I've always appreciated Brock Lesnar's comment about Frank Mir having a "horseshoe up his ass," since I don't think truer words could ever be spoken. Mir has never been the greatest fighter, but he's found ways to hold titles and pull off wins that skill wise he should not have been able to accomplish.
Tim Sylvia- I know people like to use hindsight to discredit "The Maine-iac," but there's just no way Frank Mir should have been able to win this fight at the time. Sylvia was known for great takedown defense and using his incredible reach. At the time, Mir had awful standup, evidenced by his slopfest with Wes Sims months prior. Sylvia should have KO'd Mir cold pretty effortlessly. So what does Sylvia do? Shoot a takedown!!! I still think if Herb Dean did not notice the arm break, that Sylvia would have KO'd Mir standing anyways since he had escaped without tapping. Still, Sylvia's takedown on Mir might be the lowest fight IQ moment ever.
Tim Sylvia 2 not being approved by the Athletic Commission- The AC did not believe Mir would be competitive with Sylvia, so they nixed that fight. Considering the mismatches we have seen in MMA, it is quite fortunate for Mir that they spared him this loss.
Brock Lesnar 1- Brock beat the living dogshit out of Frank Mir, standing and on the ground. Mir had nothing for him. Problem was Brock was inexperienced. Instead of just standing and beating Mir that way, Brock played the risk of staying on the ground as a novice and got kneebarred. The flukeness of this victory was reinforced with how effortlessly Brock battered Mir in the 2nd fight. The one thing Mir should get credit for is that he had become the better striker by the 2nd fight, but Brock wasn't inexperienced on the ground anymore. Brock should have just KO'd Mir standing in the 1st fight. Mir's standup was terrible for years.
Minotauro 1- Say whatever you want, but you're blind if you think Big Nog was in any condition to take that fight. Mir had nothing for Nog standing in the 2nd fight. Did the vet Noguiera get better at the end of his career when he was losing all the time or did he just show up to the Mir 1 fight in really bad shape? I think it's clear he was hospitalized and that was a real excuse.
Kongo- Please tell me what Kongo was doing with his hands so low that he got caught with that overhand. We've seen plenty of evidence throughout their respective careers that Kongo is a better wrestler than Mir. Why was he so worried about a takedown that he'd fall for that?
Carwin- Miragliotta stopped that fight too soon and saved Mir braincells. J/K
Minotauro 2- This fight was weird in that it pretty much proved that Mir-Noguiera 1 was a fluke outcome, since Noguiera boxed the shit out of Mir rather than be a lifeless punching bag, and that Noguiera was likely the better grappler (how effortlessly Nog got to his feet after a takedown).......THEN Nog gets submitted through a series of events that would never repeat themselves. Instead of ruling a TKO when Nog drops Mir and is hitting him clean with punches on the ground, Herb Dean inexplicably warns Nog to stop hitting the back of the head. Nog proceeds to drop for a terrible guillotine attempt (he also did this against Couture), gets caught underneath Mir in side control when attempting a switch to get out of his mistake, and pretty much gifts the kimura. Mir goes from a TKO loss to a submission victory in seconds, and people will be forever deluded into thinking Mir is a better fighter than Noguiera.
Bigfoot Silva- With Mir's tendency to go fetal under ground and pound and Bigfoot's stifling top control, wouldn't this have been one of the most obvious results if Bigfoot was still on TRT? Mir was not submitting Bigfoot, who survived three rounds on the ground with Werdum.
Todd Duffee- Not saying Duffee is a great fighter, but the speed and skill difference between him and Mir was enormous. If Duffee was just patient with his striking and picked Mir apart rather than sloppily brawling, I'm confident Mir's chin would have given out.
I'm thinking Hunt rocks him with a jab, tries a flying omaplata, knocks himself out on the ground when his head hits the canvas, Mir sinks in an RNC, gets the tap, and Sherdog threads popup everywhere about how Mir is an all-time great with an amazing resume.
Somebody needs to shoop a picture of Brock Lesnar handing back the horseshoe he pulled out of Frank Mir's ass and beat him over the head with. Lesnar is a nice guy afterall.
