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Frank Mir

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Belt Level
Rank  black belt in BJJ

Francisco Santos Mir III (born May 24, 1979 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Mixed Martial Arts Ranking

Mir is currently ranked by MMAWeekly.com as No. 3, Sherdog.com and Five Knuckles as the No. 4 Heavyweight fighter in the world.[1] [2][3]

Biography

Born into a martial arts family, a young Mir learned the basics of combat from his father's Kenpō karate school in Las Vegas. While watching the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, UFC 1: The Beginning, Mir was not yet convinced of the benefits in learning Brazilian 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, Frank attended Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nevada where he had a record of 44-1. [4]He started wrestling during his junior year and lost his first nine matches but won the state championship as a senior in 1998. He was also on the school’s football team that reached the Southern Zone semifinals in 1997 and where he played as fullback and defensive end. He also took up track and field in 1998 where his discus throw of 177 feet, 10 inches is still a Sunset Regional record.[4] Despite losing his first seven wrestling matches, Mir went on to win the state heavyweight wrestling title in 1998.[5] In 2004 after defeating Tim Sylvia at UFC 48: Payback Mir received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Ricardo Pires after only 5 years of training.

Mir worked as a bouncer at the Spearmint Rhino strip club in Las Vegas before entering the UFC,[6] and continues to work as Director of Security there while pursuing his UFC career.[7] In addition to fighting, Mir also is a color commentator for World Extreme Cagefighting.

MMA 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, Mir made his UFC debut against Roberto Travern. Traven was a new UFC fighter, and was also the 1999 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship open class champion [8]. 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's next match in the UFC was against Pete Williams and took place at UFC 36: Worlds Collide on March 22, 2002. Mir submitted the veteran Williams (who had never been submitted before[9]) with a shoulder lock (that has since been named after Mir[10]) in only 46 seconds into the first round

He faced Ian Freeman, at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall, held in London, England on July 13, 2002. Despite several leglock 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.

Mir then faced David "Tank" Abbott at UFC 41 on February 28, 2003. Mir[11] defeated Abbott in only 46 seconds into the first round by submission (Toe Hold).

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. They would rematch at UFC 46: Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir won by knockout at 4:21 of round two.

Heavyweight champion

On June 19, 2004, Mir faced Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 48: Payback. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 50 seconds into the first round when Mir's armbar visibly broke Sylvia's right forearm. Mir trapped Sylvia’s right arm in an armbar attempt. When Sylvia tried to pull out of the hold, Mir jerked back harder and Sylvia’s radius bone snapped about 3 inches below his elbow. Sylvia repeatedly claimed his arm was not broken, even touching it and moving it around to show he was O.K. Sylvia was taken to the nearby hospital where an x-ray showed that his arm was in fact broken in four different places.

With this technical submission win Mir became the new UFC Heavyweight Champion and later received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black-belt for his performance in the fight.[12]

Motorcycle injury

On September 17, 2004, Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. 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 a 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 by defeating Tim Sylvia by way of a first round submission. On August 12, 2005, the 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 Arlovski was promoted to the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.[13]

Return to the UFC

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 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.[14] Mir had gained a considerable amount of weight since his last appearance and quickly became exhausted. Mir won, in a very disappointing, lackluster fashion by unanimous decision after three rounds, the judges all scored the bout 29-28.[15] Criticism began to flourish with Mir not looking the same fighter as he was before, both physically and technically.

Mir next faced Brandon Vera at UFC 65: Bad Intentions. Mir was unable to mount any significant offense against Vera, and lost by TKO at 1:09 of the first round.[16] After, Mir drew very heavy criticism, critics and fans alike wrote him off saying that he had not and will not be the same since the motorcycle accident. Frank Mir's previously bright career appeared to be dim from here on out. He later commented on a UFC build-up show that during this run of bad performances, "I lost to a guy that shouldn't even have been a heavyweight".

Rebirth

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.[17] Mir recovered from the shoulder injury and fought Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74 and won via kimura in 1:17 of the first round.[18] At the end of the bout, Mir walked to the cameras pointing at himself saying "I'm back!".

Mir fought Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 on February 2, 2008. Early in the first round, Lesnar took Mir down and, while striking from Mir's guard, landed illegal punches to the back of Mir's head, drawing a foul and a one-point deduction from referee Steve Mazzagatti.[19] 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.[20]

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 eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter.[21]

The season, which premiered on Spike TV on Sept. 17, returned to the two-weight class format. It featured light heavyweight and lightweight fighters.[22] Production on season eight began in late May, with the entire cast announced in September, and concluded in December.[22]

Interim Heavyweight Championship Title Shot

Frank Mir fought Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship.[23] This bout was part of a mini-heavyweight tournament, often hyped by Dana White. The winner of this fight would then face the winner of the match between the heavyweight champion Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar. Lesnar won by TKO in the second round, gaining him the heavyweight championship belt in the process and then setting him to face the winner at UFC 100 to unify the belts.

Frank Mir then won in the second round via TKO due to strikes, showing much improved striking by knocking Nogueira down twice in the first round, and once in the second. He also scored a Judo-trip takedown in round one.[24] Herb Dean stopped the match at 1:54 of the second round.[24] Nogueira's loss marked the first time he had lost a fight by TKO.[25] In a post fight interview, Mir credited his improved striking to a drastic improvement in conditioning.[26]

Two days after the fight Dana White revealed in an interview that “Nogueira had just gotten over a Staph infection” [27]. Nogueira himself verified this fact several months later in his own interview, stating that he had a Staph infection “20 days before the fight, [requiring] 5 days in the hospital.” When asked if this infection affected his fight, Nogueira answered: “For sure.” In addition to this significant illness, his knee was injured during training for which he had surgery in February 2009. Despite these legitimate handicaps, Nogueira offered strong praise for Frank Mir’s performance, with particular credit given to Mir’s ability to maintain “very good distance.” [28]

Heavyweight Championship Unification

Frank Mir's victory over Nogueira set in place a re-match with the UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship.[29] However, Mir stated, that in his opinion, holding victories over former Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 is enough to recognize him as the owner of the ‘real belt’.[30] On May 23, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Frank Mir was scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 98, however due to a knee injury sustained during training (in which the knee required arthroscopic surgery) the fight was rescheduled for UFC 100. [31]

At UFC 100, Mir lost to Lesnar by technical knockout (TKO) when the official stopped the fight at 1:48 in the 2nd round and Lesnar retained The UFC Heavyweight Championship title.[32]

Mir is expected to fight Cheick Kongo on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107. [33]

Personal life

Frank and his wife Jennifer have three children together, Isabella, Kage and Ronin Maximus.[34] Jennifer has another son, Marcus, from a previous relationship whom Mir helped raise and is in the process of formally adopting.[35]

Championships and Achievements

Grappling credentials

Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo Pires.

Pan-American Championships:

2001 Blue Belt Pesadissimo: 1st place.


Misc:

1998 Nevada State Wrestling Champion.

2007 NAGA Absolute Division Champion.

Mixed Martial Arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC Heavyweight Championship
UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship
Submission of the Night Honors
Tap Out of the Night Honors

MMA record

Professional record breakdown
17 matches 13 wins 4 losses
By knockout 3 3
By submission 0 0
By decision 2 0
By disqualification 1 0
Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
12-4 France Cheick Kongo UFC 107 December 12, 2009 United States Memphis, Tennessee
Loss 12-4 United States Brock Lesnar TKO (Punches) UFC 100 July 11, 2009 2 1:48 United States Las Vegas, NV For UFC Undisputed Heavyweight Championship.
Win 12–3 Brazil Antônio Nogueira TKO (Punches) UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 December 27, 2008 2 1:57 United States Las Vegas, NV Won UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship.
Win 11–3 United States Brock Lesnar Submission (kneebar) UFC 81: Breaking Point February 2, 2008 1 1:30 United States Las Vegas, NV Won "Submission of the Night" honors.
Win 10–3 Netherlands Antoni Hardonk Submission (kimura) UFC 74: Respect August 25, 2007 1 1:17 United States Las Vegas, NV
Loss 9–3 United States Brandon Vera TKO (Punches) UFC 65: Bad Intentions November 18, 2006 1 1:09 United States Sacramento, CA
Win 9–2 United States Dan Christison Decision (unanimous) UFC 61: Bitter Rivals July 8, 2006 3 5:00 United States Las Vegas, NV
Loss 8–2 Brazil Marcio Cruz TKO (Punches) UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 February 4, 2006 1 4:10 United States Las Vegas, NV First fight after the motorcycle accident.
Win 8–1 United States Tim Sylvia Technical Submission (armbar) UFC 48: Payback June 19, 2004 1 0:50 United States Las Vegas, NV Won Vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship. Stripped of title was unable to defend.
Win 7–1 United States Wes Sims KO (Punches) UFC 46: Supernatural January 31, 2004 2 4:21 United States Las Vegas, NV
Win 6–1 United States Wes Sims DQ (Kicking a Downed Opponent) UFC 43: Meltdown June 6, 2003 1 2:55 United States Las Vegas, NV
Win 5–1 United States Tank Abbott Submission (toe hold) UFC 41: Onslaught February 28, 2003 1 0:46 United States Atlantic City, NJ
Loss 4–1 England Ian Freeman TKO (Punches) UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall July 13, 2002 1 4:35 United Kingdom London, England
Win 4–0 United States Pete Williams Submission (shoulder lock) UFC 36: Worlds Collide March 22, 2002 1 0:46 United States Las Vegas, NV Pete Williams retired after the bout.
Win 3–0 Brazil Roberto Traven Submission (armbar) UFC 34: High Voltage November 2, 2001 1 1:05 United States Las Vegas, NV Won "Tap Out Of The Night" honors.
Win 2–0 United States Dan Quinn Submission (triangle choke) IFC Warriors Challenge 15 August 31, 2001 1 2:15 United States Oroville, CA
Win 1–0 United States Jerome Smith Decision (unanimous) HOOKnSHOOT-Showdown July 14, 2001 2 5:00 United States Evansville, Indiana

See also

References

  1. ^ "Heavyweight World Rankings". MMAWeekly.com. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  2. ^ "Heavyweight World Rankings". Sherdog.com. July 16, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  3. ^ "FiveKnuckles.com Top 10 Heavyweight Fighters". FiveKnuckles.com. August 25, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Prep wrestling coach recalls high school career of Frank Mir". LASVEGASSUN.com. 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  5. ^ "Frank Mir Fighter Profile - Ultimate Fighter". Ultimate-fighter.ca. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  6. ^ Iole, Kevin (January 31, 2008). "Mir has seen, done it all". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  7. ^ Collozo Jr., Arturo (February 4, 2008). "Frank Mir Loss Aside: Don't Count Out Brock Lesnar". Nationalledger.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  8. ^ "Roberto Travens ADCC championship". wikipedia.org. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
  9. ^ "Pete Williams professional MMA record". Sherdog.com. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  10. ^ "The Mir Lock". Submissions101.com. April 8, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  11. ^ "History of Odds and rankings". Sherdog.com. May 13, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
  12. ^ Grilz, Jon (December 11, 2008). "UFC Fight for the Troops—Razak Al-Hassan: AAAAAHHHHH!". Bleacherreport.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  13. ^ "UFC Strips Mir of Heavyweight Belt, Arlovski New Champion". Sherdog.com. August 13, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  14. ^ Cheshire, Robert (March 15, 2007). "Dan Christison speaks on signing with IFL, cornering Couture". MMAfighting.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  15. ^ DiSanto, Michael (December 17, 2008). "Heavyweight Breakdown: Nogueira vs Mir". UFC.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  16. ^ "Brandon "The Truth" Vera - SubFighter Fight Finder". Subfighter.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  17. ^ Pishna, Ken (March 10, 2007). "Mir out of UFC Fight Night due to shoulder injury". MMAWeekly.com. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  18. ^ Sherdog.com (August 25, 2007). "UFC 74 "Respect" Play-by-Play". Sherdog.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  19. ^ Stupp, Dann (2008-02-05). "Referee Steve Mazzagatti Discusses Lesnar-Mir Fight". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  20. ^ "Fight Finder - Frank Mir's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics". Sherdog.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  21. ^ Chandler, John. "Mir, Nogueira Tapped as Coaches for "TUF 8"". MMAontap.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  22. ^ a b "Coaches announced for season eight of The Ultimate Fighter". UFC.com. May 12, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  23. ^ Sloan, Mike. "Pros Picks: Nogueira vs. Mir". Sherdog.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  24. ^ a b "UFC 92 Play-by-Play". Sherdog.com. December 28, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  25. ^ Hall, Joe (December 28, 2008). "Evans, Mir Crowned; Rampage Gets Revenge". Sherdog.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  26. ^ Rossen, Jake (December 29, 2008). "In knocking out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Frank Mir shows he still has it". Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  27. ^ White, Dana (December 29, 2008). "The Carmichael Dave Show Dana White 12-29 Part 1". Northern California’s Sport Station KHTK. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  28. ^ Rodrigo, Antonio (March 9, 2009). "MMACanada TV: Staph Infection Affected Nogueira's Loss to Mir; Wants to Submit Couture in Their Future Fight". MMACanada.net. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  29. ^ Rios, Tomas (December 29, 2008). "Unlikely Times, Unlikely Champions: An Early Look at Mir-Lesnar II". Sherdog.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  30. ^ Holland, Jesse (January 2, 2009). "UFC Quick Quote: Frank Mir has no problem with 'Interim' label". MMAmania.com. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
  31. ^ http://mmafrenzy.com/rumors/ufc-98-rumors/ |accessdate= march 2, 2009
  32. ^ "UFC 100 fight poll results". July 11, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |name= ignored (help)
  33. ^ http://www.mmamania.com/2009/08/21/frank-mir-plans-on-striking-with-cheick-kongo-at-ufc-107/
  34. ^ "Mir jokes about new baby boy, serious about Lesnar". LASVEGASSUN.com. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  35. ^ "Mir makes his own breaks: Ex-UFC champion has battled his way back into contention". Reviewjournal.com. 2008-2-1. Retrieved 2009-1-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
Preceded by 10th UFC Heavyweight Champion
June 19, 2004 - August 12, 2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 3rd UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion
December 27, 2008-July 11,2009 		Vacant
Lost unification bout against Brock Lesnar

Template:The Ultimate Fighter 8

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