About two and a half years ago, Frank Mir was walking around with the UFC interim heavyweight championship belt around his waist. Things have certainly changed as we head into the UFC 130.
Now fighting in the semi-main event against Roy Nelson, Mir is no longer the champion. In fact, he may not even be a contender. Some would even venture to say that he’s hardly even a relevant heavyweight in 2011.
However, I’m not one of those people. I believe that at 32 years old, Frank Mir still has a lot left to give to the sport and that he can still be a contender given the right set of circumstances. But it all starts this Saturday night when he fights the big-bellied, mulleted former IFL heavyweight champion, Roy Nelson.
A quick look at Mir’s career would tell you that, like many fighters, he has had his ups and downs.
Mir ran up a 7-1 MMA record that included an impressive and painful-looking submission over Tank Abbott at UFC 41 prior to his first title shot against Tim Sylvia at UFC 48. It was that fight against Sylvia that really put Mir on the heavyweight map for good.
An underdog against the monstrous champion at the time, Mir also conceded well over 30 pounds to the “Maine-iac.” But it didn’t matter as Mir not only won the fight and became the new champion, but also broke Sylvia’s arm in the process in one of the most memorable and horrific-looking Octagon submissions of all-time.
The new champion was flying high and looked to be on a path to long-term greatness when a horrible motorcycle accident caused him to be sidelined for an extended period of time and subsequently stripped of his title.
Mir eventually returned, but looked awful in three straight fights against Marcio Cruz, Dan Christison and Brandon Vera. It looked as if an outside injury had caused the end of yet another mixed martial arts career.
A re-commitment to the sport helped Mir spring back with a victory over Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74 before he surprised nearly everyone with his submission over the debuting Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 in February 2008. Later that year, Mir would be crowned the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion when he became the first man to ever stop the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92.
Unfortunately, his title run would be short-lived once again as he was dominated by Brock Lesnar in their rematch at UFC 100.
Since that night, Mir has not looked like the same fighter that we saw have an impressive three-fight win streak in 2007-2008. Yes, he defeated an overrated Cheick Kongo and even knocked out Mirko Cro Cop, but his punishing loss to Shane Carwin may be what many fans will remember most about Mir’s last three fights.
Brendan Schaub recently proved that, at this point, any relevant heavyweight should be able to defeat Mirko Cro Cop, so it’s hard to give Mir too much credit for his uncharacteristically boring defeat of the former Pride superstar.
It’s time for Mir to get back in the cage against a top 10 opponent, and Roy Nelson is just that.
The UFC 130 semi main event will be a huge fight for both of these men as Nelson looks to climb into the UFC’s elite for the first time while Mir attempts to get back there. Neither fighter is going to go out without a fight and this is expected by most to be the kind of heavyweight slugfest that fans dream about.
With the looming potential of an “invasion” of the Strikeforce heavyweight division, the time for Frank Mir to make a statement is right now. He needs this win over Roy Nelson to prove that not only is he relevant, but he is still a top contender for Cain Velasquez’s UFC heavyweight championship going forward.
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