MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

Frank Mir - the baddest man on the planet. Or at least that’s what Frank has always claimed on his personal website.

The UFC rounded out the full UFC 74 fight card yesterday when they announced the fight between Frank Mir and Antoni Hardonk. According to the UFC’s website:

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir returns to the Octagon for the first time in nine months when he takes on dangerous Antoni Hardonk in a bout on August 25th’s UFC 74 card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Calling kickboxer Antoni Hardonk “dangerous” is somewhat humorous. Sure Hardonk has a good standup game and he did knock out Sherman Pendergast but we all saw his terrible performace in his second UFC fight against Justin McCully. Hardonk is hand picked for Mir, who likes to spend as much of the fight on the mat to conserve energy and work his ground game, and we saw that Hardonk’s ground game is close to the level of Cheick Kongo when he fought McCully.

Continuing to refer to Frank Mir as the “Former UFC heavyweight champion” also seems a little bit tongue-in-cheek to me. Sure, Frank Mir was at one time the Heavyweight champion after he defeated Tim Sylvia at UFC 48 only to suffer serious injuries in a motorcycle accident a few months later before he was able to defend his belt one time against Andre Arlovski in December of 2004. So, Mir won the belt and almost just as quickly lost it and has never been the same fighter since.

Mir returned to the UFC in February of 2006 and lost his comeback fight to Marcio Cruz in brutal fashion, and then barely edged out a victory against Dan Cristison a few months later at UFC 61. Frank returned one more time at UFC 65 only to be dominated by rising star Brandon Vera and hasn’t fought since.

To be honest and speak the facts, since his return Frank Mir has been fat and out of shape for all his fights. He doesn’t have the same speed, quickness, or tenacity that we saw in his early fights against Pete Williams, Tim Sylvia and his two wars with Wes Sims. Is it because of injury? Is it because Frank doesn’t like to train? Is Frank caught up in his hometown Las Vegas lifestyle? Who really knows. All I know is that Frank isn’t even close to the same fighter he was and will never be a contender again in the UFC heavyweight division.

So why then does Frank Mir seem to be the golden-boy of the UFC? Frank’s relationship with UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertita, as well as with Dana White, must be extrememly solid for the UFC to keep promoting a fighter who obviously has long since lost his curb appeal. Are they all part of some hometown Vegas-boys-only style club that keeps Frank on the active roster? Frank is the commentator for the newly Zuffa aquired WEC, and that only puts him deeper into Zuffa bed.

What is it about Frank that keeps bringing him back. Even with his recent “struggles” in the octagon, Frank still has a very large and loyal fan following. If you have read MMA HQ for a long time, you will remember that for a long time, I was one of those die-hard Frank Mir fans. Up until his fight with Dan Christison, I would have defended Mir to the death. Why? I really don’t know. What made/makes Frank elicit that much of an emotional response from the MMA community?

If Frank loses this fight to Hardonk, will his UFC day’s be over? I doubt it. I’m sure we’ll all be treated to at least 2 or 3 more Frank Mir fights where Goldberg will extol the virtues of the great Frank Mir, former UFC heavyweight champion.

Yeah, I remember that Frank Mir too; I just haven’t seen him since 2004. If anyone ever finds him, let Frank know we all miss him and want him back.