UFC
UFC 184's Frank Mir says he considered retirement after February loss to Alistair Overeem
Dec 15, 2014 - 2:20:05 PM UFC 184's Frank Mir says he considered retirement after February loss to Alistair Overeem

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Frank Mir is returning to the Octagon in February, taking on Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva at UFC 184. The return comes after four straight losses against high level competition, and Mir says he seriously considered retirement after his loss to Alistair Overeem in February of this year.

"I did [consider retirement] if I wasn't able to have a proper offseason and see where I could get my body's level of fitness up to," Mir said in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour last week. "Then I would have considered it just because at that point I don't want to go in there and have a bad performance, keep getting worse and worse. It wastes people's money and at the same time it wastes time from my family. If you can't perform at a high level or at least an optimal level, then it's time you have to call it."

"You take as much output from everybody around you, but I think that's a decision you have to make on the inside. I told everybody that I wasn't going to make any decisions and just train without going left or right. Just train and be in shape and see how I felt."

Mir thinks the fight with Silva, who himself is coming off a three-fight winless streak, is one that works for his game.

"I think he's very confident with his ability on the ground, which is usually one of my best weapons," Mir said. "When people are wary about fighting on the ground, I have a more difficult time. The fact that 'Bigfoot' feels he has a skill set [there] could work for me. It plays well into what I want to do."

Penick's Analysis: Mir's gone through a lot in his lengthy pro career, and at 35-years-old, retirement's going to be on his mind more frequently going forward. He was smart in his process this year, taking the time to figure out what he wanted to do and where he was at physically before making any decisions. By accepting the fight with Silva, he's taking a matchup that still features a top-end guy, but who is more beatable than those he's fallen to over the last few years. The fact that he's lost four straight would usually have the UFC making the decision for him, but because those all came against high-level opponents, and because of his status as a former champion, he's earned more leeway than others. That said, if he loses to Silva, he's probably going to walk away regardless of what the UFC does.

[Frank Mir art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]