Herring Wants Rematch With Lesnar

Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring was convincingly defeated by Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 on August 9 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota by unanimous decision. Unhappy with his performance and the outcome, Herring looks to the future and would eventually like a rematch with the former Division I collegiate wrestling champion and three times World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Champion.

Herring had high expectations heading into the octagon against Lesnar, but was caught by a right hand in the opening moments of the bout that sent him and his expectations crashing to the canvas.

"I think that shot pretty much changed the whole dynamic of the fight," said Herring. "I sure would like to know what would have happened if it hadn't landed."

"Once that right hand landed it was like I was fighting half blind, or pretty much blind at that point. It was all pretty much downhill from there," explained the 30-year-old heavyweight. "I just tried to come back and mount some type of offense. Unfortunately, I was never able to mount anything that significant.. After getting rocked with a shot like that, and not being able to see, you're more in survival mode."

"It doesn't sit very well with me. I'll be honest. I mean, you go out there and right at the beginning of the fight get caught with probably the biggest shot ever and you're starting off right away in a negative position."

Lesnar's post-fight antics and conduct in the final seconds of the match have received as much attention as the right hand that nearly finished the fight in round one. When asked his thoughts on Lesnar's actions, Herring responded, "That's kind of what everybody expected. Isn't it? I mean, that's where he comes from. He's got the pro wrestling background. That's kind of what they do."

"If the fans don't like it, the fans need to make their opinions heard on it, but I expected as much," added Herring. "If that's how he's going to behave, that's how he's going to behave. I'd still like another shot at it, but we'll see how that goes later."

During the post-fight press conference, Lesnar commented that there was bad blood between the two camps leading up to the event that resulted in the taunting after the win. "That was for Heath's camp because on the way out to the Octagon there was some things said before the fight," stated Lesnar.

Herring disputes the bad blood claims. "I don't know really where all of that is coming from. I just recently heard any of that to be honest with you," said the UFC and PRIDE veteran.

Following the fight, rumors swirled about alleged injuries suffered in the loss. Herring assured the damage is minimal and expects a quick recovery.

"Everything should be all right," said the Texas native. "They thought I had a small orbital problem. But I think that's going to heal up and everything should be okay."

"The only thing I had was that left eye. That was it. I didn't have any bruises, aches or pains otherwise, but that left eye was enough to sway the battle in his favor."

Questioned where he goes from here, Herring answered, "You just try to move forward. I mean everybody can sit here and put their two-bits in, or their two-cents in about this and that. Right now, I've just got to move forward with this. I'm not happy with the loss. I'm not happy with the fight at all. I've just got to go back to the drawing board and start over."