Former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir is a beloved...

Former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir is a beloved name in MMA, with the longest uninterrupted tenure of any fighter for the UFC organization from 2001 to 2016. In that time he has had 19 wins and 13 losses and holds the record for the most finishes and the most submission victories in UFC history. Mir is largely considered one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time, not just because of what the stats say, but because of his incredible comeback story, including a nearly career-ending injury, a remarkable recovery, and a chance to fight back against both his opponents and his personal demons and write a whole new chapter in his amazing life. Frank Mir was born in Las Vegas, Nevada to parents who owned and operated an American Kenpo school and who took an early interest in making Mir a champion. He became a black belt as a teenager and his father encouraged him to learn wrestling, as it would help him to avoid submissions in his matches. A lifelong athlete, Mir played football and wrestled in high school, as well as competing in track and field. Mir was scouted for the UFC after meeting UFC matchmaker Joe Silva at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school, and after winning two professional debut fights at HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown in 2001, Mir signed on with the UFC. Frank Mir emerged the Heavyweight Champion, but the high of victory and a career on the rise would not be long-lived. A few months after his win over Sylvia, Mir was in a horrific accident, knocked from his motorcycle by a car, leaving him with a broken femur and torn ligaments in his knee. Doctors told him that he would possibly never walk again, and certainly would never fight again, and his title was vacated due to his inability to defend it. Faced with a career fading away, Mir spiraled into depression and substance abuse. In 2017, Mir was released from the UFC at his own request, and by August of that year it had been revealed that he signed with Bellator MMA. After three fights with the organization, in 2020 his contract expired, and as of 2020 Mir is a free agent. Rumors persist about where he’ll go next, but nothing is currently confirmed. It is unclear where a fighter like Mir will go in the future. His is a career that has spanned not only decades, but a push through adversity and an unwillingness to surrender. In a twist of irony, the fighter who is famous for causing his opponents to submit refused to submit when it seemed like his career was over. He may never have regained the record of his younger years, but Frank Mir emerged from the ashes of his pain and rebuilt his career, and his life. Wherever he chooses to go next, one thing is for certain: no one is going to bring him down without a fight.

from Ultimate Fighting Network https://ultimatefightingnetwork.tumblr.com/post/640106756915314688
via Theodore Marlin