Another familiar name and face will be appearing in a Bellator cage near you. After over 16 years as a contracted UFC fighter (the longest tenure in the history of the company), the recently-released Frank Mir has signed to fight for the UFC’s top competitor, Bellator. Mir announced the news on his podcast, Phone Booth Fighting.
“Out of all the organizations that came forward, it came down to two that were going to allow me to have my desire of not being locked into one organizations. I did that with the UFC for almost 16 years…It was coming down to Bellator and [Absolute Championship Berkut] who were both seeming to be very understanding of that fact, unless I was their champion,” Mir stated.
“It came down to the financial aspect, obviously, who pays the most, and Bellator, with Viacom supporting them obviously, I’m getting paid more than I made with the UFC,” he revealed. “I’m extremely excited to be part of the Bellator roster with Scott Coker. They have some very legitimate heavyweights over there. First and foremost on my mind is to fight Fedor [Emelianenko]. Hopefully that will work out. But it doesn’t close the door now that I could still go and fight now with ACB, who I have a contract with for commentary work.”
(thanks to Sherdog for the transcription)
When Mir is first going to appear in a Bellator cage is yet to be announced, as he is currently serving a two year USADA suspension due to failed drug test in April 2016. The 38-year-old Mir leaves the UFC with a 16-11 record, including two stints as the organization’s heavyweight champion (one the real championship; one the interim strap).
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