Frank Mir is an American mixed-style heavyweight. Wrestling fans associate it with the most spectacular fights, in which there is always a place for cruel painful techniques. For this he is called the king of receptions.
Biography: early years
Frank Mir was born on May 24, 1979 in Las Vegas, in the US state of Nevada. His real name is Francisco Santos World III. His father ran a local mixed martial arts center. He also "infected" his son with a love of martial arts. It was in the center of his father that Mir began to comprehend the basics of martial arts. He started with sambo and judo.
In parallel, Mir played football for the school team and took part in track and field competitions. His school record in discus throwing has not yet been broken.
Frank first entered the ring in his penultimate year at university. His debut can hardly be called successful. The first nine matches were lost with a bang. This did not break the world. He continued training in an enhanced mode. And the result was not long in coming. In 1998 Mir won the senior state championship.
In 1999, on the instructions of his father, Mir took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At first, he saw no need for this. But later, Frank will understand that his father was right when he forced him to learn this particular single combat, which is characterized by wrestling on the ground, suffocation and painful holds. It is the latter that will become Frank's signature piece.
Career
In 2001, Mira was noticed by Joe Silva, one of the UFC managers, where all fighters dreamed of getting. In an interview, he admitted that then he was struck by Frank's "horsepower and extraordinary technique." He invited him to prove himself in the professional ring. In the same year, he made his debut in HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown. His opponent was Jerome Smith. The world emerged victorious after two rounds.
The second time he entered the professional ring in the tournament Warriors Challenge 15. His opponent was Dan Quinn. Frank won again. He soon fought against Robert Travena. By that time, he was a two-time world champion and black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. Frank managed to carry out a painful hold in a minute in order to "neutralize" the opponent. By the way, his reception was recognized as the best that evening.
Mir spent the next fight against the previously undefeated Pete Williams. To deal with him, Frank took even less time - only 46 seconds. And he won again thanks to his signature painful hold, which soon became known as Mir Lock.
Five months later, Mir entered the ring against Ian Freeman from Britain, who then had 12 wins and 5 losses. He did not allow Frank to perform a painful hold on the ground. The world ended up at the bottom and missed blows to the head for a couple of minutes. The judge ordered the fighters to rise, but the exhausted Mir could not continue the fight. This marked his debut defeat in the UFC.
Six months later, Frank rehabilitated himself in a battle against Tank Abbott. He finished it with a tough painful hold. It is noteworthy that this happened again at the 46th second, as in the fight with Pete Williams.
His next opponent was Wes Sims. Mir had two fights with him, six months apart. These were very striking fights. The first lasted about three minutes and the second two grueling rounds. Frank was the winner in these battles.
Despite the brilliant victories, Mir's dream was to get a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. And in the summer of 2004 he did it. His opponent in the final meeting was Tim Sylvia, who was considered a strong fighter at the time and was three years older than Frank. At the 50th second of the meeting, Frank held a hard painful hold on his arm against him, as a result of which it literally broke. The judge noticed this and stopped the fight. Tim did not agree with this decision, he was ready to continue the fight with a broken arm. However, after the examination, the doctors insisted that the fight be over. The judge awarded the victory to Mir. It soon became clear that Tim's arm had been broken in four places.
In the autumn of the same year, Mir had a motorcycle accident. He lost control and crashed into an oncoming car. Frank was diagnosed with a hip fracture and ruptured knee ligaments. It took about two years to recover.
He returned to the ring in February 2006. However, the injuries made themselves felt, and his fights were no longer as vivid as before. He had several fights, which he mostly lost. This led to the disappointment of fans.
It took him another year to bring himself back into shape. He spends a series of fights that lead him to confrontation for the title of undisputed heavyweight champion. It was a meeting with Brock Lesnar. Then Mir failed to become the absolute champion.
In subsequent years, Frank had a large number of fights with famous fighters, including:
- Shane Carwin;
- Mirko CroCop;
- Check Congo;
- Antonio Rodrigo;
- Alistair Overeem.
In 2014, the popular site BlodyElbow hosted a tournament between the best grapplers in MMA, with the fans deciding the winner. Frank reached the final but lost to Kazushi Sakuraba.
In December 2018, Mir fought an extreme fight. He met with the famous Brazilian Xavi Ayala. The world lost then. The judge recorded a technical knockout.
Personal life
Frank Mir is married. In 2004, he entered into an official marriage with a girl named Jennifer. At that time, she already had a child from her first marriage. The world raised him like a native. In a joint marriage, the couple had three children: two sons and a daughter.
