After Saturday night's events, I felt this thread was necessary.
Despite losing to Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir is without a doubt still one of the very best, well rounded Heavyweight fighters in the world. Brock Lesnar is just a different kind of monster. But all things considered... Frank did better than people are giving him credit for. You watch Mir's first fight against Lesnar, on the feet... Lesnar dropped Mir. However, Saturday night... it was a completely different story. Lesnar wanted no part of Mir's stand-up game, and Mir showed just how far he has improved on the feet since his last fight against Lesnar. When those two finally had a striking exchange, Mir nailed Brock with two knees, with the second one (a beautiful flying knee), dazing Brock. It's just after that... Mir made a simple mistake, like Brock made in the first fight, and he paid for it. However, no one can take away from the caliber fighter Frank Mir truly is.
Frank Mir busted onto the Mixed Martial Arts World at UFC 34, where he defeated Roberto Traven in just over a minute's time with an armbar. It was one of the first times we've seen someone Mir's size do so well on the ground in the UFC, so quickly. After this fight, he fought Pete Williams and defeated him under a minute with a Shoulder Lock. Again, a Heavyweight defeating guys with Jiu-Jitsu? It was unheard of in the states. People were use to seeing these big motherfuckers knock people out, not tap them out. Unfortunately, however, his Jiu-Jitsu cost him his next fight, because after dominating most of the first round, he attempted a leg lock towards the end of it, but did so in a way that left him vulnerable to get his face bashed in by his opponent, Ian Freeman. It would be his last lost in almost 4 years.
At UFC 40, it was announced that Tank Abbot was returning to the UFC. A lot, and I mean a LOT of people did not like this. They just felt he was bad for the sport, when the UFC was finally breaking away from that stigma they had in the early years. But Abbot was signed anyway, and unfortunately for him... his first opponent was Frank Mir, at UFC 41. The fight only lasted 45 seconds, with Mir making Abbot tap to a fucking Toe Hold. Mir basically made Tank Abbot his bitch that night. I always felt it was because of this fight why Mir was the first one to get offered to fight Lesnar in the UFC when Lesnar debuted.
Anyway, after the fight with Abbot, Frank would go on to face off against Wes Sims at UFC 43(Note: Sims will be on the new season of the The Ultimate Fighter (the one with Kimbo Slice) as a competitor come September). Sims is/was a very arrogant guy, and there was a lot of trash talking coming into this fight. And well... Sims actually didn't do too bad. However, he made a very foolish mistake. When he got Mir on the ground, he started stomping away like a jackass. And when I say stomp, I mean stomping down as hard as he can on Mir's face. Stomps/kicks to the face on a grounded opponent is illegal in the UFC and since Mir wasn't able to continue after that... he won by disqualification. However, just a couple of months later at UFC 46, there was a rematch between the two, and Frank Mir COMPLETELY dominated that fight. I mean, right from the get go, Mir comes out, throws a leg kick that stagers Sims, and follows up with a HUGE slam. The entire first round Mir just G N Ped the dude, leaving his face busted up. But doing so... Mir gassed himself out. Nonetheless, showing the heart of a warrior, in the 2nd Round Mir came back out, took Sims down, controlled him and when they were stood back up, Mir gets that motherfucker in the clinch, hits two brutal knees to leave Sims out on his feet, and follows those up with two absolutely beautiful, square on punches that knocks Wes Sims clean out.
With 3 wins in a row, Mir was granted a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia, who at the time seemed unbeatable. Sylvia was huge, and at the time... was knocking motherfuckers out left and right. But he had never been in there with someone like Frank Mir. And when they got in there at UFC 48, it only took Mir 50 seconds for him to apply an arm bar. Tim Sylvia, however, did not tap, but the ref, Herb Dean, saw Sylvia's arm snap, so he stopped the fight, awarding the win and UFC Heavyweight Championship to Frank Mir.
3 months after his infamous Title win, Frank Mir was involved in a motorcycle accident. The accident caused a break in Mir's femur and tore all the ligaments in his knee. Because of this, he had to stay out of the fight game for a year and a half, thus having his UFC Heavyweight Championship stripped from him.
On February 4, 2006 at UFC 57, Frank Mir returned to the octagon. However, he looked nothing like the fighter we knew before the accident. He was heavily out of shape, and he just downright looked like shit in his loss to Marcio Cruz. It was basically just like his fight against Lesnar Saturday; only against someone pretty much HALF the size of Brock Lesnar. It was a pathetic sight to behold. Frank Mir just returned way too soon, but his warrior spirit was still in him and he would not give up hope, even after putting on two more terrible showings at UFC 61 against Dan Christison (which Mir won by Unanimous Decision) and at UFC 65 against Brandon Vera (where Mir lost by KO in just over a minute).
It looked like Mir was never going to be the same again. Apparently, in his personal life, he was a complete wreck. He was drinking heavily and pretty much addicted to pain pills. Nothing in his life was going right. But one day, with the help and support of his wife, Mir simply decided that being a loser wasn't him. He knew he had what it took to make a comeback, so he refocused himself, got back into shape, and at UFC 74 against Antoni Hardonk (who is a fantastic fighter), in fight where it was basically win or retire, the old Frank Mir showed up. He defeated the very talented Hardonk in a minute and fifteen seconds with a beautiful kimura. Frank Mir was back. And his next fight would be against the future of the company.
At UFC 81, Frank Mir took on Brock Lesnar, who was making his UFC debut. Lesnar, only 1-0 at the time, outweighed Mir by 30 pounds and looked to be an unstoppable force. And even after starting the fight off with a huge flurry that left Mir rocked and his face completely fucked up, Frank Mir was able to keep his composure, and apply a leg lock on Lesnar, making him tap in a minute and thirty seconds into the fight. It was incredible.
But people still weren't impressed with Mir at this point. I mean, according to "hardcore" fans, all Mir did in his last two fights was tap out basically an good kickboxer, and then tap out a pro wrestler who had no business in the UFC in the first place. So, when Mir was announced as a coach on the 8th Season of the Ultimate Fighter and that the opposing coach and Frank Mir's opponent for UFC 92 would be Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, everyone thought Mir's true colors would come out. Everyone thought Mir didn't stand a chance. Well... everyone was wrong. Frank Mir went into UFC 92 and became the first man in 37 fights to stop Nogueira. Fedor Emelianenko couldn't do that in 3 attempts; Frank Mir did it one. Mir knocked the great Nogueira clean out two minutes into the 2nd Round. No one could believe it.
Apparently Mir had hired three new striking coaches going into that fight, and fuck did it pay off. At the time, I thought Nog just looked like shit in that fight, but watching it again and seeing how well Mir did striking wise against Lesnar on Saturday... not only is Frank Mir still one of the best Heavyweight fighters on the ground, but he's also becoming one of the best Heavyweight fighters standing up as well.
The fact of the matter is... Brock Lesnar is just too big and too strong for Mir, and the guy keeps improving and improving. But don't let Brock demolishing Frank Mir on Saturday fool you... there are not many, if any, guys who can do that to the Frank Mir of today, outside of Brock Lesnar. And I have a lot of faith that as long as Mir keeps up with his training regimen he currently apart of, he will continue to solidify himself as one of the greatest Heavyweight fighters in MMA History.
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