It seems like former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir has become the promotion’s gatekeeper of sorts, welcoming Strikeforce’s ex-heavyweights with their first fight in MMA’s premier division.
Having served as host to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner, Daniel Cormier, in April (and losing a unanimous decision), Mir is now looking forward to welcoming the runner-up in that event—MMA veteran Josh Barnett.
Long-time holdout Barnett recently signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC after 12 years away from the promotion, and immediately his sights have been set on Mir.
Even before he put pen to paper on his new UFC contract, Barnett told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (h/t Low Kick MMA) that he was interested in the Mir fight, “not just because there’s people saying ‘I want you to fight Frank Mir’,” Barnett told Helwani. “But the right people haven’t been in place to make it happen.”
That seems to be changing.
In an interview with El Octagano (h/t MMA Mania), Mir said of the prospect of facing Barnett:
“I think [Barnett] would be a phenomenal fight… I think that some of the fans have talked about it a lot on the Internet as far as who is the better catch wrestler. And I think that I would be more than happy to welcome him to the UFC and I think it would be a great fight.”
Mir was outclassed and out-wrestled by Cormier in their fight at UFC on Fox in April, and so was Barnett. However, the Mir/Barnett fight has even more intrigue considering they are among the best submission experts in the heavyweight division.
Mir, a BJJ black belt, has submitted some of the biggest names in the sport, including Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar and Antonio Nogueira. Barnett, for his part, has been tapping out fighters before Mir had even stepped inside the Octagon—19 of his 32 career wins are via submission.
That has fans salivating at the prospect of the two veterans of the sport finally facing off against each other, although there is no indication as to when, or if, the two men will fight.
Barnett hasn’t fought since January and Mir last fought in April, so they are both likely to be itching to get back in the Octagon.
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