Former UFC champion Frank Mir expects the biggest payday of his entire career after his Triad Combat fight this weekend.
If we’re talking about MMA’s credentialed heavyweights, you can likely include Frank Mir’s name somewhere on that list. Former UFC heavyweight champion, two memorable fights with Brock Lesnar, and owner of by far one of the most brutal submission wins in MMA history.
These days, the 42-year-old Mir is more focused on boxing. This weekend, he’ll be part of Triller’s inaugural Triad Combat spectacle dubbed as a “revolutionary” sport that features both boxing and MMA rules in an “aggressive, fast-paced manner.” The main catch: fights will be held in a triangular ring.
Mir will take on two-time world title challenger Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev, and he already expects a massive payday. According to him, it is the biggest money he’ll take home in his entire combat sports career.
“The second Brock fight was close, but that was the second-biggest in my career. But no. This one, in fact, if I hit my bonuses and I win, I’m basically touching on seven figures and I’ve never been within a couple hundred grand of that in the MMA world,” Mir told Ariel Helwani in his recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
Mir credits his boxing debut against Steve Cunningham in April for his upcoming fat paycheck. He may have lost via decision, but he felt he held his own against a former world champion.
“Obviously, my fight with Cunningham, I think I made a really good statement. I think that really pushed me in a position to be here,” he said.
“I represented MMA extremely well. I felt that barring a win, that was about the greatest outcome I could have had.”
Upon realizing how much he could’ve made from his two fights against Brock Lesnar, combined, Mir tipped his hat off to Triller for taking care of its talents.
“That’s a testament to what Triller’s doing. Pushing the paydays and sharing the income. I realized this a couple of years ago, this is kinda bittersweet for me. I looked at the amount of pay-per-view buys that Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury sold. And what they took home for paydays.
“Me and Brock sold more pay-per-views, and I took home nowhere near as much as either one of them. Brock and I combined didn’t take ten percent of what they took.”
Triad Combat happens this Saturday in Arlington, Texas, with Mir and Pulev headlining the event. At the co-main event is another UFC alum in Matt Mitrione, who faces pro boxer, Alexander Flores.