Even after three consecutive defeats, Mir (photo) is not thinking about retiring from MMA. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
Despite going through one of the most difficult phases of his long career, Frank mir assured that he will not retire after his next fight, against alistair overeem, at UFC 169, regardless of whether he wins or loses.
The veteran, former heavyweight champion of the organization, comes from three consecutive defeats, against Junior Gypsy, Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett. Even if he suffers a fourth consecutive setback, Mir stated that he intends to fight for a while longer, as the fighters he lost to are at the top of the UFC rankings.
“I know that, regardless of anything, this will not be my last fight. I'm still younger than a lot of guys in the category,” said the 34-year-old fighter on the website of North American broadcaster ESPN. “The losing streak started with Junior dos Santos, who was, at the time, the number one heavyweight in the world. Then I lost to Cormier, in a very boring fight. Then to Barnett, which for me was a no-contest because the fight had a very controversial stoppage. Look who I've been fighting against. Should I retire? Wow! If that were the case, we would only have five fighters in each weight category because everyone else would also have to retire,” he pointed out.
Despite having been knocked out in seven of his eight defeats (two of them in the last three fights), Mir stated that he will consider hanging up his gloves if he considers that his health is at risk. “I will only consider retirement in two situations. One of them is losing to guys who aren't as highly ranked. The other is if I start to suffer a lot of bad knockouts. I don’t want to put my health at risk”, explained the American, whose last victory was over Rodrigo Minotauroin December 2011.
Mir and Overeem (who is coming off two consecutive defeats in the UFC) are fighting for the desperate at UFC 169, which will take place next Saturday (February 1) in New Jersey, in the United States. In the main fights of the night there will be two title fights involving Brazilians: José Aldo faces Ricardo Lamas in the featherweight category, while Renan Barao defends its supremacy in roosters against Urijah faber.
Comments