What’s the story?
Former UFC heavyweight champions, Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar have quite a history having faced each other two times already. The first time Brock Lesnar faced Frank Mir was in his UFC debut at UFC 81 back in 2008. The 265-pound Lesnar, new to the Octagon and MMA world, was made to tap out by a kneebar at the 1:30 mark of the first round.
In their second encounter at UFC 100, at the heavyweight title unification fight, the professional wrestler, however, turned Mir’s face into a bloody mess as Lesnar continuously landed heavy blows to Mir’s face, until the referee was forced to stop the fight.
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Longtime nemesis Frank Mir has always been ready for a rubber match against Brock Lesnar ever since receiving a brutal beat down in their last encounter. While talking to Submission Radio, Mir was asked about the potential return of Lesnar to the UFC and that if he would still be interested in pursuing a possible third fight, to which he shared his views:
“Oh absolutely. But I mean at this point, I just want to go out there and still compete and perform. So fighting Brock, obviously that would be a good money payday cause of his name recognition and the amount of people that would watch and the story behind it. So it makes a lot more sense than some other fights.”
In case you didn’t know...
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was suspended after his fight against Mark Hunt, at UFC 200. He tested positive for a pair of drug tests before and after the fight, failing which he was handed a suspension of 1 year by USADA, which will end in July this year.
As an amateur wrestler, Lesnar is a four-time All-American and NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion, and a former WWE champion. His professional MMA record stand at 6-3-0 (W-L-D), and became UFC heavyweight champion in his fourth fight defeating Randy Couture at UFC 91, in 2008.
Ironically, Frank Mir was also suspended after his fight against Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 85 which he lost. Mir was later informed that the sample he submitted the day he fought Hunt came positive for banned substance and was suspended by USADA. Mir’s suspension is due to end on April 2018.
Frank Mir made his UFC debut in his third pro fight and has a professional MMA record of 18-11-0 (W-L-D). Former UFC heavyweight champion Mir never lost his title inside the Octagon but was stripped off it, as he was out of competition for 20 months with a broken leg.
The heart of the matter
The first encounter between the two at UFC 81, was seen as a contest between brute strength and skill. At the start of the fight, Lesnar overpowered the smaller Mir on to the mat and started hammering him. But the referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped Lesnar’s ground-n-pound and penalised the WWE superstar for punching in the back of the Mir’s head.
Lesnar lost his momentum due to this stoppage, and when the fight resumed, the experienced Mir made use of his submission skills and quickly got Lesnar with a kneebar hold, ending the fight in 1:30 of the very first round.
In their second showdown at UFC 100, which was a bout for UFC heavyweight title unification, Lesnar brutalised Mir’s face and left it in a bloody mess. He pinned Mir down on the mat and unleashed a fury of unanswered punches with incredible force.
Referee Herb Dean had to stop the fight before Mir could have ended with serious head trauma at 1:48 of the second round. Lesnar had his revenge for the earlier loss against Frank Mir. He has been very infamous for his post-fight antics at UFC 100 and was seen very happy to play the ‘bad guy’.
What next?
Lesnar’s suspension is coming to an end this July and there have been talks of his return to the UFC. While Mir’s suspension will end on April next year. The match-up between the two has been one of the highest grossing PPV in the history of the UFC. A possible rubber match between them will be very good for business, but for that to happen we will have to wait and watch how things wind up.
Sportskeeda’s take
Brock Lesnar had a very long and successful run at WWE before coming to the UFC and has millions of fans worldwide. Frank Mir, on the other hand, will always be Lesnar’s arch-rival, given the history and bad blood between the two fighters. A possible rubber match will have a great storyline to it and all the fans are already waiting for the two heavyweights to collide again for a long time now.
There is no doubt in my mind that if this super-fight takes place, it will again break many PPV records. It will again come down to Lesnar’s brute strength and background in wrestling against Frank Mir’s experience and amazing jiu-jitsu skills.
