Set to fight Alistair Overeem this coming weekend at UFC 169, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir has been questioned about whether or not a loss could send him towards retirement.
Mir is riding a three fight losing streak in the Octagon and a loss too Overeem would make it four in a row. He spoke about the idea of retirement with ESPN this week and shut the idea down:
“I kind of know no matter what it’s not going to be my last fight,” Mir told ESPN.com. “I’m still younger than a lot of the guys in the division.
“There are two ways I would consider retirement. One is losing to guys who are not top-level competition. The other is if I started losing where it’s like, ‘OK man, you were knocked out viciously and staring at the rafters.’ I won’t endanger my health.”
Mir is steadfast in his belief that neither of those scenarios is currently playing out. He still shakes his head at referee Rob Hinds’ decision to stop his most recent bout against Josh Barnett in the first round at UFC 164 after he absorbed a knee along the fence.
The other two losses — to Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos — were disappointing for Mir, but not inexcusable. And in no way evidence that his career is over.
“I’m sorry if those three losses aren’t killing my ego,” Mir said. “Let’s see, the losing streak started with Junior dos Santos, the No. 1 heavyweight in the world at the time. Then I lost to Cormier in a pretty boring fight and then to Barnett, which to me was a no-contest because the fight had a very controversial stoppage.”
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