Former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir is the only man to have victories over current UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, former champ Tim Sylvia, former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
He will have a chance to add another famous name to his win record as he faces Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic at UFC 119.
In addition to being a former champion, Mir is a former Interim Heavyweight champion (this a title that is active when the current champion is unable or unwilling to defend his title), and has acquired black-belts in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu and Kenpo Karate.
Although he is not fighting for a championship this time, Mir is going up against an opponent who was a superstar in Pride Fighting Championships (winning the 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament), and who also has a reputation for putting his opponents on the canvas with his kicks, or in some cases his “accidental” eye pokes.
Early in his career, Mir was regarded as a heavyweight who could move quick and was flexible on the mat. He won eight of his first ten fights against some of the renown fighters of that time (Tank Abbott and Wes Sims to name a couple). He won the UFC heavyweight title in his ninth fight. He would later have to vacate the title after an injury he suffered in a motorcycle accident.
Mir came back from injury over a year after his accident, losing to Marcio Cruz in his first fight back.
Although he lost his last fight to Shane Carwin by knock-out, Mir is confident that he can defeat Filipovic. According to a video interview at UFC.com, Mir said that while Filipovic is good on his feet, he is also not that bad on his feet.
“Add in the wrestling that I have been working on, the jiu-jitsu aspect, he has many more things to worry about.,“ Mir said. “Once that cage door shuts every advantage is mine.”
However, Mir should not take Filipovic lightly. Filipovic has won four of his last five bouts, and Mir said that Filipovic has not lost any of his speed since the Pride days.
Mir had originally been scheduled to face Nogueira in a rematch from their bout in 2008. According to Fighter’s Only Magazine, Nogueira had to pull out of the fight due to an injury, although it is not related to the staph infection he had when during his first match against Mir.
If Mir does beat Filipovic, this may put him back in the title picture. Heck, he may be give him the confidence he needs to call out Fedor Emelianenko.
One thing is for sure. Mir will have cemented his place as one of the greatest heavyweights in mixed martial arts history.
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