But just five years ago, Mir — a Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy and one of the sport’s top young talents — lay on the side of a road, 100 feet from where his motorcycle collided with a car just seconds earlier.
A catapulted Mir shot headfirst into a curb. A chunk of concrete wedged in his helmet, which began filling with blood and vomit. He fought off unconsciousness without even realizing his femur had snapped, his knee a mangled mess of shredded ligaments.
“Instantly, I was helpless, unable to care for even myself,” Mir said.
The Vegas native fell deeper and deeper into depression, weighed down by alcohol and prescription painkillers. Unable to compete due to the extensive injuries, he was stripped of the heavyweight title that he won just four months earlier.
“And then one day, he just snapped out of it,” UFC President Dana White said.
Mir quit drinking. He went back to the gym. He booked a fight.
But he wasn’t the same.
Mir returned to the cage nearly two years after the accident. He looked out of shape, sluggish, slow. And he lost — to a veteran of just one professional fight.
But he kept plugging away. The physique — and the skills — slowly returned. And in February 2008, he was pitted against Lesnar, an unproven UFC newcomer but one with remarkable size and strength.
Mir was thoroughly manhandled. Battered and bloodied by the behemoth, Mir was on the verge of a TKO loss.
And then the jiu-jitsu ace saw an opening and locked in a kneebar submission. Lesnar tapped out in a matter of seconds.
It was a stunning upset — but more an indication of Lesnar’s inexperience than Mir’s fight prowess. So Mir went back to the gym, quickly added a solid standup game to his ground arsenal, and then became the first man in 38 tries to knock out Nogueira, the UFC’s interim heavyweight champ, to set up the rematch with Lesnar.
“Frank Mir has one of the best stories you’ve ever heard,” White said. “It’s better than ‘Rocky.’
“It’s only fitting that such a huge and important fight take place on our historic UFC 100 card.”
About the Author