Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem are facing the worst runs in their extensive mixed martial arts careers. The two will be battling for their futures when they face each other at UFC 167 in November.
UFC president Dana White has spoken of how important the fight is for both heavyweights.
According to MMA Fighting, when asked whether the fight was “do or die” for both men, White answered, “Definitely.”
Both fighters are riding career-threatening losing streaks, although Mir, with three straight losses to Overeem’s two, is in a much more precarious situation.
Mir has been fighting in the UFC since 2001 and is a former heavyweight champion. However, he hasn’t won a match since submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2011. The three losses he’s stacked up—to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett—amount to the worst streak of his career.
Overeem, by contrast, only joined the UFC two years ago, riding a formidable run in Strikeforce, Dream and the K1 kickboxing tournament. He quickly established himself in the promotion by finishing former champion Brock Lesnar in the first round. But after a failed drug test and two KO losses to Antonio Silva and Travis Browne, the Dutch fighter could become the biggest bust in UFC history.
Per Tom Ngo of 5th Round, Overeem made $264,285 (with about half coming from a win bonus) for beating Lesnar and $285,714 in his loss to Silva. Mir took home $200,000 in each of his last two fights. That’s enough for both fighters to buy a whole range of tv stands.
The pair will fight on the UFC 167 undercard taking place in Las Vegas on Nov. 16. The card will be headlined by a title fight between welterweights Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks.
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