Frank Mir Won’t Return To Bellator Next After Fedor Knockout
Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir defected to rival MMA promotion Bellator following his two-year USADA suspension following his final UFC bout in 2016, but don’t expect to see him back in Bellator for his next fight.
Mir took a 48-second thrashing at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 198 last weekend, but his Bellator contract was essentially a one-and-done.
In fact, Mir revealed on his “Phone Booth Fighting” podcast is looking to get into the cage sooner than later, and will likely take a fight with Russian-based MMA promotion ACB, where Mir handles commentary duties (via MMA Junkie):
“Bellator came to me, and they’re talking about October. I would like to get a fight in with the ACB before that, so I can just get more time in clocked under me so I can get my timing back on for fighting.”
Mir’s first fight back following his USADA suspension started off strongly for the first 10 seconds, as the former UFC champion rocked Emelianenko right out of the gate. But suddenly, the always-crafty Russian managed to toss the bigger man into the air and onto the mat with incredible ease.
Mir says that throw was the beginning of the end:
“I lost my cool; I let my ego dictate how I fought. I’m pretty good at being emotionless and trying not to let that enter, but as soon as I got thrown through the air, it was such a highlight-reel throw, my ego was very injured.”
“When we got up, I went into street fighter mode. Because I was pissed off that I got thrown through the air, all of a sudden I just went for the kill instead of trying to fight like a martial artist. I fought like a street fighter, and that didn’t fair so well.”
Mir (18-12) could very well compete for Bellator again, but it seems like he’s looking to take a fight before then.
Who could Mir fight outside of the UFC and Bellator before jumping back into the shark tank?
