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UFC heavyweight fighter and Las Vegas resident Frank Mir smiles during an open workout at his gym on March 12, 2010.
Published Thursday, July 8, 2010 | 12:05 a.m.
Updated Thursday, July 8, 2010 | 1:16 p.m.
Brock Lesnar gets in Frank Mir's face after defeating Mir in their heavyweight title fight at UFC 100 at Mandalay Bay on July 11, 2009. Lesnar won with stoppage in the second round.
Update: UFC president Dana White confirmed Thursday that Frank Mir will take on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the main event at UFC 119 Sept. 25 in Indianapolis.
Frank Mir celebrated this year's Fourth of July in his Las Vegas gym, breaking down film of Brock Lesnar's win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116 the night before.
He did so in good company.
Sitting alongside Mir on Sunday were head trainer Jimmy Gifford, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and boxing trainer Freddie Roach, who works with current WBO champion Manny Pacquiao.
The consensus of all four guys after watching the fight: Mir can beat this guy.
"We believe Mir is going to be the guy to knock out Brock Lesnar," Gifford said. "Me, GSP, Freddie Roach — we all agreed Mir can do it. We see holes in his game we know we can expose."
Mir (13-5) hasn't fought since dropping a first-round TKO loss to Carwin at UFC 111 in March, mostly because he wanted to wait for the results of Saturday's heavyweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The fact that Lesnar (5-1) successfully defended his belt over Carwin places a potential third meeting with Mir much farther down the road than if he had lost. The two split the first two contests.
With Lesnar expected to face No. 1 contender Cain Velasquez next, Mir and his camp would be happy if the road back to Lesnar and the UFC heavyweight title starts with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Mir became the first fighter to stop Nogueira, earning a TKO win in December 2008. Nogueira later said he had not been able to perform to his best because he was suffering from a staph infection.
According to Gifford, because a rubber match with Lesnar isn't on the table right now, an opportunity to prove Mir's win over Nogueira wasn't a fluke would be the next best thing.
"If you're asking me who would Frank Mir want to fight right now, it's Brock," said Gifford on Wednesday. "He'd love to fight him. Realistically, that's not going to happen so we want that Nog fight.
"Nog claims staph infection affected his chin in the last one. I don't know how that happens, but I think if Mir gets a chance at Nogueira again, he'll knock him out early and retire him."
Although it recently was reported that Mir was contemplating a move down to the 205-pound division after struggling with the size of both Lesnar and Carwin in previous fights, Gifford said, Mir has finalized his decision to remain a heavyweight.
He has, however, decided to drop the additional weight he added over the last year.
In his last two fights, Mir weighed in at 264.5 and 265 pounds. In his next fight, he'll return to his old weight of 245.
"Right now, he's at 252 and his best fighting weight is between 240 and 245 pounds," Gifford said. "He's not going to stay at 265 to fight Brock again.
"Mir learned a lot over the last couple of fights, and I think the easiest thing to learn is you're not going to move immovable objects. So we better find another way."
As far as motivation goes, it still appears that Lesnar is the main thought on Mir's mind.
With a year gone by since Lesnar infamously got Mir's face after beating him at UFC 100, however, Gifford says Mir's obsession has dissolved into more of a will to simply prove he's the best.
"I think he's cooled down a little bit," Gifford said. "It's personal to an extent, but it's more about business now. He wants to beat this guy.
"They don't stand for the same things, that's obvious, but I don't know if it's about good vs. evil. In Mir's mind, it's about martial arts vs. this big gorilla who really is just a big gorilla."
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.
Good luck Frank. As a native Las Vegan, I'll root for Mir in just about any card. If he can stay lean and train hard, he can beat Nog again.
Carwin walked over Mir! I did root for Mir at one time but sometimes he just doesn't show up for his fights.
if mir had spent more time training than making fun of lesnar last time out he might not have been beaten so badly
mir would have to beat carwin first before getting another crack at lesnar and carwin was just in a different league to mir in their last fight together
In sports, fighters & teams always lose when looking ahead to a future opponent instead of focusing on what's right in front of them. Frank should just put the work in; fight 2-3 fights in the UFC and just WIN. If he puts up a good showing over the next year and wins his fights then he can start looking for flaws in Lesnar's game.
nobody wants to see that fight again. give him matt mitrione.
Matt Mitrione?!!! my grandma beat Matt, Forgetaboutit
Mitrione is about as lame as that fat ass roy nelson, but for THE CONTENDERS... Mir could strategically dodge Carwin in his hunt for Brock but it doesn't mean he'll be able to fly through his next 2-3 fights on that road; the heavyweight division which was once weak is now stacked with talent. Also Carwin, with one or two dominant performances will get another shot at Lesnar before Mir in my opinion.
Mir 'might' be able to beat Brock if Brock was sleeping or sick maybe............
Would like to see them fight again.
Mitrione and Nelson don't belong in the same sentence. You obviously only know what you see. The man was a decorated fighter long before he was on TUF. He's 15-4 and the former IFL Heavyweight Champion.
I want $7.00 back from his last PPV, he is washed up.. Save your money Mir is no fighter anymore.
@hahaha- I am well aware of Nelson's history... still boring, still a fat ass... the IFL was a weak league and that's why he had to go through TUF to even get into the UFC. Nelson is the Deon Sander's of MMA, he doesn't fight with any heart, he just wants to find the easiest way to collect his paycheck without getting hurt. He's fought 3 respected fighters in MMA and lost every one, he may have been more exciting 5-10 years ago but he wont see any main events in the UFC. JDS is going to expose his bs game and pave a quick road for him out of the UFC.