By Gary Herman
Special to CBSSports.com
Frank Mir was stuck at a major crossroads in his fighting career. On one hand, he had the prestige of being a former UFC heavyweight champion. On the other, he was only 2-2 in his last four fights. The two defeats were both first-round TKO losses.
At UFC 81, Mir received a shot to rejuvenate career. His opponent was former NCAA collegiate champion and former World Wrestling Entertainment champion Brock Lesnar. Mir capitalized on the opportunity by defeating Lesnar in just 90 seconds.
We recently caught up with Mir to discuss the victory over Lesnar, his thoughts on how long before he’ll receive a title shot, and what he thinks of some top heavyweight fighters not joining the UFC.
Question: Congratulations on your big win over Brock Lesnar. How does it feel looking back on it?
Frank Mir: It was a good win because of all the publicity on the fight. Brock Lesnar has a real strong wrestling base and is a very strong guy. I knew that catching him in a submission would not be easy.
Q: Did Lesnar’s size and speed concern you going in?
Mir: It was a factor, but you don’t really understand it until you fight someone with that kind of strength. I just made adjustments for it during the fight. You can’t really be too concerned with what someone else brings into the ring.
Q: Interesting — even when you fought the 6-foot, 8-inch Tim Sylvia, his height didn’t cause you to train differently?
Mir: Obviously, you bring in training partners that are much taller. This time against Lesnar I tried to bring in guys that were real strong in wrestling.
Q: Was it hard for you to prepare for someone like Lesnar since there was no real video on him?
Mir: There was not much. Just one little fight that lasted about a minute. I watched that a couple of times, but really, I just tried wrestle as many people that were pure college wrestlers to try and judge what his reactions would be.
Q: Were you surprised that Lesnar opened the fight so quickly in going for that takedown?
Mir: Yes. Actually, I thought he would try and stay from my ground game while I was fresh and try to stay on the feet. That way I would be a little more fatigued when we hit the jiu-jitsu part of the fight.
Q: Were you prepared to take a couple of shots in order to get into the position you wanted?
Mir: On the feet you can try to move away from someone to avoid taking any big shots, but on the ground, you are going to catch shots. The punches aren’t that bad on the ground, but the elbows can be very vicious if you throw them from a short range. I tried to attack as many submissions as possible to give Lesnar something to think about.
Q: That was definitely very evident. When you went for the first armbar, it seemed to startle Lesnar. He looked to be re-thinking his attack at that point.
Mir: Anyone can just tee off on someone who is defenseless on their back, but the minute you realize they can destroy a limb at any second it slows down your attack.
Q: When you were on the ground with Lesnar, Lesnar struck you in the back of the head and referee Steve Mazzagatti quickly stepped in and deducted a point from Lesnar. Did that surprise you?
Mir: When I was in the fight, I didn’t hear anything because I was underneath Lesnar. But after going back and watching the fight, I understood why. I could hear Mazzagatti giving the warnings to Lesnar, “Don’t hit in the back of the head.”
Finally, after Lesnar didn’t stop because he was caught up in the fight, Mazzagatti did what he had to do. Any of those shots could be very detrimental to the fight. I mean, if I go and kick you in the groin three or four times — even if it’s unintentional — it’s going to weigh into the fight. Now, you’re not going to fight as well. I’ve heard boxers say you get one free shot before they warn you so make it count. You have to avoid those types of maneuvers in our sport.
Q: How dazed were you from the shot to the back of the head?
Mir: I was actually fine. When I got up, I felt the blood on the back of my scalp, and I was a little more worried about that. I wanted to know where the cut was.
Q: Clearly, you recovered quickly and got the big win over Lesnar. Now, it’s time to move the next fight. Where do you want to go from here?
Mir: I want to fight whoever is ranked higher than I am in order to get in a better position to fight for a title.
Q: Have you heard that you might be getting close to a title shot off of this win?
Mir: Nope.
Q: How many more fights do you think it will take to get there?
Mir: With the way the heavyweight division is — just one more. One more win against a guy that is near the top, and I’ll probably be there.
Q: You’ve been champion of the UFC before, and now the UFC title you once held is in a lot of limbo. What do you think of the current heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, departing from the UFC?
Mir: Everyone has their reasons. I have a lot of respect for Couture, but I obviously have no business relations with him. So, I can’t really give a true conclusion. I have trained with him before, and he’s a really good guy.
Q: What do you think about a possible fight with Couture?
Mir: He’s 44. I’m 28. I’m hoping that father time would be on my side. I have a lot of respect for him, but I’m a patient guy. I hope he comes back.
Q: Of course now, the current interim champion is Antonio Nogueira. His title victory over Tim Sylvia — even though it went longer — was pretty similar to your fight with Lesnar. What did you think of Nogueira’s victory?
Mir: I thought it was a good fight. I thought Tim Sylvia was doing everything right except for the fact that he was too aggressive going for the finish. He was winning the fight three rounds to nothing so he could have just sat back, but a lot of people have been criticizing him for that. A guy like Nogueira is very hard to finish. The only way to beat Nogueira is by a decision.
Q: Did you actually watch that fight after your fight?
Mir: Yes. In the locker room, they have TVs. Since I was the second-to-last fight, I didn’t have time to shower and get back to the arena so I just watched it there.
Q: Who do you consider to be the real champion now?
Mir: Couture retired as far as I know. If Couture really stepped away from the UFC, and I believe Couture said he has left the UFC then I think Nogueira is.
Q: Now there are a lot of top heavyweights not in the UFC — like Couture, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett. Can they be mentioned as the top fighters in the world if they are not in the UFC?
Mir: I don’t think that is a possibility anymore. You’re only as good as your competition. Before, with Pride being separate from the UFC, you had tough competition there and tough competition here. But now, we have the strongest competition. Fedor’s last opponent was not a ranked guy. If that is the trend now — to fight unranked guys — it will be very hard to sway the rankings. Fighting 7-5 guys is more of a carnival. Not that you’re not a great fighter, but you need to fight top guys. Nogueira is the top fighter in the top organization in the world. It would be very hard not to give him the top spot right now.
Q: Another very famous fight for you was against the guy Nogueira beat to claim the interim championship, Tim Sylvia. In that fight, you actually broke his arm. Can you take us through the last few moments of that fight?
Mir: Sure, he threw a right hand and stepped forward. I jumped into guard right at the same time. We fell to the ground. I think Tim thought the right hand that skimmed off my head actually hurt me more than it did, so he decided to stay on the ground and try to ground and pound me. I wasn’t hurt. He started to push me towards the cage. When he did that, I pivoted away from the cage. As I pivoted, I realized his arm was still on my hip so I just took the arm.
Q: Did you hear his arm break?
Mir: I don’t think I could hear it, but I felt it.
Q: Did he even quit?
Mir: No, I don’t think so. It was a good stoppage. It could have got real ugly. He could have got a compound fracture. That would have been very bad for the sport. He can’t fight with his right arm destroyed.
Q: Was beating Sylvia the biggest win of your career?
Mir: Yes, it was for the title. Tim was undefeated at 18-0. I was considered the underdog and I was 100 percent. Obviously, you see now that I’m 100 percent, and Lesnar didn’t even last two minutes.
Q: Seeing that Lesnar didn’t last very long, do you think he is ready for top competition?
Mir: It depends on who he fights. He needs to be more selective on who he fights. He has a great ground-and-pound game, so that will be his strength. He doesn’t need to fight anyone whose strength is to fight off his back. If he fights Gonzaga, Nogueira, myself or Werdum, Lesnar could have trouble. We all fight well off our backs. Even if he’s winning the fight, he’s in a position that at any time we could end the fight. He needs to fight some top-level strikers. Therefore, he’ll only be in danger until he gets the takedown.
Q: Did Lesnar look as good as someone could look in 90 seconds?
Mir: Yes, he looked really good except that I am also very good at the ground position.
Q: What’s it been like for you since the victory? Are you seeing a lot of additional opportunities and recognition?
Mir: Yes, the popularity has been increasing a lot. Obviously, fighting is a business. That’s what some fighters don’t understand. It’s 50-50. Half is how good a fighter you are. Half is how much people want to see you fight. You can be the best fighter in the world and outpoint everyone, but if no one wants to see you fight, you won’t get a title shot.
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