Unfortunately, Mir is being more than just frank

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Frank Mir was at the grocery checkout the other day when the cashier asked him if plastic bags were OK.

"Plastic?" Mir responded. "I'll tell you what I'd like to do with that plastic. I'd like to wrap it tight around Brock Lesnar's head and squeeze it closed until he can't breathe, until he's thrashing and gasping and dying in the Octagon! Brock Lesnar is a despicable human being. I hate him. I want to suffocate him."

Actually, that's not a true story. I just made it up.

But don't lie: You had to wonder for a second about its authenticity.

Frank Mir has a problem. Now, I am no one to say what a professional fighter should use as motivation. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that Mir's ugly loss to Lesnar at UFC 100 has stoked an internal fire and driven the former heavyweight champion's quest to rebuild his already-impressive MMA game.

But it also doesn't take to a psycho-therapist to understand that Mir's focus on Lesnar is bordering on obsession.

Earlier this week, the always-frank Mir said in a radio interview that "I want to break (Lesnar's) neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries. That's what's going through my mind."

Athletes of all walks fabricate inspirational juice every day -- be it a personal tragedy, the love of family, a media slight or a gut-wrenching defeat. Finding new and different stimuli helps athletes battle through the grind of training and reach long-held goals.

That being said, Mir seems to have crossed into some other sphere of impetus, one previously untouched upon even in the deep history of MMA smack-talk and hyperbole. It seems like Lesnar is on Mir's mind 24-7 - and it's not even a sure thing that they'll meet in a rubber match.

Mir's fixation could be analogous to when you get dumped by a girl -- a girl that you thought was THE ONE. Suddenly, everywhere you look, you see remembrances of your time with her. Memories of her pervade your life, influence your productivity and, maybe, ultimately wear you down. You may constantly worry about your worthiness, wonder how you let her slip away. You find yourself pining for one more chance with her, even if it could result in further hurt.

The bottom line is it's unproductive and unhealthy.

There could be some parallels here. Mir's mind appears to be in Brock-lock.

It's as though Mir is on one of those goofy Bing commercials, where a topic is broached in conversation and someone uncorks a flood of related information as if spewing out Internet search results.

That's kind of what Mir does whenever someone mentions Lesnar (or perhaps something as unrelated as plastic bags).

Mir apologized for his comments already. But if he isn't careful and cognizant of this infatuation, Lesnar could ruin him before they even step into the cage for that coveted "three" match.

(Now, though, maybe it's not so hard to figure out why ol' Brock taunted and wagged his finger in Mir's mangled face after his one-sided win on July 11 at UFC 100. Brock had had enough of Mir's lead-up trash talk then, so imagine what we might get from the big man after another Mir-Lesnar go-round.)

Mir, who also works as a WEC fight analyst on Versus, usually comes off as verbose and intelligent when he's on camera. In pre-fight buildup, he also manages to sneak in a few honest jabs at the expense of his opponents. He's rarely dull.

But all this unsolicited Lesnar talk has me questioning whether he really knows what the hell he's doing.

Hey, I'm all for an entertaining pre-fight banter. I even defended B.J. Penn last year when he spouted off on the Versus "Primetime" series about fighting to the death against Georges St. Pierre, calling his respected foe plenty of names along the way. You could tell Penn was in full-bore hype mode while also trying whatever he could to throw off the rock-steady GSP in the weeks leading up to their bout.

In comparison, there's one big problem with Mir's crazy verbal attacks -- he's fighting someone else first. There is no guarantee that he will even face Lesnar again soon, yet Mir is peppering so many of his quotes with potent allusions to him.

Shane Carwin, also a noted Brock basher who was originally scheduled to meet Lesnar before diverticulitis took down the champ, is likely taking great joy in Mir's repeated references to the object of his obsession.

Maybe Mir can help me out here, but I think Carwin is the rather large badass that he's next slated to fight on March 27.

Mir, though, hardly seems concerned about Carwin -- a man who, given his identical stature, history of beatdowns and comparable tool kit, is damn close to being the world's only Lesnar clone.

My bet is that Carwin will gladly face Mir at UFC 111, when the former champion might be looking right past those XXXL (pardon me if I missed an X or two) fists that are aiming for his head.

And if that happens, the mouthy Mir will look even worse than he did after Lesnar climbed off him last July.