Frank Mir, who fights Mark Hunt in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 85 event in Brisbane, Australia, recently shared his thoughts on the old feeling from the MMA community that PRIDE always had better heavyweight fighters than the UFC.
Mir appeared as a guest on MMAJunkie.com Radio and shared his belief that the PRIDE fighters being better than UFC fighters debate was nothing more than a myth.
“I was told constantly if these three guys came over to the UFC, they’re going to clean house. It’s going to be the PRIDE show in the UFC. The three big names from the PRIDE heavyweights that I had to hear about in the early 2000s were obviously Fedor (and) Nogueira – and I heard Nogueira directed specifically toward me because I’m the American version and he’s the better version. I’m the cheap version of Nogueira. I’m the knock-off. Then you have Mirko ‘Cro-Cop.'”
Mir went on to explain that despite never competing in the UFC, Fedor’s talent didn’t translate well when he fought on the American circuit as well.
“Everyone came over but Fedor. Fedor came over to an American show, but just not the UFC. He didn’t fare any better. He lost to (Antonio) ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, who smashed him. I have a win over ‘Bigfoot.’ I think that kind of settles that argument of what he would have done in the heavyweight division here in the UFC.”
UFC Fight Night 85: Mir vs. Hunt takes place on Saturday, March 19, 2016 from Brisbane, Australia.
