LAS VEGAS — From a four-fight losing streak to a title shot? Maybe that isn’t completely out of the question for Frank Mir.
Ricky Lundell, Mir’s coach, said he believes Mir’s co-main event bout against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 191 on Saturday night is a legitimate title eliminator and the team will ask for a title shot if Mir is victorious.
“This is the big one,” Lundell said Thursday at UFC 191 media day. “This is the one that everybody is looking at, because the two of them now, you look at Andrei Arlovski, he’s proven that he’s right there and ready to go for the title. And Frank Mir, the question behind Frank Mir was how was his standup going to adhere to that title shot again? Is he just going to get pushed against the wall and get beat? I believe we’ve answered that question now.”
Mir (18-9) was on a four-fight skid heading into a fight with Antonio Silva back in February. Most people thought the popular former heavyweight champion was done. But then Mir knocked out “Bigfoot” in 1:40 and his boxing looked great under the tutelage of coach Angelo Reyes. Fast forward to July and Mir knocked out young lion Todd Duffee in just 1:13 with a wicked left hand.
All of a sudden, the man who didn’t have a victory since 2011 was on a two-fight winning streak. Mir, 36, is the latest in a line of heavyweights in their mid-to-late 30s to have a career resurgence. Arlovski, 36, is another — he has won five in a row and three straight since returning to the UFC.
“I think it’s really exciting that both Frank and Andrei are back in this spot,” Lundell said. “They’ve both put in a lot of time and they’ve both taken the time to learn the new tricks necessary to get back to the title shot. I think a lot of guys, at this point in their careers, they’re not willing to put in the work like that and they’re not willing to go out and get the great training partners and coaches it takes to be successful in this sport.”
If Mir wins Saturday, it’ll be three in a row and a victory over the No. 4-ranked UFC heavyweight contender. Perhaps that title shot talk isn’t so premature.
“One-hundred percent, we will be speaking about a title shot,” Lundell said. “It would be Cain Velasquez or Fabricio Werdum. Who doesn’t want to see Frank Mir against either one of them?
“We definitely want that fight and we’re going to go get it. We just have to get through this weekend.”
Manuwa preferred to fight in Ireland, but he’ll take this
Jimi Manuwa asked the UFC to put him on the card next month in Dublin. Brass did him one better: a matchup with No. 1 light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson on Saturday night at UFC 191.
“All I did was ask for a fight,” Manuwa said. “I didn’t even want to fight in Vegas. I said put me on the Dublin card. They came back with Johnson in Vegas and how could I turn that down? I didn’t know what was going on with [Jan] Blachowicz, whether he was injured or whatever, but I accepted the fight within like 30 seconds.”
Johnson was supposed to fight Blachowicz at this event, but the UFC shuffled the deck when Manuwa (15-1) became available — most likely because of the highlight-reel potential of two knockout artists like “Rumble” and Manuwa.
Manuwa, 35, wasn’t sure if he’d be in this position a few months ago. He went into his fight with Blachowicz with a knee injury in April. He won by unanimous decision, but needed surgery to repair a torn meniscus afterward. It has healed well and over the summer he told the UFC he was ready to go. This opportunity was too good to pass up.
“I originally asked to fight on Dublin card, but we came up with something better and here we are,” Manuwa said. “Saturday night, it’s going off.”
Gibson won’t be future Team Alpha Male coach
Duane Ludwig left last year and Martin Kampmann is about to conclude his tenure as Team Alpha Male’s head coach. One of the top teams in mixed martial arts will again be seeking a leader. But it will not be Brandon Gibson.
The Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA striking coach went up to Sacramento recently after hitting it off with Alpha Male’s Cody Garbrandt and was even a guest coach with Urijah Faber on The Ultimate Fighter 22. But Gibson’s home is in Albuquerque and this won’t be a permanent marriage.
“I don’t plan on leaving Jackson’s,” Gibson said. “We’ve got a lot of champions there. We’ve got title fights coming up. Guys like [John] Dodson and [Carlos] Condit are my brothers. I’m not gonna leave Albuquerque. I’ve got a lot of unfinished work there. But I am honored to have a good relationship with an outstanding team like Alpha Male.”
That doesn’t mean Gibson won’t travel to Sacramento once in a while. Some Alpha Male fighters also might make the trek down to Albuquerque. Gibson said Greg Jackson used to go up to Montreal to help Firas Zahabi train Georges St-Pierre and he can envision a similar setup with Faber’s crew.
“I can see myself and Urijah having that relationship with certain fighters,” Gibson said. … “We had fun. I’ve always gotten a long well with those guys. I have a lot of respect for Urijah and what he’s done.”