Frank
Mir : Pick him apart, heāll make
a lot of mistakes. Heāll come out strong for
the first thirty seconds, I know he will that's
his M.O. but he won't stay strong. Once his
corners pep talk's worn down he's pretty much
going to break apart, then he'll be in there
with me.
JB.
What do you plan to do with him, anything
and everything or.....
Frank
Mir : Well if I don't submit him
real fast, once I wear him down, make him
look silly, beat him up a bit, please the
crowd and then take him out.
JB.
I saw your last fight and I was impressed
the way that you very quickly capitalised
on your opponents mistake. Have you been working
specifically on submissions or are you looking
to go for a knock-out?
Frank
Mir : Definitely my submissions
are my strong point, but I have the ability
to, if you make a mistake it doesn't matter
if you make it on your feet, make it on the
ground, make it during wrestling I'll capitalise
on it. It isn't like I don't have the ability
to drive forward, if you mess up on your feet
you'll get knocked out, if you mess up on
the ground I'll choke you out. That's the
way it is.
JB. What initially got you motivated to get
you into this sport?
Frank
Mir : It started out as a family
thing, both my parents are martial artists,
I grew up as one and I just kept wanting to
take it a step further.
JB.
And just fell into the UFC?
Frank
Mir : As a proving ground.
JB.
What keeps you motivated in this sport?
Frank
Mir : Well basically it's one of
best martial arts events it could be. Every
other sport has too many rules that hinder
the mind of the fighter whereas our sports
a lot more well rounded where it doesn't really
affect the styles of the fighter so a lot
more martial artists from different playing
fields can compete against one another. It
isn't biased towards one style. I do it just
for proving. A lot of people out there are
playing at being martial artists and the'āre
not.
Bottom
line (is) they don't have the right to say
what they say, they don't have the right to
teach what they teach and a lot of people
are going out there with credentials that
they have no claim to. That's what I'm doing,
win or lose at least I'm coming out to prove
it and say that at least what I say I'm willing
to put my name and my honour on the line for.
I'm not going to hide behind mystic medals
that I won years ago.
JB.
Well, you've got to be in it to win it.
Frank
Mir :. Exactly.
JB.
What do you see in the future for yourself?
Frank
Mir : Well in the next couple of
years definitely a belt, or at least a shot
at it. Now I'm on the competitive side of
the martial arts and that's what I plan on
doing for the next couple of years. Just competing,
taking up events, right now the UFCs the best
thing to compete in so I'm going to try to
get to the best and own that.
JB.
Zuffa has done a lot to develop the sport
and standardise the rules. Do you think it
would benefit the sport as a whole if there
could be a national or even an international
agreement on the rules?
Frank
Mir : Well in the next couple of
years definitely a belt, or at least a shot
at it. Now I'm on the competitive side of
the martial arts and thatās what I plan on
doing for the next couple of years. Just competing,
taking up events, right now the UFCs the best
thing to compete in so Iām going to try to
get to the best and own that.
JB.
Zuffa has done a lot to develop the sport
and standardise the rules. Do you think it
would benefit the sport as a whole if there
could be a national or even an international
agreement on the rules?
Frank Mir :
Definitely, it would help the fighter. Y'know
what? It would help the fans. Too many times
you watch Pride and the guy gets kicked in
the head whilst he's on the ground and stomped
and UFC we're not using knees on the ground
and one show uses shoes, one show doesnāt
allow. It adds for a little bit of confusion.
It looks like two completely different organisations,
they both don't look like theyāre nhb, why
do they do what they do?
Why
does this event do what they do? I think that
in the future people who are in charge of
the rule making, the commissions, most of
them boxers, weāre going great so far and
I have nothing bad to say about anybody, but
how many guys that are mixed martial artists
are making the rules?
Most people came from different backgrounds
that are not mixed martial arts, they were
never fighters, they never fought in an nhb
event. They're understanding has to be second
hand information, so they're making a lot
of judgements and a lot of guesses off of
what other people are telling them should
be done. So as the future runs and the sport
evolves and more people understand whatās
going on then there will be unified rules.
To an extent even boxing has slight variations
from one sanction body to another.
JB.
Some interesting answers there, have you got
anything else you want to say?
Frank
Mir : No thatās pretty much it.
JB.
Thanks a lot for your time.
Frank
Mir : Thanks
Frank
Mir & Jim Burman
Interview
conducted 20th March 2002
