“I’m not going to shut up about this,” said Lesnar. “I’m an American. I’m guaranteed the right to express my opinion. And I’m stating it loud and clear, because I experienced something that I want to talk about. If I was a recovering drug addict, people would want to hear my story. Well, I survived something, and I went through -first hand- the problems in the health care system, and I want to talk about it.

I entered the hospital around 4am on a Saturday morning, and I spent two nights there. No one talks about that. Their CT machine was broken, and they were waiting for a replacement. They could not take a picture of my stomach. If they would have had the ability to take the picture, they would have seen I had holes inside me. If I stayed at that Canadian hospital, at best I would have been retired and would have to wear a colostomy bag. At worst, I could have died.”

With Lesnar now fully recovered, he is expected to defend his belt this upcoming summer against the winner of the Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin interim title figt, which takes place at UFC 111 on March 27.

Lesnar said he felt sick for weeks while preparing for his fight with Shane Carwin at UFC 106 in November, leading him to pull out of the bout. He went to the doctors to find out why he was feeling so ill, and was initally told he had a case of mononucleosis. However, Lesnar believed that wasn’t the reason he felt as sick as he did, so he visited with other doctors, and was diagnosed with diverticulosis.

He was then hospitalized for eleven days and lost fourty pounds. A few weeks after being released from the hospital, Lesnar went for another check-up, and found out he had a miraculous recovery, meaning that no surgery would be needed.

White said that Lesnar will make his return to the UFC this summer and take on the winner of the interim heavyweight title fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, which is scheduled for UFC 111 in March. However, if either fighter is unable to compete come summertime, then Lesnar will fight the winner of the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 110 in February.

He said:

“I gave Brock a courtesy call, I heard he was real sick. It was like trying to find the Pope to get his number, but I finally got a hold of him before Christmas just to see how he was doing, and he was very upbeat, very positive. He said that he was training again and that he wasn’t cleared yet to get on the mat, but that he was back in the gym and that he was training and he felt way better, and he’ll be back this spring. He’s back on the road to recovery and things look good. He was waiting for January to get cleared by the doctors before he can go back into the gym and get on the mats. But he was going to the gym and training. So, that was encouraging to me, he sounded good.”

He said:

“He (Lesnar) had a bout with a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract in November, and now we’re just kind of working our way to get back to where to we need to back to fight. I don’t give a whole lot more more answers than that, Brock don’t give a lot more answers, his agents don’t give a lot mroe answers, and there’s really only a handful of people that know where we’re at, whether it’s moving forwards or backwards. But at this point right now we’ve always kind of kept quiet with what’s going on. He will fight again, I know that, and it’s just a matter of the public will find out when, soon enough.”

Frank Mir recently appeared on ESPN Radio 1100 and gave his thoughts on why he believes Brock Lesnar should be stripped of his UFC heavyweight belt if his expected return date is in late 2010.

He said:

“If he (Brock Lesnar) is going to be out for that long that we can set that (interim title) fight up, should he even hold on to the belt at all. The interim belt I think works if the champion is not able to defend his belt within a year-long period. You know he’s going to be out for eight, nine months, you make the interim belt, then he comes back after a year. But, as of right now, his last fight was in July. If he’s out a year from even today’s date, that’s a year and a half. At that point I don’t think you can hold the belt ransom. They gave me about a year when I got into my injury, so I’ve been on that side of the coin too, and I was more than happy to go ahead and relinquish the belt at that point, because you feel kind of selfish that you’re not able to really do anything with it.”

Mir is next scheduled to take on Shane Carwin at UFC 111 on March 27 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

An heavyweight match between Shane Carwin and Frank Mir will likely take place at UFC 111 on March 27, from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Carwin announced the news Wednesday on his official website. He said, “I expect to make my return to the UFC in March 2010. I will be fighting in Newark, New Jersey at UFC 111. I have not signed any contracts yet but I have told my manager to inform UFC Matchmaker that ‘I accept the offer.’”

Although nothing has been made official yet, it is possible that the fight will be for the interim heavyweight title, due to the current condition of division champ Brock Lesnar.

Greg Nelson, head trainer of UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, recently gave MMA Weekly an update on Lesnar’s recovery from diverticulitis.

He said:

“He’s feeling much better, but he’s still on the mend and not really doing any kind of major training. We’re not really pushing it right now. We’re just letting things take their course so he can be 100-percent healthy when he starts to train. He’ll probably start lifting weights to get his strength built up and do the exercise bike when he starts to get going, and shadowbox when he gets to feel better. But right now, he’s just taking the time to properly heal.

He’s real anxious of course, but that’s the worst thing you can do, is jump up and start going too quick and then break down again. It’s more of a burden for him to sit at home and not work out, but that’s the thing he has to do right now. Mentally, he wants to get back in there. He wants to jump in. You get a guy like that who’s used to being able to do whatever and moving around and train, throw hay around, whatever he wants to do, then you’re stuck inside your house… that’s tough. Mentally, it’s tough.”

UFC President Dana White recently spoke with Cagewriter about Brock Lesnar’s condition according to his doctors:

He said:

“We talked to his doctors. This thing that’s happened to him he’s had for over a year. The doctor says this guy’s been at 60 percent of his potential. That a lot [expletive] scary. What’s going to happen when he comes back. How much faster can you beat people. There’s a lot of questions out there, hopefully we can get through this thing.”

Lesnar underwent minor surgery to repair a hole in his intestinal tract that was caused by a bacterial infection. It is not yet known when or if he will make his return to the UFC.

UFC President Dana White announced on Tuesday via his Twitter that UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has undergone minor surgery.

White said:

“Leaving Bismarck N.D. right now. Brock had minor surgery and is feeling better. Not 100% sure he is out of the woods, but feeling better.”

Several weeks ago, Lesnar pulled out of his scheduled title defense against Shane Carwin at UFC 106 on November 21, due to an undisclosed illness. It was recently revealed that he had been diagnosed with mononucleosis, along with a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract.

It is not yet known how long it will take Lesnar to recover from the surgery.

Frank Mir recently spoke with Fighters Only and was asked about his main goal before retiring from mixed martial arts competition.

He said:

“To end Brock Lesnar’s career. Really, it’s what I think about all the time. Brock Lesnar exploited a huge weakness in my game and no matter who I crush after this, I have to crush him to show I’ve improved that weakness. It’s nothing about how he talked to me in my last fight, I could care less about it. If I took it that personal there are other ways to handle situation like that outside of a cage, but honestly I just want to fix what was exploited. If you’re a true martial artist you don’t do it for money or titles, just to be the best human being possible, and if someone exploits a weakness, who better to see if you’ve fixed it than the guy who exploited it.”