Frank Mir unknowingly breached airport security on the way to his UFC Fight Night 61 bout against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
In packing for his flight to Brazil, Mir, who trains with firearms in Las Vegas, grabbed a gym bag containing two 9 mm bullets. He made it through both the Las Vegas and Los Angeles airports with the ammo before being stopped upon arrival in Sao Paulo.
Mir confirmed the story with MMAJunkie Radio, and MMAJunkie writer Steven Marrocco provided the transcription.
“I have a bunch of different gym bags, too many bags that I use, and my backpack, I guess, I hadn’t used it since I went shooting last,” Mir told MMAjunkie Radio from Porto Allegre. “I flew from (Las) Vegas to (Los Angeles); no one noticed it. I flew from L.A. to Sao Paulo; no one noticed it.”
After arriving in South America, though, security certainly noticed it.
Mir said he was briefly detained on site before deciding to make a phone call to UFC President Dana White to explain the situation.
After an hour, police showed up, and Mir was given a lighthearted warning and allowed to go on his way.
“The gentleman came over, and he had a smile on his face,” Mir said. “He handed me my passport and let me know that I could have the passport and he was going to keep the bullets, and to try not to make that mistake again.”
Thankfully, Mir’s scheduled main event against Bigfoot is still set to go down on time and on schedule.
Without his celebrity and his quick thinking to call White, things could have escalated quickly and potentially upset the event.
Instead, Mir gets the chance to pull off an upset of his own. Taking on the Brazilian Silva on his home turf is no small task, and Mir’s recent resume is uninspiring.
He’s lost four straight and hasn’t fought in over a year, last falling via decision to Alistair Overeem at UFC 169 on Feb. 1, 2014, in New Jersey.
Despite this, I’m taking the American in this fight. I think his rest and time off will pay dividends in the bout, and I expect him to submit Silva after rocking him with a punch some time in the second round.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com