Clark Kent
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12-10-2009 08:45 AM:
Winning the UFC heavyweight title at 25-years-old, Frank Mir went from phenom to nearly retiring after struggling during a comeback from a horrific motorcycle accident. He's clearly not one to quit and doesn't take losses well, so when he was destoyed by Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 it lit a fire. Mir set out to correct his big weakness, a lack of power against the biggest MMA heavyweights in the world. The Las Vegan went to work with former Strongman competitor Mark Philippi. Everything was looking great, Mir was making great progress until he heard the news of Lesnar's serious illness. Instead of thinking, "great, now the big guy is out of way, that'll make it easier for me," Mir was angry:
The Sun took Mir back to his old high school wrestling room and discovered that he's always been driven by the fear of losing. He picked up wrestling late and started out his junior year 0-7. By the end of the his senior year, he was 44-1 and the Nevada State heavyweigght champ. Brett Okamoto's piece is a good read and fills in newer fans on much of Mir's background plus his rise and fall from UFC stardom.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
Winning the UFC heavyweight title at 25-years-old, Frank Mir went from phenom to nearly retiring after struggling during a comeback from a horrific motorcycle accident. He's clearly not one to quit and doesn't take losses well, so when he was destoyed by Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 it lit a fire. Mir set out to correct his big weakness, a lack of power against the biggest MMA heavyweights in the world. The Las Vegan went to work with former Strongman competitor Mark Philippi. Everything was looking great, Mir was making great progress until he heard the news of Lesnar's serious illness. Instead of thinking, "great, now the big guy is out of way, that'll make it easier for me," Mir was angry:
"When he got sick it screwed up my training because he was such a driving force for me," Mir told the Las Vegas Sun. "I went into a depression for two to three days where I didn’t go to the gym, I got sick — I drove myself insane thinking we may possibly not fight again. I couldn’t live with that."
Mir's father, Frank Sr., said his son's preoccupation with Lesnar began immediately after the loss at UFC 100 when the big guy got up in his son's grill.
"He shouldn’t have lost that fight, in his heart and in his mind,” Frank Sr. said. “Brock’s demeanor after that fight really fueled him. After a fight it should be, ‘You won. Let’s shake hands. Brock is going to be ever present in his mind until he gets back in and deals with him.”
It's interesting to hear Mir gives his take on the Lesnar incident after the fight. The UFC heavyweight champ was right in the face of the dazed Mir. He said he had no clue what was happening. In fact, he suffered a blackout period at the end of the fight.
The Sun took Mir back to his old high school wrestling room and discovered that he's always been driven by the fear of losing. He picked up wrestling late and started out his junior year 0-7. By the end of the his senior year, he was 44-1 and the Nevada State heavyweigght champ. Brett Okamoto's piece is a good read and fills in newer fans on much of Mir's background plus his rise and fall from UFC stardom.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
