With the way many MMA pundits and keyboard warriors talk about Frank Mir, it’s difficult to realize that the Las Vegas native was once champion of the UFC heavyweight division!
The bone that Mir’s critics have to pick with him is this: They feel that Mir is one of the most overrated heavyweights in UFC history and that his record is proof, the heavyweight title in 2004 and interim heavyweight title in 2008 notwithstanding.
This attitude towards Mir is why his fight against Roy “Big Country” Nelson is so critical; Mir’s legacy may well be at stake!
Mir has had a long and arduous career. He began his days as an MMA fighter with promise, going 7-1 in his first eight fights and capturing UFC gold on his ninth outing in the Octagon against Tim Sylvia—which remains one of most famous fights in MMA for Mir’s brutal snapping of Sylvia’s forearm.
Right when Mir was on top of the world, tragedy struck in the form of a motorcycle accident. Mir was sidelined for almost two years and vacated his title as a result.
When Mir finally returned in 2006, it was far from triumphant. He looked very flabby—akin almost to Tim Sylvia—and his skilled had dulled. He went 1-2 in the year of his return.
Mir put himself back on the map with a stunning submission victory over Brock Lesnar in 2008. It was this victory that renewed fan interest in Frank Mir and revitalized his status as a contender in the heavyweight division.
Mir went on to win his interim belt from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and was the first man ever to finish him (although it has been said that Nogueira was sick during the fight). This was perhaps the high point for Mir’s career; Mir went only 2-2 after this fight, losing to Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin and beating Cheick Kongo and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović.
So it is that Mir’s career is at a crucial junction. If he wins, he gets the next crack at the title after the winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin, but should he lose, he falls back into the realm of the gatekeepers.
So what exactly would a loss to Nelson mean for Mir in the long run, meaning his legacy?
It would solidify the arguments of the Mir critics that Mir was always overrated and made a name for himself by beating a clumsy oaf in Tim Sylvia, a green Brock Lesnar and a sick Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
If Frank Mir loses, he will, according to his critics, be a bum that got lucky a few times. They will argue that Mir’s best wins were over fighters who weren’t skilled, were green, or were washed up.
Frank Mir, for his own sake, must not falter on Saturday night. For if he does, the critics and the keyboard warriors will rob him of a legacy.
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