Frank Mir lost every round to Daniel Cormier at UFC on FOX 7, but that doesn’t mean he came away particularly impressed with aspects of the former Olympian’s skillset.
“One thing, and everybody here on the line can tell you about it, just because you do it in the gym doesn’t mean necessarily you can do it in a fight when the lights are on,” Mir said on Tuesday’s UFC 164 conference call.
“I just didn’t have the confidence (in my cardio) to end the fight. But then the good thing is, Cormier is really not much of a finisher. Both in Josh (Barnett’s) and my fight, he basically just out-positioned us and [relied on that]. But it allowed me to stay in there long enough to realize, whoa man, my gas tank is actually really good. That’s why I came on so hard in the third round, because it actually gave me confidence. I wish I would’ve had that going into the fight, but at least I had it exiting the fight.”
The only undefeated heavyweight on the UFC roster, Cormier has finished eight of his 12 professional victories, although four of his last six bouts have ended via decision.
While UFC on FOX 7’s co-main event didn’t exactly set the world on fire, Cormier thoroughly outworked Mir to sweep all three judges’ scorecards, 30-27. The loss marked the first two-fight skid of Mir’s career, however the former UFC heavyweight champion, just two fights removed from a title shot, isn’t ready to give up his status as a contender just yet.
“I don’t concede to the fact of just trying to put on great fights,” Mir said. “Obviously, the outcome of my drive is to actually work back towards the title. I don’t see it as a situation where that’s no longer within my grasp. The training I’m doing now, where I’m at in life, being only 34 years of age, I don’t really see it as an issue to concede to the fact that, ‘Oh, I’m only going to fight to be an entertaining fight just added onto a card.’ That’s just not where I’m at in my life.”