Frank Mir says his feelings have been hurt under new UFC ownership

It has been a rough year for former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

After testing positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT) in March 2016, which is on the banned substances list, Mir just recently was given his sanction from USADA that has him banned from competition for two years. Mir is eligible to fight again in April 2018.

Mir has maintained that he never knowingly took any banned substances and spoke on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour about his situation. The former champ says that he hasn’t gotten much answers or support from the UFC and UFC President Dana White who he has known from the early days with the company, fighting for the promotion since his debut at UFC 34 back in 2001.

Mir mentioned that he reached out to White after he was flagged by USADA and never heard back from him. The former heavyweight champion again reached out to White to ask him to be a part of his induction to the Nevada Sports Hall of Fame that took place in 2016 and again never got any response.

The former UFC champ says he has noticed a difference since the UFC was bought by WME-IMG for over $4 billion dollars and the says that the relationship he once had just isn’t the same anymore.

“My feelings have been hurt, yes,” Mir said (transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting). “If that’s what you’re asking. I don’t feel the same about the company as I felt years ago. And I’m seeing that even with some of the ways they’re handling things the way they handle them now. There’s been several times where I’m like, ‘Wow, if Lorenzo was still there at the office, if Dana was still in full control and not just a minority shareholder, would that have ever happened?’ I don’t know about that.

“I don’t know if this is the same company that I started with 15 years ago.”

Do you think Dana White will respond now that Frank Mir has let it all out? Give us your thoughts on the situation in the comment section.

on 4/25/2017