Frank Mir is the great under-appreciated brain in MMA. He’s been around the game since it’s infancy in 2001. He’s won titles, accolades and bonuses. He’s reigned over and fallen to legends of the sport of MMA. In short – when he talks, we think it’s best to listen. Frank Mir may be right, he may be wrong, but it seems like there is always a bit of truth in his statements, no matter how ironic they sometimes are.
This weekend at UFC on FOX 7, Frank Mir has a shot at keeping his career relavent as the clock ticks on his ring-worn body. In front of him is Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion and superstar in-the-making Daniel Cormier, an Olympic wrestler and a guy who tossed around Josh Barnett and current number one contender Bigfoot Silva like they were nothing to him.
This is a big fight for both men, for the obvious reasons.
This would be a huge win for Cormier, as the average fan still see Frank Mir as the guy constantly hovering around the belt, even if ir may have big troubles with JDS/Velazquez or Overeem. For Cormier, this instantly puts him “in the mix” and more than likely his next fight would be a number one contender battle if he defeats Mir, which many think will be with ease.
Mir thinks otherwise. He thinks he has a far better reason to fight, and wants it more:
“It’s because my family’s there, it actually hinders my training. Those last few moments when she’s putting my stuff in my bag or I’m tying my tie, I get that kind of, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Not being with the children, not seeing my wife – it’s funny – I’ve always had a coach who’s always tried to find that spark. I think people have even said that sometimes in fights, I sometimes just don’t show up. I don’t want to miss out on anything and I am missing out on things. I’ve never had to deal with that sacrifice, and who would know that that was the spark … I think right now, it’s reinventing myself again and trying to really nail down things I’ve probably been missing my whole career … You know what the true definition of hell is? It’s when you die, you get to meet the person you could have been. People are their greatest enemy. We can just talk ourselves into, ‘Oh, that’s OK, that’s acceptable.’ When there’s another guy in front of me, trying to punch me in the face and take me down, the truth comes out real quick. That’s why I fight. If my mind was not limited by my body, I feel I’d beat everybody in the world. My greatest fear right now is to retire and not have reached my full potential … I hope that he does question my desire. That might give him a little bit of complacency in his training. I’ve heard that, you know, he’s very talented, but lazy at the same time in the gym. I kind of feel bad that Daniel has to be the first one to actually face an in-shape Frank Mir.”
