Frank Mir
From FightWiki
Francisco Santos Mir III (born May 24, 1979 in Las Vegas, Nevada), popularly known as Frank Mir, is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He is the current interim heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a commentator for WEC.
He holds notable wins over Pete Williams, Wes Sims, Tank Abbott, Dan Christison, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
He was also the coach of The Ultimate Fighter 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.
 |
Name | Frank Mir |
| Nickname | N/A | |
| Height | 6'3 (190cm) | |
| Weight | 255lbs (115kg) | |
| Association | Cobra Kai Jiu-Jitsu | |
| Weight Class | Heavyweight | |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling | |
| Birth Date | 5/24/1979 | |
| City | Las Vegas | |
| State | Nevada | |
| Country | USA |
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 12 - 3 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw) |
| Wins | 2 (T)KOs 7 Submissions 2 Decisions 1 Other (DQ) |
| Losses | 3 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 0 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | TKO (Punches) | UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 | 12/27/2008 | 2 | 1:54 | Won Interim UFC Heavyweight title; goes on to fight Brock Lesnar to combine the belts |
| Win | Brock Lesnar | Submission (Kneebar) | UFC 81: Breaking Point | 2/02/2008 | 1 | 1:30 | Won Submission of the Night Honors |
| Win | Antoni Hardonk | Submission (Kimura) | UFC 74: Respect | 8/25/2007 | 1 | 1:17 | |
| Loss | Brandon Vera | TKO (Punches) | UFC 65: Bad Intentions | 11/18/2006 | 1 | 1:09 | |
| Win | Dan Christison | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 61: Bitter Rivals | 7/08/2006 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Marcio Cruz | TKO (Punches and Elbows) | UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 | 2/04/2006 | 1 | 4:10 | First fight after the motorcycle accident |
| Win | Tim Sylvia | Technical Submission (Armbar) | UFC 48: Payback | 6/19/2004 | 1 | 0:50 | Fight was for vacant UFC heavyweight title (later stripped of title because Mir was unable to defend); broke Sylvia's arm |
| Win | Wes Sims | KO (Punches) | UFC 46: Supernatural | 1/31/2004 | 2 | 4:21 | |
| Win | Wes Sims | DQ (Kicking a Downed Opponent) | UFC 43: Meltdown | 6/06/2003 | 1 | 2:55 | |
| Win | David Abbott | Submission (Toe Hold) | UFC 41: Onslaught | 2/28/2003 | 1 | 0:46 | |
| Loss | Ian Freeman | TKO (Punches) | UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall | 7/13/2002 | 1 | 4:35 | |
| Win | Pete Williams | Submission ([[Modified Armbar]]) | UFC 36: Worlds Collide | 3/22/2002 | 1 | 0:46 | |
| Win | Roberto Traven | Submission (Armbar) | UFC 34: High Voltage | 11/02/2001 | 1 | 1:05 | UFC debut |
| Win | Dan Quinn | Submission (Triangle Choke) | IFC WC 15: Warriors Challenge 15 | 8/31/2001 | 1 | 2:15 | |
| Win | Jerome Smith | Decision | HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown | 7/14/2001 | 2 | 5:00 | |
Biography
Born into a martial arts family, a young Mir learned the basics of combat from his parent's Kempo Karate school in Las Vegas, after being bullied at school for being overweight. He was sparring in tournaments at 5 years old and would go on to accumulate a collection of trophies. By the time he was 12, Mir had already reached 6 foot, being bigger than other children of his age, Mir often trained with older teens and adults. After being beaten in a kickboxing match, he wanted to improve in other areas of fighting.
He witnessed the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event, UFC 1: The Beginning, which was held on November 12 1993 in Denver, Colorado. When watching this PPV event, he was not yet convinced of the benefits in learning jiu-jitsu: "I was fourteen watching the first UFC with my father and everyone was getting taken down and choked out by this scrawny Royce Gracie. I could not believe it was happening! My dad wanted to learn what they were doing right off the bat, but I defended what I already knew. I thought I could adjust for it. I felt I could defend against Jiu Jitsu instead of being humble and trying to learn it." His father convinced him to begin wrestling, on the basis that it could help him avoid submissions. However, "I was covering up a weakness rather than fixing one," Mir suggested. Despite losing his first seven wrestling matches, Mir went on to win the State heavyweight wrestling title in 1998.
UFC Career
Mir met UFC matchmaker Joe Silva at a school Silva was visiting. Silva saw potential in Mir as a future UFC fighter and suggested that he first prove himself against some fighters in the mixed martial arts community. Mir would make his professional MMA debut against Jerome Smith at HOOKnSHOOT - Showdown on July 14, 2001. Mir won the bout by judges' decision after two rounds. He won another match by submission at IFC Warriors Challenge 15. After these events, Silva proposed a match up between Mir and Roberto Travern, a new UFC fighter; Mir accepted the offer.
Mir defeated Roberto Travern by armbar at 1:05 of round one at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001. The submission earned Mir the "Tapout of the Night" award.
Mir then fought at UFC 36: Worlds Collide on March 22, 2002 against Pete Williams, Mir won via submission (shoulder lock) in 0:46 seconds of the first round.
He faced Ian Freeman, at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall, held in London, England on July 13, 2002. Despite several submission attempts by Mir, Freeman achieved side control at around four minutes into the first round, landing numerous elbows and punches on Mir's head. After Freeman separated, the referee signaled an exhausted Mir to stand back up. A time out was called due to an apparent cut on Mir's face, and the referee stopped the fight when a wobbly Mir had difficulty standing up.
He faced David Abbott at UFC 41: Onslaught on February 28, 2003. Mir won by Submission (Toe Hold) in 0:46 seconds of the first round.
On June 26, 2003 Mir fought Wes Sims at UFC 43: Meltdown. Mir won by disqualification at 2:55 of round one after Sims stomped down on Mir's face after slamming his way out of Mir's armbar attempt.
Mir then had a rematch with Wes Sims at UFC 46: Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir defeated Wes Sims by knockout at 4:21 in round two.
Mir fought Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 48: Payback on June 19, 2004. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 50 seconds into the first round when Mir's armbar broke Sylvia's right forearm. With the TKO win, Mir became the new UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Motorcycle injury
On September 17, 2004, Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. Some reports suggest that he flew 60 to 70 feet off the bike. The accident caused a break in Mir's femur and tore all the ligaments in his knee. The bone had broken in two places but the injury did not end Mir's career as an MMA fighter. Major surgery was needed to repair the bone in his leg.
An interim heavyweight title was created whilst Mir was recovering from the injury, which Andrei Arlovski won. On August 12, 2005, UFC learned that Mir was not able to fight Andrei Arlovski in October as scheduled, thus Mir was stripped of the title after 14 months, and Andrei Arlovski, the interim Heavyweight champion was promoted to the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.
MMA Return
Mir recovered from his motorcycle accident and fought Márcio Cruz at UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 on February 4, 2006. In a shocking upset, Mir was defeated by the relative newcomer in the first round by TKO due to strikes, initially, referee Herb Dean called for a break to check a large, bleeding cut on Mir's face, Mir was given the opportunity to continue, and did so.
Mir returned to the Octagon on July 8, 2006 at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals and faced Dan Christison. Mir had gained a considerable amount of weight since his last appearance and quickly became exhausted. Mir won by unanimous decision after three rounds, the judges all scored the bout 29-28.
At UFC 65: Bad Intentions, Mir lost to Brandon Vera by technical knockout in 1:09 of the first round.
Frank Mir was scheduled to fight Antoni Hardonk at UFC Fight Night 9 on April 5, 2007, but had to drop out due to a shoulder injury.
Mir fought Renato Sobral in a special submission grappling superfight at a Tuff-N-Uff event named "Unarmed Combat" that had a six minute time limit on June 22 2007. Sobral won the bout by points (6-2).
Mir fought Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74: Respect and won via Kimura in 1:17 of the first round.
Mir fought Brock Lesnar at UFC 81: Breaking Point on February 2, 2008. Early in the first round, Lesnar took Mir down and while striking from Mir's guard, landed several illegal punches to the back of Mir's head, drawing a foul and a one-point deduction from referee Steve Mazzagatti. They were stood up and Mir was given a brief recovery period, but Lesnar quickly took Mir down again. When Lesnar escaped an armbar attempt, Mir caught him with a kneebar, causing Lesnar to tap out at 1:30 of the first round.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 8
Spike TV on May 12, 2008 announced that the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion Frank Mir would be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.
The season, which premiered on Spike TV on Sept. 17, returned to the two-weight class format. It featured light heavyweight and lightweight fighters. Production on season eight began in late May, with the entire cast announced in September.
Nogueira and Mir, after serving as coaches, met at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 for Nogueira's UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship. Frank Mir shocked the MMA by becoming the first person to stop Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in his career. Mir won via TKO due to unanswered punches from side control after he stunned Nogueira for the third time in the fight. He is now set to face the current heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar (whom he already holds a win over) to unify the titles.
Heavyweight Title
Mir faced Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira December 27, 2008 at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 for the UFC Interim Heavyweight title. In a fight where he was deemed an under-dog, Mir completely out-classed and out-boxed Nogueira. He defeated the Interim Champion at 1:54 in the second round to become not only the new Interim Heavyweight Champion, but to became the first person to defeat Nogueira via TKO.
Mir was visibly very emotional when his hand was raised, and while talking to Joe Rogan he admitted that he had finally beat his personal demons and that he himself did not believe that he could beat Nogueira.
As the winner of the bout, Mir will go on to fight Brock Lesnar to unite the Heavyweight belts.
Lesnar was in attendance at UFC 92, and while being interviewd in between fights by Joe Rogan, he made it clear that he was rooting for Mir to win, in order for a rematch for the Heavyweight title. Lucky for Lesnar, he got his wish.
Interesting Facts
Frank Mir recieved his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after his bout with Tim Sylvia, where he submitted him. His trainers told him that if he did not submit Sylvia, he would not recieve his black belt.
Personal Life
Frank is married and has three children.
