Frank Mir Calls Out Fedor Emelianenko For Post-UFC Career
Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir recently revealed that he had been released from his UFC contract, which gives him the freedom to now take on various roles with different organizations and companies.
Mir recently discussed the situation with Helen Yee of NBC Sports Radio and admitted that the release was a ‘mutal’ one. The 36-year-old also expressed his interest in continuing his fighting career, discussing Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko as possible opponents:
“We had to come to terms on the situation and the end result was a mutual release. Right now I’m trying to weigh all my options. We talked about who could possibly be opponents out there, so I’m thinking, more or less, what show offers who to fight. Fedor would be an awesome fight. I think we talked about maybe even Brock. So there’s different ideas out there and really there’s just endless possibilities.”
Lesnar hasn’t competed since UFC 200 last July, and he went back into retirement after the bout. Emelianenko, on the other hand, is still competing, although he was most recently knocked out by Matt Mitrione in the co-main event of Bellator: NYC last month.
Despite the loss, Emelianenko would still serve as a more enticing opponent for Mir than Mitrione would:
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, to be honest with you. I think Matt Mitrione is a super tough guy, very athletic but I think that I’d probably get more pay-per-view buys if I fought Fedor. Mitrione would probably elevate my status more, a victory over him at this point, towards moving up the rankings but I’m kinda past that part of my career. I’d rather fight named fighters and Fedor’s somebody I’ve always wanted to fight and I think that it would be nice to be able to complete that kind of Who’s Who of my resume.”
At the end of the day, Mir is simply looking for ‘big fights’:
“I enjoy fighting. I want to fight for as long as possible. I don’t think I can fight at the same capacity that I fought in the past. The days of fighting three times in a year is probably over with. Once is probably gonna be more or less [the goal], or almost twice or three times in two years. Just enjoy martial arts, enjoy the lifestyle, and fight big fights. . .
“Hopefully until I’m told I can’t do it anymore. I’m thinking maybe 45. If you just handle it smart, I think you can do it.”
At this stage of his career, Mir seems like a perfect fit for Bellator’s growing heavyweight division.
Would you like to see him continue his fighting career?
