The Torch's former "Byte This" correspondent Michael KopStick filed the following report on Brock Lesnar's full press conference following last night's UFC 116 PPV in Las Vegas. Lesnar defeated Shane Carwin in the second round of last night's main event fight to retain the UFC Hvt. Title.

Throughout the press conference, Lesnar referenced his WWE background, credited his pro wrestling experience for helping him fight through a tough first round, and discussed former WWE stars he remains close with.

The first possible controversial thing Brock said was what he said in response to a question on what the first round barrage of punches Carwin administered onto him felt like. He began with two words, "Hurricane Katrina."

Brock thanked the referee for not stopping the fight early. He said he felt Shane Carwins's punches diminishing in power (as he said in the post-fight interview on the pay-per-view) and he just hung in there. The referee actually told him before the match that he would not stop the bout if he sees "movement" from anyone to display an attempt at intelligent defense. "I just tried to stay busy. He's a beast. He definitely won the first round (laughing)."

His first WWE mention was next when he told a reporter that his pro wrestling days taught him to not get so emotionally attached to something. He applied that lesson after the first round of the fight, clearing his mind to go into the second round focused on winning the round.

Lesnar thanked his Jiu-Jitsu coach for teaching him the move that submitted Carwin. He thanked many of his support team by name. When he mentioned his boxing coach he quipped, "I did not show very good boxing skills in the first round."

Dana White reminisced how Brock asked him a few years ago to allow him entry into the UFC. White replied that this isn't a training ground and that he should get experience in smaller organizations first, but Brock persisted, saying "I did [try the independents], they suck." Dana is now "blown away by what he is able to accomplish in such a short amount of time."

Brock then acknowledged that it was WWE that made it possible for him to get to the UFC. "I'm not an idiot. Without the WWE, the visibility I had, the television time, Dana wouldn't have given me a second look, there's no way. I'm just another guy. But I wrestled in all 50 states, in 13 countries, and my face was plastered on the television screen for four years all over the world. So, I just had to bring credibility to the table and my amateur wrestling background gave me that."

This is why Dana gave him a shot, even though he was totally aware that they purposely threw him to the wolves. "They were going to make an example out of me," Lesnar said. "No, we're going to make an example of James Toney," White interjected, to laughter. "I hope he's not in here I don't want to have to listen to him right now," the UFC owner joked again.

Brock reflected on his past, going from winning the NCAA tournament to getting "thrown into the entertainment business." He said, "I didn't really know what I was getting myself into." He said it was an honor to have friends like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg, and others present cheering him on during his fight.

"Those guys are good guys. Those guys helped elevate me and made me who I am today. I wrestled Dwayne and Goldberg. All them guys elevated my star status. I was honored that they came and showed support. Because without their support, like I said, I was just another guy in WWE, I showed certain things, and they decided that they were going to put the rocket on me and launch me to the top of the game. And if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have had the visibility to come in here and sucker Dana into getting my first fight," he said.

He was then asked to speak about his relationship with them. First he spoke about Paul Heyman and made a pretty funny gaffe. "Paul was one of the first guys that'd seen my talent in the WWE. I was in the ring doing dark matches to go and warm the crowd up, the curtain jerkin' guy to put five minutes in. And Paul saw talent in me and put a bug in Dan- Vince's ear..." The crowd and Dana laughed while Brock smiled sheepishly.

He then revealed, "Now, I'm finally writing a book. Paul's writing it, both him and I, and my book will be coming out here in the near future. And we've been spending a lot of time together. And it's really been cool to sit back and talk about things. Last night, Bill Goldberg came over and we watched my last match for WWE (Brock vs. Goldberg at WrestleMania 20 in Madison Square Garden), we just laughed and it's cool that we can do that. And it's even more cool that I'm here."

The next reporter, referring to the last Lesnar victory speech where he insulted a UFC sponsor and talked about going home to lie with his wife, asked Brock how he was going to celebrate this victory this time. Brock proudly proclaimed, "I'm going to go home, watch Direct TV, drink some Bud Light, and ride my Harley Davidson ..." The crowd had fun with that.

He thanked the former WWE women's champ, his wife Rena, for being a trooper, as they are expecting a baby in two weeks. "She's been pregnant for eighteen months this last few years," he said.

The hard part, he said, is the training. The fighting, that's what the fighters live for. "This is the most awesomist thing. I don't know if it's better than sex, but it's great, it's right up there. I enjoy it."



YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JhUu5Ohp8A

Video credit Ariel Helwani of Fanhouse.com.

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