name | Frank Mir |
---|
birth name | Francisco Santos Miranda, III |
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birth date | May 24, 1979 |
---|
birth place | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
---|
nationality | American |
---|
height | |
---|
weight lb | 260 |
---|
weight class | Heavyweight |
---|
reach in | 79 |
---|
style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kenpo Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling |
---|
stance | Southpaw |
---|
fighting out of | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. |
---|
team | University of Grappling Suffer Training Center |
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trainer | Ricky Lundell Robert Drysdale |
---|
rank | ''Black belt in Kenpo Karate'' ''Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu'' |
---|
years active | 2001 –''present'' |
---|
mma kowin | 3 |
---|
mma subwin | 9 |
---|
mma decwin | 3 |
---|
mma dqwin | 1 |
---|
mma koloss | 5 |
---|
spouse | Jennifer (2004 – present) |
---|
Children | 4 |
---|
school | Bonanza High School |
---|
sherdog | 2329 |
---|
updated | October 11, 2011
}} |
---|
Francisco Santos Miranda, III (born May 24, 1979), better known as Frank Mir, is an American mixed martial artist, as well as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kenpō Karate, who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Mir, one of the most accomplished heavyweights in MMA history, is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and a former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. He currently holds the record for most victories in the heavyweight division of the UFC with 14 and most wins by submission in UFC Heavyweight division history with 8. He is also the only man in UFC history to win a bout by toe hold. As of January 2012 he is ranked the #4 In the ESPN MMA Power Rankings..He holds the distinction of being the first and only man to both knock out and submit MMA legend Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Mir is the only person to submit former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NCAA Division I wrestler Brock Lesnar and highly regarded striker Cheick Kongo. Frank Mir has had more fights in the UFC than anyone else currently competing in the heavyweight division.
Early life
While watching the first
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event,
''UFC 1: The Beginning'', Mir was not yet convinced of the benefits in learning
Brazilian 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 could not 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. Mir then began wrestling at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nevada where during his junior year he lost his first nine matches. During his senior year (1998) he went 44-1 and won the state championship. He was also on the school's football team that reached the Southern Zone semifinals in 1997 and where he played as fullback and defensive end. He also took up track and field in 1998 where his discus throw of 177 feet, 10 inches is still a Sunset Regional record.
Mixed martial arts career
Mir met UFC matchmaker Joe 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 world. 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, Mir made his UFC debut against Roberto Travern. Traven had fought once in the UFC before (at ''UFC 11''), and was the 1999 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship open class champion and 6th degree black belt in BJJ. 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's next match in the UFC was against Pete Williams and took place at ''UFC 36: Worlds Collide'' on March 22, 2002. Mir submitted the veteran Williams (who had never been submitted before) at only 46 seconds into the first round with a shoulder lock that has since been named after Mir.
He faced Ian 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 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 Mir had difficulty standing up. The call is considered controversial by some fans (including Mir himself) because of the fact that he was never officially finished by Freeman and the fight only stopped due to difficulty standing up, which has been suggested was a smart, but bad call by the referee since that loss.
After the considered-controversial loss to Freeman, Mir then faced David "Tank" Abbott at UFC 41 on February 28, 2003. Mir defeated Abbott in only 46 seconds into the first round by submission (Toe Hold).
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. They would rematch at ''UFC 46: Supernatural'' on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir won by knockout at 4:21 of round two.
Heavyweight championship
On June 19, 2004, Mir faced
Tim Sylvia for the vacant
UFC Heavyweight Championship at ''
UFC 48: Payback''. Referee
Herb Dean stopped the fight at 50 seconds into the first round when Mir's
armbar visibly broke Sylvia's right forearm. Mir trapped Sylvia's right arm in an armbar attempt. When Sylvia tried to pull out of the hold, Mir jerked back harder and Sylvia's radius bone snapped about 3 inches below his elbow. Sylvia repeatedly claimed his arm was not broken, even touching it and moving it around to show he was O.K. Sylvia was taken to the nearby hospital where an x-ray showed that his arm was in fact broken in four different places.
With this technical submission win Mir became the new UFC Heavyweight Champion and later received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black-belt from Ricardo Pires for his performance in the fight.
Motorcycle injury
On September 17, 2004, Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. The accident caused a break in Mir's
femur and tore all the ligaments in his knee. The bone had broken in two places but the injury did not end Mir's career as a fighter. Major surgery was needed to repair the bone in his leg. An interim heavyweight title was created while Mir was recovering from the injury, which
Andrei Arlovski won by defeating
Tim Sylvia by way of a first round submission. On August 12, 2005, the 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 Arlovski was promoted to be the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
Return to the UFC
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 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 and quickly became exhausted. Mir won in a lackluster fashion by unanimous decision after three rounds; the judges all scored the bout 29–28. Criticism began to flourish with Mir not looking like the same fighter as he was before, both physically and technically.
Mir next faced Brandon Vera at ''UFC 65: Bad Intentions''. Mir showed slightly improved sharpness on his feet, and boxed well until being stunned by a straight right from Vera. He was then dropped by knees from Vera's Muay Thai clinch, where the smaller Vera delivered elbows & punches from side control, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Mir lost by TKO at only 1:09 of the first round. While preparing for UFC 140, Mir explained that the reason why he suffered the 2 losses to Cruz and Vera was because even after having 14 months of recovery, he was still feeling the effects of the motorcycle accident he had.
Rise back to title contention
Frank Mir was scheduled to fight
Antoni Hardonk at ''
UFC Fight Night 9'' on April 5, 2007, but had to drop out due to a shoulder injury. Mir recovered from the shoulder injury and fought
Antoni Hardonk at ''
UFC 74'' and won via
kimura in 1:17 of the first round. At the end of the bout, Mir walked to the cameras pointing at himself saying "I'm back!". Frank's wife Jennifer was shown on the replay screaming and crying with joy when Frank secured the kimura and the fight was stopped.
After the fight with Hardonk, Mir stated that his long period of time away after his loss to Brandon Vera not only helped him recover from the shoulder injury, but helped recover from his motorcycle accident and while fighting ''Mirko Cro Cop'' at ''UFC 119'' UFC commentator ''Mike Goldberg'' stated: "Mir, in that motorcycle years ago and, he's fought his way back".
Mir fought Brock Lesnar at ''UFC 81'' on February 2, 2008. Early in the first round, Lesnar took Mir down and, while striking from Mir's guard, landed illegal punches to the back of Mir's head, drawing a foul and a one-point deduction from referee Steve Mazzagatti. They were stood up and Mir was given a brief recovery period, but Lesnar quickly took Mir down again. When Lesnar escaped an armbar attempt, Mir caught him with a kneebar, causing Lesnar to tap out at 1:30 of the first round.
''The Ultimate Fighter'' Season 8
Spike TV on 12 May 2008 announced that the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion Frank Mir would be the coaches for the
eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
The season, which premiered on Spike TV on September 17, returned to the two-weight class format. It featured light heavyweight and lightweight fighters. Production on season eight began in late May, with the entire cast announced in September, and concluded in December.
Interim Heavyweight Championship
Frank Mir fought
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at
UFC 92 (held on December 27, 2008) for the Interim
UFC Heavyweight Championship. This bout was part of a mini-heavyweight tournament, often hyped by
Dana White. The winner of this fight would then face the winner of the match between the heavyweight champion
Randy Couture and
Brock Lesnar. Lesnar won by TKO in the second round, gaining him the heavyweight championship belt in the process and then setting him to face the winner at UFC 100 to unify the belts.
Frank Mir then defeated Nogueira in the second round via TKO due to strikes, showing vastly improved striking (particularly his boxing), by knocking down the Brazilian twice in the first round, and once in the second. He also scored a Judo-trip takedown in round one. Herb Dean stopped the match at 1:54 of the second round. Nogueira's loss marked the first time he had lost a fight by TKO. In a post fight interview, Mir credited his improved striking to a drastic improvement in conditioning.
Two days after the fight Dana White revealed in an interview that "Nogueira had just gotten over a Staph infection". Nogueira himself verified this fact several months later in his own interview, stating that he had a Staph infection "20 days before the fight, [requiring] 5 days in the hospital." When asked if this infection affected his fight, Nogueira answered: "For sure." In addition to this significant illness, his knee was injured during training for which he had surgery in February 2009. Despite these legitimate handicaps, Nogueira offered strong praise for Frank Mir's performance, with particular credit given to Mir's ability to maintain "very good distance".
Heavyweight Championship unification
Frank Mir's victory over Nogueira set in place a re-match with the UFC Heavyweight Champion
Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship. However, Mir stated, that in his opinion, holding victories over former Interim Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at ''UFC 92'' and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at ''UFC 81'' is enough to recognize him as the owner of the "real belt".
On May 23, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Frank Mir was scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar at
UFC 98, however Mir sustained a knee injury during training which required
arthroscopic surgery and the removal of bone chips from his knee. Mir's rematch against Brock Lesnar was rescheduled for
UFC 100, July 11, 2009.
At ''UFC 100'', Mir was lively on his feet but proved unable to counter Lesnar's wrestling and positional dominance. In the second round, after being allowed to standup, he landed a combo ending with a turning right elbow which forced Lesnar to clinch—proceeding to land a jumping right knee to rock his opponent—he was still unable to prevent the takedown. After a period of recovery from the knee Lesnar pinned Mir up against the cage and delivered multiple unanswered blows to his face, forcing Herb Dean to stop the fight via TKO at 1:48 in the 2nd round. With the win, Brock Lesnar became the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Post title shot
Mir had his next fight against
Cheick Kongo on December 12, 2009 at ''
UFC 107''. Mir was expected to weigh 20 to 25 lbs heavier than usual, due to the strength and conditioning program that he had undertaken to largely improve his muscular frame. This meant he would have to cut weight to get to the 265 lb limit. As expected, Mir weighed in for his fight against Kongo at 264.5 lbs. At the weigh-ins, Kongo refused to face Mir during the traditional staredown before the fight. During the fight, Mir stunned Kongo with an overhand left early, dropping him and swarming to secure a
guillotine choke victory at 1:12 in the first round. Kongo refused to tap and was rendered unconscious by the choke.
In the post-fight press conference Mir expressed his desire to fight a rubber match with Brock Lesnar. Mir later created controversy after commenting that he wanted to break Brock Lesnar's neck, so that he would become the first mixed martial artist to die in competition. Mir later made an apology for his comments.
Mir faced Shane Carwin for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111. After a brief standup exchange, Mir established the clinch, where Carwin eventually delivered multiple short, powerful uppercuts to Mir's face. Unable to defend himself, Mir lost the fight via KO at 3:48 of the first round.
At a UFC Fan Expo, Mir said he briefly considered dropping down to the Light Heavyweight division, although he later confirmed he will remain at heavyweight.
Mir was expected to face Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119 in a rematch from the Interim Championship bout, which Mir won via TKO at UFC 92. Nogueira pulled out of this fight due to knee surgery and was replaced by Mirko Filipović. Mir defeated Filipović via third round KO, earning the win with a knee from the clinch in a largely uneventful fight where neither fighter was able to deliver any significant offense.
Mir faced Roy Nelson on May 28, 2011 at UFC 130 he won via unanimous decision by using superior control and constant pressure. Pushing against the cage, completing a Judo hip throw and securing several takedowns in the third round, showing improved wrestling. Mir landed several hard knees and elbows from the Muay Thai clinch throughout the entire bout, but was unable to finish Nelson.
A rematch with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira took place on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140. At that event, Mir defeated Nogueira by kimura at 3:38 of round 1, snapping Nogueira's arm in the process and causing Nogueira to tap out. Mir is still only one of two fighters (the other being Cain Velasquez) to have finished Nogueira, and the only one to finish him twice, second time via submission. This marked also the first time Nogueira had been stopped via submission. The victory also earned Mir ''Submission of the Night'' honors. UFC President Dana White called it the "submission of the century" at the post fight press conference.
Mir was expected to face Cain Velasquez on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146. However, on April 20, 2012, Dana White announced that Mir would instead face Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, replacing Alistair Overeem. UFC Primetime will be returning to promote the fight between Mir and Junior Dos Santos.
Personal life
Frank Mir's father is
Cuban, born of
Moroccan immigrants of
Russian descent. The surname "Mir" translated from Russian, means "world" or "peace" (depending of the context), but his real last name is Miranda.
Mir and his wife Jennifer have three children together and Jennifer has a son from a previous relationship, whom Mir helps raise and is in the process of formally adopting.
Frank Mir is an atheist. He followed a vegan diet for a year but then switched to Paleo diet for supposedly better athletic outcome.
Mir worked as a bouncer at the Spearmint Rhino strip club in Las Vegas before entering the UFC, and continued to work as Director of Security there while pursuing his UFC career.
In addition to fighting in the UFC, Mir was a color commentator for World Extreme Cagefighting events on Versus from 2007 until the spring of 2010, when he was replaced by fellow UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar.
Championships and achievements
Ultimate Fighting Championship
*UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
*Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
*Submission of the Night (Two times)
Most wins in UFC Heavyweight division in history (14)
*Most wins by submission in UFC Heavyweight division in history (8)
World MMA Awards
Submission of the Year (2011) vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on December 10
FIGHT! Magazine
Submission of the Year (2008) vs. Brock Lesnar on February 2
Sherdog
*2008 Comeback Fighter of the Year
2011 Submission of the Year
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
*Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo Pires
Pan American Championships
*Blue Belt Pesadissimo: 1st place (2001)
North American Grappling Association
*NAGA Absolute Division Champion (2007)
Nevada State Wrestling
*Nevada State Wrestling Champion (1998)
Mixed martial arts record
|-
| Win
|align=center| 16–5
|
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
|Technical submission (kimura)
|
UFC 140
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 3:38
|
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 15–5
|
Roy Nelson
|Decision (unanimous)
|
UFC 130
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 14–5
|
Mirko Filipović
| KO (knee)
|
UFC 119
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 4:02
|
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 13–5
|
Shane Carwin
| KO (punches)
|
UFC 111
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 3:48
|
Newark, New Jersey, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 13–4
|
Cheick Kongo
| Technical Submission (guillotine choke)
|
UFC 107
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:12
|
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 12–4
|
Brock Lesnar
| TKO (punches)
|
UFC 100
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 1:48
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 12–3
|
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
| TKO (punches)
|
UFC 92
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 1:57
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 11–3
|
Brock Lesnar
| Submission (kneebar)
|
UFC 81
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:30
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 10–3
|
Antoni Hardonk
| Submission (kimura)
|
UFC 74
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:17
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 9–3
|
Brandon Vera
| TKO (punches)
|
UFC 65
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:09
|
Sacramento, California, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 9–2
|
Dan Christison
| Decision (unanimous)
|
UFC 61
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 8–2
|
Márcio Cruz
| TKO (punches and elbows)
|
UFC 57
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 4:10
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 8–1
|
Tim Sylvia
| Technical Submission (armbar)
|
UFC 48
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:50
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 7–1
|
Wes Sims
| KO (punches)
|
UFC 46
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 4:21
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 6–1
|
Wes Sims
| DQ (stomping a downed opponent)
|
UFC 43
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:55
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 5–1
|
Tank Abbott
| Submission (toe hold)
|
UFC 41
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:46
|
Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 4–1
|
Ian Freeman
| TKO (punches)
|
UFC 38
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 4:35
|
London, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 4–0
|
Pete Williams
| Submission (inside shoulder lock)
|
UFC 36
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:46
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 3–0
|
Roberto Traven
| Submission (armbar)
|
UFC 34
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:05
|
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 2–0
|
Dan Quinn
| Submission (triangle choke)
| IFCWC 15
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:15
|
Oroville, California, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 1–0
|Jerome Smith
| Decision (unanimous)
| HOOKnSHOOT
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 5:00
|
Evansville, Indiana, United States
|
|-
See also
List of current UFC fighters
Ultimate Fighting Championship
List of male mixed martial artists
References
External links
- Official Twitter Account
FrankMir - facebook
FrankMir.com - Official Website
TEAMMIR.com - Official Team Website
Official UFC Profile
|-
Category:American mixed martial artists
Category:Mixed martial artists from Nevada
Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists
Category:American karateka
Category:1979 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from the Las Vegas Valley
Category:American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Category:American Muay Thai practitioners
Category:American mixed martial artists of Cuban descent
Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship champions
Category:Mixed martial arts broadcasters
Category:American people of Cuban descent
Category:American people of Moroccan descent
Category:American people of Russian descent
Category:American atheists
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