Frank Mir News

Drake Riggs - December 24, 2018

When it comes to the UFC’s decision to make a last minute moving of UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, it effects a whole lot more than just the person that it was moved for. The reason for the move is because of the event’s headliner, the returning former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones not being granted a license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). He, however, does have a temporary license from the California State Athletic Commission.

Chris Taylor - December 22, 2018

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir (18-13 MMA) is looking to book a rematch with Javy Ayala in order to determine his future in the fight game. Mir suffered the first submission defeat of his storied mixed martial arts career to Ayala at Bellator 212 in Honolulu earlier this month.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2018

Last Friday night, in the co-main event of Bellator’s first card in Hawaii, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir experienced a brutal loss to Javy Ayala. Though Mir started strong in this fight, he was swarmed in the second round, and ultimately forced to tap out to strikes. After the fight, it was revealed that Frank Mir had sustained an alveolar ridge fracture in the fight, which is what prompted his tap.

Chris Taylor - December 15, 2018

Javy Ayala picked up the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career at last night’s Bellator 212 event, stopping former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in round two. After a strong opening round from the Mir, Ayala was able to turn the tide in round two.

Chris Taylor - December 14, 2018

A heavyweight bout featuring former UFC champion Frank Mir taking on Javy Ayala served as the co-headliner of tonight’s Bellator 212 event in Hawaii. Frank Mir made his Bellator debut back in April, where he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Fedor Emelianenko.

Cole Shelton - October 17, 2018

Bellator recently announced they will be heading to Hawaii on back-to-back nights on December 14 and 15. While both cards will feature title fights, another fight that is a rather interesting one is former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will be taking on Bellator veteran Javy Ayala on the first of the two cards. Javy Ayala received the call to fight Mir in September and knew it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Tom Taylor - October 11, 2018

On December 15, Bellator will touch down in Honolulu, Hawaii with Bellator 211. The card will be headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between Hawaiian champ Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, and co-headlined by a middleweight scrap between former UFC champ Lyoto Machida and former Bellator champ Rafael Carvalho. Amazingly, this stacked card is not all that Bellator is offering the fans in Hawaii, who have been waiting years for major MMA show. The night before this card, in the very same Honolulu venue, the promotion will honor the military with a card titled ‘Salute the Troops,’ which will be free for members of the US armed forces and their friends and families.

Drake Riggs - May 18, 2018

Former UFC champion and MMA legend, Frank Mir will be getting his wish. After making his Bellator debut last month in a short but thrilling loss to Fedor Emelianenko in the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix, Mir stated after the loss when speaking on his podcast, Phone Booth Fighting that he wanted to fight for Absolute Championship Berkut(ACB) before his next Bellator fight. He now will be doing so.

Chris Taylor - April 28, 2018

Bellator 198 Results: Fedor Emelianenko KO’s Frank Mir A highly anticipated heavyweight fight between former UFC champion Frank Mir and former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko served as the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 198 event.

Tom Taylor - April 17, 2018

Pretty much everybody has an opinion on Conor McGregor‘s recent rampage in Brooklyn, during which the Irish star infamously threw a dolly through the window of the UFC 223 fighter bus, injuring several fighters set to compete on the card.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

Though Frank Mir’s UFC career is over, he’s managed to stay very busy in the mixed martial arts world in other roles. He is, of course, one of the participants in Bellator’s exciting heavyweight Grand Prix, as he’s set for a first-round matchup with Fedor Emelianenko in late April. He’s also an MMA commentator, regularly donning the headset for Russian promotion Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) on a regular basis. And now, Mir is also a fight promoter. His work as a promoter will also be for ACB.

Justin Golightly - January 31, 2018

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir finally has a chance to fight one of the very best fighters of all time. Bellator has turned back all the clocks to the ol’ glory days of MMA when the grand prix tournament was still king. They’ve also brought in fighters that have never gotten a chance to face each other in all their years of being in the sport. One fight has already gone by with Chael Sonnen and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and they’ll be another one in between Mir fighting Fedor Emelianenko. While many feel he’s passed his prime, Mir assures everyone that Fedor is still Fedor. “Damn, that’s a tough first fight. No joke, Fedor [Emelianenko] is still a phenomenal fighter. I know a lot of people don’t have the eyes that I have and they look at him and go, ‘Well, look at his results.’ And that’s easy to say in our sport, you know. […] Fedor is extremely good. He’s still very quick. He hasn’t lost his power in his punches. Even when he threw the punch against [Matt] Mitrione, Mitrione fell down. Mitrione’s a big kid, y’know, a big guy. I think the difference I try to explain to everybody, [people will say], ‘Well, he used to be unbeatable.’ Yeah, that’s not because he’s gotten worse. Everybody else has gotten better.”

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

The bells of nostalgia are calling and have summoned a Bellator heavyweight grand prix that will drop early next year. Among all of the UFC veterans and MMA legends involved, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will take on the illustrious Fedor Emelianenko. Despite being far removed from his prime and experiencing some devastating losses, Mir believes Fedor is just as dangerous as ever, it’s just everyone else who has changed. “I think [Fedor Emelianenko]’s still extremely dangerous. He did everything he does normally. You see how fast he threw the right hand on [Matt] Mitrione. The difference is everyone else just have gotten a lot better. If Matt Mitrione would fight 10 years ago in Pride, he would have been one of the best fighters in Pride, if we grab Mitrione we are seeing now and put him back there. Back then guys were either good boxers, wrestlers, jiu jitsu guys. You didn’t have a lot of guys who were good at everything. Which Fedor is. He’s good at everything. And now he has to deal with the fact that everybody now is good at everything.”

Justin Golightly - November 11, 2017

Amidst all the chaos happening in the MMA world right now, Bellator dropped a huge bombshell yesterday that they’ll be putting on a heavyweight grand prix to crown their first heavyweight champion in four years. With all the names participating in the bracket, nearly every match-up is an opportunity to see bouts that we were never able to see due to the fighters not being in the UFC. After two long and storied careers, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will meet the legend Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. “I’ll be a part of the eight man tournament that’s been announced by Bellator. I got the word just last night or the night before. I got the call to say, ‘Hey, we need a headshot. We’re putting you in this.’ I obviously agreed. They told me the names that were in there and it looks like I’ll probably be lining up with Fedor [Emelianenko], hopefully in April [2018]. It’s a huge moment. I didn’t even sleep that night thinking about it, running it through my mind, watching videos, already starting to try to pick apart his different traits and gameplans.”

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

The grand prix is the pinnacle of combat sport. It is the most difficult tournament format and has the potential to produce absolutely chaotic results. That chaos is why that, for the most part other than Japan’s RIZIN, the creation of an MMA grand prix is few and far between. However, there is a man who has never strayed from that chaos, but welcomes it to put on exciting fights throughout the years. That man is Scott Coker and he is at it again. Bellator will put on a heavyweight grand prix to crown its first heavyweight champion in four years. “This is going to be something that’s iconic for us. Tournaments, traditionally, are kind of the way martial arts contests happen. Now we get to put eight iconic brand names in our sport together over a year, and then whoever wins will be crowned the heavyweight champion. I think there are certain fights that people want to see. Believe me, we’re going to have some amazing match-ups in this tournament. These fights that we’re going to put together are something that the fans want to see. These are iconic names, big brands.” — Scott Coker speaking to MMA Junkie. 

Russell Ess - August 15, 2017

Another big name from the UFC is apparently heading over to Bellator. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir has agreed to terms with Bellator MMA, according to an article released on Tuesday from Ariel Helwani for MMA Fighting. Mir’s agreement with Bellator comes shortly after the former UFC heavyweight champion was granted a release last month from his contract with the UFC.

Chris Taylor - July 30, 2017

Daniel Cormier suffered a heartbreaking third-round knockout loss to bitter rival Jon “Bones” Jones in the main event of UFC 214 last night in Anaheim, California. Shortly following the conclusion of last night’s UFC 214 main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir took to Twitter where he shared his thoughts on why Daniel Cormier was so emotional in defeat.

Tom Taylor - July 10, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight champion and long-time heavyweight contender Frank Mir is now a free agent. After failing a USADA test – and failing to prove the failed test was not his fault – he and the UFC agreed on an amicable divorce. Now that he’s free to fight elsewhere, Mir is setting his sights on two legends of the sport: Pride legend Fedor Emelianenko and his biggest rival, former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.