Former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir has accepted a challenge to conclude his trilogy with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who wants one more fight against his long time rival for before retirement. Coming off four straight losses, Mir told Globo.com that with two wins against “Minotauro” and the likelihood that the fight will be in Brazil aren’t issues for him but the UFC would still need to give the green light.
“I know that Nogueira wants to have his last fight against me. I have no problem accepting this bout but the UFC would have to agree. Some people could say that I already won twice and I don’t need to risk having a loss but won’t deny this fight. I know that he would like to make his last appearance in Brazil and not in the USA but it’s fine by me. I have fans in Brazil, it wouldn’t be a totally hostile territory.”
Planning to fight again in 2015, the 35-year-old fighter and father of three children under 10-years-old isn’t thinking about retirement yet.
“Two things would lead me to quit fighting. If I start losing for unknown guys, fighters building a name yet. The other would be my children. I have baseball games to watch and school obligations from them to follow. When they become teens I will likely not be fighting. I was unhappy by losing my last four fights but my coach told me to go home, heal my injuries, take a rest, train and re-evaluate everything. That is what I’m doing.”
Mir predicts a great and competitive fight between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum for the UFC Heavyweight title at UFC 180, and also thinks that Junior dos Santos still has the necessary tools to beat the champion again, no matter his two previous losses.
“It’s going to be a fantastic fight. Velasquez is a phenomenal champion, he has a great cardio and a good boxing, he’s also a better wrestler. But I don’t know how will he face this bout. If he takes Werdum down, he’s going to face the best Jiu-Jitsu of the division. If he chooses to fight standing up, we can have an idea remembering how good Werdum fought against Travis Browne, a very tall guy that has a long reach and was completely beaten. I think that people are underrating Werdum’s striking, he can kick and punch very well. I’m curious to watch this fight. Against Junior, Cain would have to be intense at all time and don’t stop. But any moment of the fight can be the last one when you’re facing Junior. It will always be a scary fight to Cain. He broke Junior last time, but “Cigano” is always one punch away from the victory, like we all saw in their first bout.”
After his fourth straight loss back in February at UFC 169 against Alistair Overeem, Mir started a period without competing. This week, he’s in Sao Paulo for seminars and commitments with World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA). The agenda is the discussion of better ways for the athletes in Brazil to organize their careers without depending of the promotions.