Frank Mir
Francisco Santos Mir III (born May 24, 1979 in Las Vegas, Nevada), popularly known as Frank Mir, is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He is a former Heavyweight Champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Biography
Born into a martial arts family, a young Mir learned the basics of combat from his parent's Kenpo Karate school in Las Vegas, after being bullied at school for being overweight. He was sparring in tournaments at 5 years old and would go on to accumulate a collection of trophies. By the time he was 12, Mir had already reached 6 foot, being bigger than other children of his age, Mir often trained with older teens and adults. After being beaten in a kickboxing match, he wanted to improve in other areas of fighting. He witnessed the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event, UFC 1 - The Beginning, which was held on November 12 1993 in Denver, Colorado. When watching this PPV event, he was not yet convinced of the benefits in learning jiu-jitsu: "I was fourteen watching the first UFC with my father and everyone was getting taken down and choked out by this scrawny Royce Gracie. I couldn't believe it was happening! My dad wanted to learn what they were doing right off the bat, but I defended what I already knew. I thought I could adjust for it. I felt I could defend against Jiu Jitsu instead of being humble and trying to learn it." His father convinced him to begin wrestling, on the basis that it could help him avoid submissions. However, "I was covering up a weakness rather than fixing one," Mir suggested. Despite losing his first seven wrestling matches, Mir went on to win the State heavyweight wrestling title in 1998.
Most recently Mir Commentated on the live broadcast of the WEC on June 3rd 2007.
UFC Career
Mir met UFC matchmaker Joseph Silva at a school Silva was visiting. Silva saw potential in Mir as a future UFC fighter and suggested that he first prove himself against some fighters in the mixed martial arts community. Mir would make his professional MMA debut against Jerome Smith at HOOKnSHOOT - Showdown on July 14, 2001. Mir won the bout by judges' decision after two rounds. He won another match by submission at IFC Warriors Challenge 15. After these events, Silva proposed a match up between Mir and Roberto Travern, a new UFC fighter; Mir accepted the offer.
Mir defeated Roberto Travern by armbar at 1:05 of round one at UFC 34 - High Voltage on November 2, 2001. The submission earned Mir the "Tapout of the Night" award.
Mir then fought at UFC 36 - Worlds Collide on March 22, 2002 against Pete Williams, Mir won via submission (Key lock) in 0:46 seconds of the first round.
He faced Ian "The Machine" Freeman, at UFC 38 - Brawl at the Hall, held in London, England on July 13, 2002. Despite several leglock attempts by Mir, Freeman achieved side control at around four minutes into the first round, landing numerous elbows and punches on Mir's head. After Freeman separated, the referee signaled an exhausted Mir to stand back up. A time out was called due to an apparent cut on Mir's face, and the referee stopped the fight when a wobbly Mir had difficulty standing up.
He faced David "Tank" Abbott at UFC 41 - Onslaught on February 28, 2003. Mir won by Submission (Toe Hold) in 0:46 seconds of the first round.
On June 26, 2003 Mir fought Wes Sims at UFC 43 - Meltdown. Mir won by disqualification at 2:55 of round one after Sims stomped down on Mir's face after slamming his way out of Mir's armbar attempt.
Mir then had a rematch with Wes Sims at UFC 46 - Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir defeats Wes Sims by knockout in 4:21 in round two.
Mir fought Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 48 - Payback on June 19, 2004. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 50 seconds into the first round when Mir's armbar broke Sylvia's right forearm. With the TKO win, Mir became the new UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Motorcycle injury
On 17 September, 2004, Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. Some reports suggest that he flew 60 to 70 feet off the bike. The accident caused a break in Mir's femur bone. The bone had broken in two places but the injury did not end Mir's career as a MMA fighter. Major surgery was needed to repair the bone in his leg[1].
An interim heavyweight title was created whilst Mir was recovering from the injury, which Andrei Arlovski won. On August 12, 2005, UFC learned that Mir was not able to fight Andrei Arlovski in October as scheduled, thus Mir was stripped of the title after 14 months, and Andrei Arlovski, the interim Heavyweight champion was promoted to the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion[2].
MMA return
Mir recovered from his motorcycle accident and fought Márcio Cruz at UFC 57 - Liddell vs. Couture 3 on February 4, 2006. In a shocking upset, Mir was defeated by the relative newcomer in the first round by TKO due to strikes, initially, referee Herb Dean called for a break to check a large, bleeding cut on Mir's face, Mir was given the opportunity to continue, and did so.
Mir returned to the Octagon on July 8, 2006 at UFC 61 - Bitter Rivals and faced Dan Christison. Mir had gained a considerable amount of weight since his last appearance and quickly became exhausted. Mir won by unanimous decision after three rounds, the judges all scored the bout 29-28.
At UFC 65 - Bad Intentions, Mir lost to Brandon Vera by technical knockout in 1:09 of the first round.
Frank Mir was scheduled to fight Antoni Hardonk at UFC Fight Night 9 on April 5th, 2007, but had to drop out due to a shoulder injury [3]. He currently trains at Randy Couture's gym in Las Vegas, Nevada[4].
Mir is currently scheduled to fight Renato Sobral in a special submission grappling superfight at the next Tuff-N-Uff event named "Unarmed Combat" on June 22nd[5].
His next UFC fight is tentatively scheduled for UFC 74 against Tim Sylvia pending Nevada State Athletic Commission approval. [1]
Personal Life
Frank is married and has three children.
MMA record
| Total | Wins | Losses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 matches | (T)Knockout | 1 | 3 |
| Submission | 5 | 0 | |
| Decision | 2 | 0 | |
| DQ | 1 | 0 | |
| Draw | 0 | ||
| No Contest | 0 | ||
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Brandon Vera | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 65 - Bad Intentions | 11/18/2006 | 1 | 1:09 | |
| Win | Dan Christison | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 61 - Bitter Rivals | 7/08/2006 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Márcio Cruz | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 57 - Liddell vs. Couture 3 | 2/04/2006 | 1 | 4:10 | His first fight after his accident. |
| Win | Tim Sylvia | Technical Submission (Armbar) | UFC 48 - Payback | 6/19/2004 | 1 | 0:50 | Won the UFC Heavyweight Championship. |
| Win | Wes Sims | KO (Strikes) | UFC 46 - Supernatural | 1/31/2004 | 2 | 4:21 | |
| Win | Wes Sims | DQ (Stomping a Downed Opponent) | UFC 43 - Meltdown | 6/6/2003 | 1 | 2:55 | |
| Win | David "Tank" Abbott | Submission (Toe Hold) | UFC 41 - Onslaught | 2/28/2003 | 1 | 0:46 | |
| Loss | Ian Freeman | TKO (Corner Stoppage due to Cut) | UFC 38 - Brawl at the Hall | 7/13/2002 | 1 | 4:35 | |
| Win | Pete Williams | Submission (Key lock) | UFC 36 - Worlds Collide | 3/22/2002 | 1 | 0:46 | |
| Win | Roberto Traven | Submission (Armbar) | UFC 34 - High Voltage | 11/2/2001 | 1 | 1:05 | |
| Win | Dan Quinn | Submission (Triangle Choke) | IFC Warriors Challenge 15 | 8/31/2001 | 1 | 2:15 | |
| Win | Jerome Smith | Decision | HOOKnSHOOT-Showdown | 7/14/2001 | 2 | 5:00 |
See also
- Mixed martial arts
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Brazilian jiu-jitsu
- List of male mixed martial artists