UFC remains undecided on Frank Mir's Octagon future
Frank Mir’s UFC fate remains undecided. The promotion’s longest-tenured fighter lost his fourth straight when he was topped by Alistair Overeem at UFC 169, leading to speculation that he’d seen his last night in the octagon.
UFC president Dana White, however, has yet to commit either way on Mir’s future. White told UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani that he and company CEO Lorenzo Fertitta plan to speak with Mir in the coming days before making a decision.
When they do, they’ll find a man who is still intent on competing.
As Helwani reported on Wednesday, Mir’s manager Malki Kawa said the heavyweight does not want to retire, although he noted that it’s Mir’s wish to compete only for the UFC.
“He’s not done fighting,” Kawa said.
During the leadup to UFC 169, the 34-year-old Mir (16-9) was candid in discussing the possibilities in front of him should he lose. While he had little interest in fighting elsewhere, he understood there was a chance that he could be faced with an uncomfortable decision.
“It’s kind of like switching teams for a pro player,” Mir said then. “If you’ve been with a team for a certain period of time, I think you kind of want to finish there, if that’s where you’re career can stay. That’s how I feel about the UFC. That being said, my wife isn’t going to let me turn down a great monetary advantage to her. But most likely, my heart doesn’t have that desire [to fight elsewhere].”
While Vitor Belfort debuted in the UFC back in 1997, he’s had three separate runs with the promotion. Mir has been consecutively tenured dating back to his debut in Nov. 2001, when at age 22, he defeated Roberto Traven with a first-round armbar submission at UFC 34. Mir went on to capture the UFC heavyweight championship in 2004, and the interim title in 2008. His current streak includes losses to two former UFC champions (Junior dos Santos and Josh Barnett), a former Strikeforce champ (Overeem), and the undefeated Daniel Cormier.
