking up this aspect of the sport. Striking has been a tough aspect for wrestlers to incorporate into their arsenal but as of late we have seen wrestlers make huge strides in that department.

Can Lashley improve fast enough to be a viable star for Strikeforce is the big question. I don’t feel his athleticism is enough to carry him forward and I feel his game must evolve faster than we have seen in order for Strikeforce to be able to market him as a star in the making. Sadly, due to the fact that we have seen very little in the way of improvement from him against sub par fighters, there is nothing that leads me to believe Bobby Lashley will be able to reach the upper echelons of the heavyweight division in Strikeforce.

I could be wrong and if you feel that I am then feel free to join me and New York Gary Freidman on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. You can register with Blog Talk and join us in the Cageside Chatroom to discuss this and all the other topics we discuss on air. You can also call in to the show and talk to us directly by dialing 347-857-1337.

Martial arts have always revolved around respect and has been the selling point for may parents who enroll their children in arts such as karate, tae kwon do or jiu jitsu. It was no surprise to me when I watched the sport of MMA start to blossom that we witnessed the same respect seen in dojos around the world. Now the sport is pushing to become more main stream and with that push we are watching respect for ones fellow combatant slowly begin to degrade and I have to wonder why this is the case.

MMA, in it’s push to become a top tier sport, needs to ride high on the back’s of it’s best athletes. Fighters such as Fighters.com and UFC welterweight champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2), middleweight champion Spider” Anderson Silva (25-4), lightweight champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-5-1) and Fighters.com top-ranked heavyweight “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-1). These men are the elite in MMA and as such must carry the burden of being the face of the sport. Ambassadors to the general public as well as to the people in charge of legalizing the sport in those states that are still behind the times. People all across the country are watching and some tune-in to find out what all the fuss is about.

When a fighter such as UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) acts more like a clown after a win like he did at UFC 100, it causes some to tune out and others to feel they were right to not support something like what they just witnessed. After beating Fighters.com third-ranked heavyweight Frank Mir (13-4) Lesnar decided to run around the Octagon and flip off the crowd in attendance at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. He got in the face of Mir as Mir was being attended to by his corner and the ringside physicians. Then after all of this he decided to blast the UFC’s main sponsor of the night, Bud Light, and talk about climbing on top of his wife. Exactly what I expected from a former pro wrestler but not what we expect to see in MMA. Yes, it is cage fighting but it has become it’s own martial art and should be respected.

I understand that fighters need to market themselves to sell fights and some take the role as villain in these pre-fight interviews we so often see. However, many of these men admit to doing just that, selling a fight. Once the fight is over these men can often be seen congratulating one another and showing much respect for the person they just went to war with inside the Octagon. Some fighters believe that your last fight should be all that is needed to sell your next fight and I tend to agree but I also see the value in whipping up a war of words. The war of words and the role of villain should end once they step inside and are prepared to fight.

Touching gloves is a pre-fight ritual that is a show of respect. It is something we see often in boxing, muay thai and other combat sports. This is where all the pre-fight banter should come to an and end. A majority of the time it does but on those rare occasions two men enter who just do not like one another and thus we do not see the touching of gloves. What I would like to point out is that during these rare fights, at the end we see them shake hands and congratulate one another. It ends there and nothing further is needed to be said. This is respect and the actions of Fighters.com second-ranked “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) at DREAM’s New Year’s Eve event, DYNAMITE 2009 was a complete lack of not only respect but class.

After breaking the arm of Mizuto Hirota (9-3) he then decided to channel his inner Lesnar and flip off Hirota and the entire audience. The breaking of one’s limb can occur in MMA when the pride of one fighter gets in the way of him tapping out. I do not think Aoki is the only one at fault for what happened as the ref should have stepped in and stopped the fight. It was the actions afterward that brought the negative attention once again to our great sport.

If MMA is to truly become a main stream sport we need ensure fighters get back to showing respect for one another post-fight rather than showing a complete lack of respect for the other fighter, the fans and the sport. This is not pro wrestling and if this decline continues the critics will continue to associate the sport with just that.

Walker is a very athletic man having been a two-time Pro Bowl running back in the NFL. He has also been training tae kwon do long enough to earn himself a sixth-degree black belt. I respect his decision to try out this sport and to want to test himself in what many consider the most complete test of a man’s will to overcome. The ultimate in mano-a-mano. However it is how it will be perceived by the main stream that worries me the most.

 MMA has been growing rapidly and with that come new fans and new detractors. As the host of MMA Gospel Radio and a writer for this site, I spend a lot of time reading about and researching the sport and all the latest news. Call it a job hazard if you will but it lends me to constantly bring up the sport in conversation. I can’t tell you how often I hear that MMA is becoming more like professional wrestling. Fighters.com’s second-ranked heavyweight and  UFC champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) crossing over from pro wrestling to MMA and his post fight antics have not helped the matter. Then we are forced to hear about former Major League Baseball All-Star Jose Canseco (0-1) fighting in Japan with little to no training at all.

Enter Herschel Walker and his media tour. Walker is currently 47-years old and has only been training at American Kickboxing Academy for a very short time. Main stream media and new fans to the sport will see this a publicity stunt much the way pro wrestling brings in names like former boxing champion Mike Tyson and NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Lawerence Taylor. Strikeforce may be using it as a publicity stunt but let it be known Walker is taking this fight very serious. Never the less I have to believe this is a step back.

MMA is pushing into new markets with the Strikeforce fights on Showtime and the UFC going to Abu Dhabi and Australia this year, not to mention that fans will not get to see the UFC live on Versus. This explosion of MMA on many different cable channels leads to more exposure and a potentially broader fan base. The last thing a new fan needs to see is someone they remember playing football in the NFL stepping into the cage well past his prime.

Many organizations have been pushing the fact that mixed martial artists are the best athletes on the planet. The sport is not “human cock-fighting” and no longer features bar brawler verus jiu jitsu master. These men and women take the sport very serious and many have been training for years to get where they are now. When athletes like Fighters.com and UFC welterweight champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2) are getting endorsement deals with Gatorade and Under Armour, finally proving to the world that MMA fighters are true athletes, we have an ex-football star like Walker bringing down the sport.

When is the last time you saw a retired baseball player strap on shoulder pads and play in the NFL? These things do not happen except for the rare Michael Jordan in baseball appearance. The world needs to know this sport is serious and only for the most well conditioned and highly trained athletes. Not everyone can step inside the cage. Well, that is not true. Canseco stepped inside the ring but is that what we want shown on ESPN? If Walker suffers the same fate will it prove the sport is not to be taken likely? If he wins will fans think the sport is a joke and not very hard? Only time will tell but I do know it is a step back for the sport I love.

Both seventh-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) and unranked Cain Velasquez (7-0) have been hyped as top contenders ahead of dos Santos primarily because Carwin is all-American and Velasquez is Mexican-American, two key UFC demographics.  Dos Santos has a better record than both Carwin and Velasquez over the last two years and with every bit as exciting finishes as either.  But, dos Santos has been underhyped also because Nogueira is both still a contender and a big draw.  Only one of them can be marketed as a potential contender at a time because they won’t fight each other, and Nogueira is the bigger name.

But, Fighters.com thinks dos Santos’s time gaining experience versus quality opponents like Yvel and “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) will benefit him in the long run more than being rushed to a title shot like Carwin and Velasquez have been.

In boxing, prospects take a long road to a title shot, building their record and experiences on the path.  They beat power punchers, technical fighters, European stylists, pressure fighters, brawlers, and every look they can get while gradually increasing their level of competition.  They might even lose a fight or two along the way and good fighters will learn from those losses as much as from their wins.  By the time they fight for a title, if they’re management has served them well, they’ve seen it all and are confident going into their first title challenge.

In MMA, prospects are often rushed through the ranks and granted title shots because they’re getting a lot of hype or are marketable, not necessarily because they’re ready physically and mentally.

However, because dos Santos’s rise through the ranks has been limited by his teacher’s contendership, he’s earning an eventual title shot the old fashioned way.  And, he’ll benefit from that in the long run.

Just in the UFC, he’s beaten a world-class submission grappler and certified top ten heavyweight ninth-ranked “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1), a 6′11″ young thoroughbred “SkySkraper” Stefan Struve (23-3), an MMA legend and patient kickboxer Filipovic, and now a intimidating, wild kickboxer in Yvel.  Dos Santos also has one loss under his belt, a 2007 armbar submission to Joaquim Ferreira (3-3).

Dos Santos is already a top contender, though you wouldn’t know it in the UFC’s marketing.  However, when his time finally comes, he’s going to have the skills, experiences, and seasoning to be a long-serving champion.

Fighters.com January Heavyweight Rankings

1. “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-1)

2. Brock Lesnar (4-1)

3. Frank Mir (13-4)

4. “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1)

5. “Cigano” Junior dos Santos (10-1)

6. “Grim” Brett Rogers (10-1)

7. Shane Carwin (10-0)

8. “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (20-5)

9. “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1)

10. “The Natural” Randy Couture (17-10)