Frank Mir: I’m Becoming More Well Rounded

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir is well known for his deadly submission skills, but as of late he has shown off his boxing skills. His last two bouts have been victories for Mir as he beat Antonio Silva in February of 2014 and Todd Duffee at UFC Fight Night 71. Both were first-round knockouts.

Mir recently commented about those newly found skills as well as his recent resurgence in getting his hand raised after going on a losing streak.

“It’s just that the fight starts there,” Mir told MMAjunkie Radio. “My last couple fights have turned out to be pretty short so I haven’t seen too much ground. But even in the Bigfoot fight, as soon as I hit him it wasn’t like I was going to wait for the guy to get up and try to keep boxing. I took advantage of the fact that he was on the ground and I passed his guard and started to do some ground and pound. I’m just becoming more well rounded.”

Mir mentioned that it’s the first time in his career where he has had the kind of enthusiasm for boxing that he has for grappling. Which is always a good thing for an MMA fighter to be balanced.

His upcoming bout at UFC 191 will be his third fight of 2015, which is something that Mir hasn’t done since 2006. Mir (18-9) is currently on a two-fight winning streak. In his last six bouts, he’s 2-4.

In the past, Mir has claimed that he needed time off for his body to heal up, but he will throw that thinking out of mind as UFC 191 is quickly approaching. Mir is scheduled to fight Andrei Arlovski at the event.

“I think two is a little bit better on the family and on me physically,” Mir said. “An opportunity arose to take this fight and I took it. I made sure I leaned on my corner and camp and family and asked, ‘Hey, what do you guys think about this?’ And everybody was pretty positive about it. That’s what kind of helped me get through it.

“My wife said it was a good idea because she said, ‘When you train really hard and you have short fights, it’s not enough for you.’ I would rather you have a longer fight because you get it out of your system and you’re a calmer guy around the house.”

UFC 191 will be held on September 5, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.