Frank Mir: I don’t feel the same about the company as I felt years ago

ninja boot said:
mma may not be dying but people have their heads up their asses if they don't believe the ufc is.
all they're doing by neglecting 95% of their workforce is showing the up and coming talent that the inherent risk with signing with them isn't worth the struggle.
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oh shut the fuck up, Frank failed a fucking drug test. People been saying this bullshit for years, how are you still saying this?


the UFC dying would be catastrophic for MMA if you know anything about the business, TV money would dry up, sponsorship would dry up, other organisations wouldn't have to pay fighters very much and they'd be able to justify it, gyms would dry up.

Sponsorship markets for all orgs have already dried up a lot because the UFC did the reebok deal.

How can it die anyway? it's making a shit ton of money from TV deals & PPV revenue, so how is it going to die?

You fucking morons talk about it dying even though you have no explanation or idea of how it would happen.

Literally just shut the fuck up, your idiotic statements give me a headache.
 
Don't blame the company, blame the sham that is Dana

He has $300 million for sitting around tweeting all day and the fighters have a combined what? Minus -$1000 after training?

The only way MMA can thrive is if it dies and gets reborn on a more legit foundation. The UFC sucked it dry and ran off with the money
 
KazDibiase said:


Frank Mir says he has been in Dana White’s office on multiple occasions. There was a time, Mir said, when the UFC president would take him in with open arms and impart some “big brother” advice. Mir, after all, is the former UFC heavyweight champion and one of the promotion’s most tenured fighters.

During the course of Mir’s situation with USADA, Mir said he reached out to White multiple times, first looking for guidance and then to ask if White would be a part of his induction into the Nevada Sports Hall of Fame last year. Mir told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that White has yet to get back to him and he’s bummed out about it.

“I thought maybe this was another situation like that, but I guess not,” Mir said of previous times when he asked for help. “I don’t know.”

Mir, 37, failed a USADA drug test for the banned substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT) in March 2016 and it was announced last week that he would be suspended for two years, retroactive to April 2016. Mir will be eligible to return to the Octagon in April 2018.


The 16-year UFC veteran is displeased with how the entire thing has gone down, from the beginning of the USADA era, to what he believes were inconsistencies from USADA, to his current standing with the UFC.

Right now, Mir isn’t sure what he’ll do next as far as fighting. He wants to continue competing and he’d like the UFC to release him, so he’d be able to fight for another promotion. He’s not sure why he’s not allowed to go elsewhere when then UFC won’t let him fight until next year. In the meantime, Mir is doing broadcasting for organizations like Absolute Championship Berkut and Fight Nights Global.

“I’ve tried to just make things work as well as possible,” Mir said. “But I don't even know if I’m allowed to discuss things with other organizations and find out if I can fight for them or not. I’m kind of in this limbo.”

Mir said this process with USADA and getting supplements tested to see if they contained banned drugs cost him $30,000. He still wants to fight to provide for his family, but he won’t be able to do that in the UFC until his suspension is up. Mir said the only UFC official he has spoken to recently is Reed Harris, the vice president of athlete development. Not White or former CEO and owner Lorenzo Fertitta.

Things seem different now than they were before since WME-IMG purchased the UFC from the Fertittas last year for more than $4 billion, Mir said.

“My feelings have been hurt, yes,” Mir said. “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.”

The USADA situation, in particular, has been a thorn in Mir’s side. Initially, he was told he failed just one test in March 2016. Another, taken in February 2016, was negative. So Mir had been having supplements he took in that time span tested to see which one caused the failure.

USADA, though, had his February 2016 sample re-analyzed. The March 2016 sample came back positive using a new method at a WADA-accredited Tokyo lab. When tested under that new procedure, the February 2016 sample also came back positive for DHCMT, which USADA described as a “long term” metabolite.

Mir said he was told that it could have been in his system for years, possibly as far back as when he was using testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) with an exemption. So, Mir feels like his time and money was wasted trying to figure out what he took in between the two tests when really the prohibited substance could have been ingested long before.

“Now do I spend x amount of money more going after the supplements I took three years ago now … or do I just ride out the rest of the suspension?” Mir said. “I don't know. It just doesn’t sit well with me.”

USADA does have the legal right to re-test collected samples using new technology up to years after the initial collection, based on the agency’s contract with the UFC.

Mir (18-11) said he’s inclined to keep trying to figure out how the DHCMT got into his system. He has maintained that he did not knowingly take anything banned. The financial cost of all this, though, has been discouraging, he said. He doesn’t know how someone who hasn’t made as much money in MMA could afford it.

“Thankfully, I’ve had a successful enough career that I have a little bit of money to try to fight this,” Mir said. “What about the guys who don’t? What if a prelim guy gets falsely accused or takes something from a supplement company he wasn’t aware of. Where does he get the money to try and battle this?”

For the first time during this situation, Mir said, he has thought about the benefits of a fighters association or union. When an MLB or NFL player fails a drug test, union representatives act as advocates for them. UFC fighters have nothing like that.

While an appeal is out the window and Mir is working on getting a lawyer to address his UFC contract status, the uncertainty of how he tested positive for DHCMT is still lingering with him. Mir said he’s still bent on finding out how it happened, even if he knows the two-year suspension will stand.

“For me and my family, I want to know what happened and how it happened,” Mir said. “That’s for me.”

http://www.mmafighting.com/platform...-usada-i-dont-feel-the-same-about-the-company
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well of course he doesnt.... they used to let him cheat, now they dont.
 
Pernell said:
why? So somebody else can profit off him for him failing a drug test? Frank made his bed now he has to lie in it, that's how the real world works.
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Wat, that's not how the real world works at all.
 
Pernell said:
NEWSFLASH: the real world isn't whatever basement you're dwelling in eating cheetos and doing whatever you guys do.
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You have besmirched me, sir.
I never eat cheetos.
I'm a cheesy poofs kinda guy.
 
KONE said:
The UFC has released people before when they got in trouble with drug testing so they could do other things

At least answer his phone call at the very least if you wanna tell him to fuck off. He's a pioneer of the sport, Dana owes it to him to answer the fucking phone.
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Dana is a busy man but there should absolutely be a way for his employees to get in touch with him. All of his employees, not just the pioneers.

Although, the ufc has released fighters with positive drug tests, I think that releasing them can set a bad precedent. In the two cases I'm vaguely familiar with, I don't think either fighter tested positive. Crocop, I believe, disclosed that he was taking an illegal substance and didn't actually fail any tests. W. Silva, as I understand, ran from a random test and was subsequently suspended. In both of these cases my memory is a little fuzzy. So, I could be wrong.

Mir was actually caught red handed and I think he should have to pay the consequences. Regardless of whether he's in the twilight of his career. If the ufc stands their ground in this situation, it could prevent other fighter from using peds, that would otherwise take the chance and think if they do get caught, well, the ufc will just release them.
 
lefthighkick01 said:
The UFC has obviously gotten worse since the new owners only care about profit and nothing else... at least Fertita's were fight fans and gave support to fighters in some cases
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Yeah, like when they fired guys for not signing their image rights away, or took away sponsorship money when they signed the reebok deal. Oh wait, that was under the Fertita's. The ufc has always sucked and never cared about their fighters. The more power they acquired, the more their true nature came out.
 
Peteyandjia said:
Understandable, when he says he can't get Dana White on the phone and hasn't been able to talk to him since the last night he fought.

Frank Mir's been a UFC company man since the beginning of his career, through the ups & downs of the company, you would think they might treat a guy like that with some respect, but nope.
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i miss the gangsters that used to run the ufc :( They weren't perfect and they fucked over a lot of people but they were old school and actually took care of those who went above and beyond for them
 
srdrgz11 said:
Dana is a busy man but there should absolutely be a way for his employees to get in touch with him. All of his employees, not just the pioneers.

Although, the ufc has released fighters with positive drug tests, I think that releasing them can set a bad precedent. In the two cases I'm vaguely familiar with, I don't think either fighter tested positive. Crocop, I believe, disclosed that he was taking an illegal substance and didn't actually fail any tests. W. Silva, as I understand, ran from a random test and was subsequently suspended. In both of these cases my memory is a little fuzzy. So, I could be wrong.

Mir was actually caught red handed and I think he should have to pay the consequences. Regardless of whether he's in the twilight of his career. If the ufc stands their ground in this situation, it could prevent other fighter from using peds, that would otherwise take the chance and think if they do get caught, well, the ufc will just release them.
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theres a few been released even post usada.

Diego Brandao - tested positive and released, but the release was more to do with his address for pistol whipping a bouncer
Adam Hunter - but then he never fought and he wont be fighting for a fair old while
Ricardo Abreu - has been allowed to retire
Cisco Rivera - released - his usada case hasnt even been heard yet
Lesnar - technically his contract was up, so he just left
Luis Felipe Olivieri - released , got another year of his suspension to run
 
Mir is one of my favorite fighters, but he did this to himself. I don't believe him when he says he doesnt know how the substances got in his system.

Why would they release him to go make money for a competitor? Especially one that he could go get juiced up again.

USADA has been good for the most part imo.
 
Peteyandjia said:
Understandable, when he says he can't get Dana White on the phone and hasn't been able to talk to him since the last night he fought.

Frank Mir's been a UFC company man since the beginning of his career, through the ups & downs of the company, you would think they might treat a guy like that with some respect, but nope.
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is normal. they no hespect nothing. Every single superstar and/or legend of the sport has been pissed on by the UFC. why would Mir be an exception?
 
well, failing drug tests is the fastest way onto Dana's shitlist really
 
Pernell said:
oh shut the fuck up, Frank failed a fucking drug test. People been saying this bullshit for years, how are you still saying this?


the UFC dying would be catastrophic for MMA if you know anything about the business, TV money would dry up, sponsorship would dry up, other organisations wouldn't have to pay fighters very much and they'd be able to justify it, gyms would dry up.

Sponsorship markets for all orgs have already dried up a lot because the UFC did the reebok deal.

How can it die anyway? it's making a shit ton of money from TV deals & PPV revenue, so how is it going to die?

You fucking morons talk about it dying even though you have no explanation or idea of how it would happen.

Literally just shut the fuck up, your idiotic statements give me a headache.
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confirmed conor fanboy right here ^
i'm sorry that you fail to make the correlation that the ufc is only as good as it's fighters and if they all go where the grass is greener than the ufc suddenly is no longer the big dick in town.
oh by the way, i appreciate the condescending remarks, they only fuel my fire.
 
If he had won 5+ in a row, these statements would not have happened. Mir is a guy who should be retired, not looking to get brutally KO in Bellator.
 
lefthighkick01 said:
The UFC has obviously gotten worse since the new owners only care about profit and nothing else... at least Fertita's were fight fans and gave support to fighters in some cases
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Not even. The Ferrtitas just realized that a major shit storm was on the horizon regarding fighter compensation, so they GTFO when the GTFO was good. The fact is, the fighters asking for more money aren't really worth it, and they are running out of star power. MMA is popular enough now where we don't need organizations running anything. The boxing model is inevitable.
 
dimspace said:
theres a few been released even post usada.

Diego Brandao - tested positive and released, but the release was more to do with his address for pistol whipping a bouncer
Adam Hunter - but then he never fought and he wont be fighting for a fair old while
Ricardo Abreu - has been allowed to retire
Cisco Rivera - released - his usada case hasnt even been heard yet
Lesnar - technically his contract was up, so he just left
Luis Felipe Olivieri - released , got another year of his suspension to run
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There's a lot of caveats involved in those releases. Additionally, all of those fighters have little to no value to the ufc. The ufc didn't benovolently release those fighters in order to give them a chance to prosper in some other organization.

Their release from the ufc was punishment enough and the ufc wanted nothing to do with. In my opinion, releasing Mir wouldn't be much punishment at all, considering the circumstances.
 
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