Outside of the octagon Frank Mir’s personality would hardly let on to the notion that he is widely recognized as one of the most feared men in the UFC. At home Mir is a relatively soft spoken family man. In the gym he is a personable athlete who is passionate about his career.

Coincidentally Mir and his family live less than five miles away from my house on the North West side of Las Vegas. They lead a rather secluded life away from the hustle of the Vegas strip in one of the most fast-paced cities in the world. Commentating for the WEC, fighting for a living, and raising three children with one on the way provides enough action for the humble couple to take in on a daily basis.
In fact, at times it was difficult to gain Mir’s full attention while spending time with him because the champion was intently engaged with his family. Proud parenting is certainly admirable and witnessing the interaction offered a new level of respect for the UFC veteran. At home he is not Frank Mir the UFC champion; he is Frank Mir the husband and father. While his wife Jennifer took care of the children, the champ offered to take me for a cruise to the gym in his restored 68 Camaro. Training out of Striking Unlimited, Mir’s hectic schedule also included a photo shoot during his workout that evening.

Media and family aside, there is a fierce competitor within the Las Vegas native that was unleashed at UFC 92 when he captured the interim UFC heavyweight title by defeating MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The win was monumental for the UFC star considering his highly publicized motorcycle accident in 2004 that nearly killed Mir and rendered him emotionally inept. The accident limited Mir’s ability to perform at the level he had been accustomed and the frustration of not making a full recovery gave little promise of ever fighting again; let alone earning his title back.

“My femur snapped and it actually pushed in on the inside of my thigh,” Mir recalled. “A couple of inches in either direction and it could have severed my full artery. From what I understand that’s not the way to go. That’s pretty much lights out.”

Mir rejuvenated his career in 2008 with two consecutive wins including a victory over one of the most talked about fighters in the business in Brock Lesnar. Mir’s struggle to get back to the top was a long and uncertain battle inside and outside of the octagon.

“I wish I could say there was one specific moment, but there were constant highs and lows. It’s like an old habit. You have small success and failures. Throughout the weeks you have mostly failures. Then eventually it evens out to where you have as many successes as you do failures and the learning curve or the rate starts increasing.”

With full support from his friends and family, Mir was named as a coach on the last season of the “Ultimate Fighter” television series. Mir saw the opportunity as a chance to absorb as well as extend knowledge of his craft. The champion said the experience with various UFC hopefuls was excellent for him mentally.

“It was pretty cool getting to work with all of the different guys and seeing the different outlooks and approaches to MMA especially when you have your different individuals who are getting their start in the sport. It was just interesting to get to break down teaching techniques and different applications. You get to teach other people with different skill sets and maneuvers and you get to learn that much more about martial arts.”

Mir’s opposing coach and opponent at UFC 92 was the highly respected Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (35-5-1) who had never previously lost a fight via KO or TKO throughout his entire career. Mir’s definitive performance of technical striking put Nogueira on his back three times in the first round and ultimately shut down the Brazilin in the second (TKO). Stopping Nogueira was something that not even Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson, or Josh Barnett could do during their battles against Nogueira.

“I was extremely pleased with my performance,” Mir said. “I thought I performed very well against him. Nogueira’s a super tough guy.”

With three consecutive wins behind him, the UFC scheduled a May 23 rematch with Brock Lesnar to decide who will be the undisputed UFC heavyweight title holder. Having already defeated the UFC colossus in the first round at UFC 81, Mir is not convinced that the still green Lesnar has enough experience or skills to match up.

“I think Lesnar’s a big powerful athlete,” Mir credited Lesnar. “He has a lot of potential to learn more and more. Obviously someone like that is always going to be a pain to fight. I still feel I have a superior knowledge of the technical aspect of martial arts. It’s going to be extremely hard for him to catch up on.”
“I can get myself to be closer to him in terms of body weight with more ease than he’s going to match the same amount of knowledge in the world of martial arts. He’s a powerful striker and a powerful human being. Everything he does is going to be powerful, but he’s very basic in his maneuvers and what he does.”
“It takes time to develop certain skills. No one goes in there right off the bat at a high level. The fight is still months from now and how much sparing can you do to catch up to where I’m at. Look at how many years it’s taken me to get to the level I’m at.”

Lesnar had less than two minutes to familiarize himself with the champion during their first bout at UFC 81 and Mir believes that Lesnar never had the chance to fully experience what he is capable of doing.

“I think that definitely after the last fight with Nogueira, areas of my game that he (Lesnar) thought he would be able to exploit maybe don’t seem so easy now. Maybe he was thinking about avoiding my ground skills and not being submitted again by standing up with me. I don’t think that looks like a very promising route to victory now.”

“I think I’ve showcased that I’m a much better striker than he is and much more versatile. I think that it’s his game plan to take me down and try to ground and pound me because he was having some success with that in the first fight. He may just try to be a little safer this time and not go too crazy as to open himself up for submission.”

Always reflective on matters, Mir summed up his thoughts regarding his overall outlook on life and his MMA career.

“The people that love you definitely give you direction in life, where as the people who hate you give you motivation to move forward.”