Roller coaster career lends Mir perspective

LAS VEGAS – Speak with Frank Mir, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, for longer than 30 seconds and you may begin to believe you're conversing with a college philosophy professor.

He drops references to Friedrich Nietzsche and Zen into his conversation as easily as he slaps arm bars and joint locks on overmatched opponents. You'd swear he was on the staff at Harvard except for the fact he's most comfortable in a T-shirt and flip flops rather than a tweed sport coat.

Mir's a guy at peace with himself, comfortable that finally, more than four years after winning the UFC title, he's making the most of his enormous talents.

Win or lose in his bout for the UFC's interim heavyweight belt on Dec. 27 in Las Vegas against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mir will leave the octagon smiling.

Things came easy to Mir in the early portion of his UFC career. He won the belt in under a minute by snapping Tim Sylvia's forearm with an arm bar at UFC 48 on June 19, 2004.

But much of what he's accomplished since a life-threatening motorcycle accident on Sept. 17, 2004, has been torturous.

Take 2 has helped him appreciate his success more. Mir struggled in several fights, including losses to Marcio Cruz and Brandon Vera, before turning things around and beating Brock Lesnar in February.

"I feel like I've earned it more," Mir said. "In the fights in the past, I didn't train well for them. Even in victory, sometimes you'd see me and I wasn't that elated. I didn't deserve to win. I caught someone like Tim Sylvia, but you could see my face after the fight and I knew I hadn't earned it.

"That's not because of what I did in the ring, but because of what I did outside the ring. Now, for this fight [with Nogueira], whether I win or lose, you'll see me smile because I know that I've earned the right to be there because of all the time and effort I've put into it. That's what I'm proud about."

Mir's not the type to accept things at face value. And to him, the measure of a victory isn't judged by the opponent you've beaten, the money you've made or the adulation you've received. It's all about the process.

There are plenty of fluky things that can affect the outcome of a fight, from spraining an ankle stepping into the cage to slipping at the wrong time and getting caught in a submission.

Mir's satisfaction now comes from knowing he's prepared properly and covered all of his angles, regardless of outcome.

"Anybody could go out and win a fight, which we've seen with Lesnar [stopping] Randy Couture," Mir said. "One lucky punch and it's your night. That doesn't mean you've deserved it. That doesn't mean you've put in the hard work and earned it. Win or lose, you earn it outside the ring."

Mir said he's pushed himself in training like he never has before because of the respect he has for Nogueira.

Nogueira, the one-time PRIDE champion, holds the interim belt that was created by the UFC when Couture was in a contract dispute. Upon his return, the UFC opted not to strip Nogueira of that belt but rather to set up a four-man tournament of sorts to determine a belt.

Lesnar stopped Couture with strikes in the second round of UFC 91 on Nov. 15 to win the "regular" heavyweight title. The winner of the interim title match on Dec. 27 will meet Lesnar next year for the undisputed crown.

Mir has already submitted Lesnar once and said that though he understands a win over Lesnar for heavyweight supremacy would mean greater financial rewards, it would be a win over Nogueira that would mean the most to him.

"Beating Nogueira would be so significant to me, because of who he is," Mir said. "He's a legend in our sport. Whether he wins or loses his next fight, he's the Minotauro. Brock hasn't earned that yet. Brock's not a legend in our sport. He's not even an icon in our sport yet.

"He's an entertainer who is famous and who's had a slight amount of success in our sport with two wins. Nogueira, I don't have to say anything else about him. Just say his name and you get a reaction, you see the respect. Anyone who knows even a little bit about this sport knows what he's about."

Mir hasn't ascended to the position of prominence in the sport that Nogueira has, but he's tried to carry himself the way Nogueira has and respect the sport the way Nogueira does.

One of the lessons he tried to impart to the fighters he coached during Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter" was to be classy.

He didn't like his depiction, because he said editing took out many of the philosophical points he was making.

He was frustrated with the antics of Junie Browning during the season, but said if having been on the show and training around veteran martial artists helps Browning, he would be content.

"He's been dedicated the last couple of weeks and his skills look better, his conditioning looks better and his mindset looks better," Mir said of Browning. "That's what martial arts is supposed to be for. Guys like Junie can become better people. If Junie becomes a better guy after all this, that's exactly what I've been trying to scream and yell about. I just don't want people to think that's the end result.

"I didn't start off being the kind of guy I am right now. I am here now because of martial arts and I'm proof of what it can do for other people. I'll accept a Junie Browning every day of the week as long as they aspire to keep fighting because there's no way you can be successful and be a bad person."

Mir had his own Browning-type moments. After his motorcycle accident, he wasn't the guy next door. He had to learn plenty about overcoming adversity, and he had tons of it.

"After my accident, I was very depressed and unmotivated and not a very good example to anybody," Mir said. "I was at a low point in my life. I'm going to write about it in my book. I'll give a lot of details. There are things I did I don't want to disclose now, that I'm embarrassed to talk about. Maybe one day I won't be embarrassed to talk about them.

"It's been a constant battle. I wish it were easy enough to say there's one day where it all clicks. But you have good days and you have bad days. It becomes an accumulation where you have more good days than bad and eventually you see you've dug yourself out of the pit."

And a win over Nogueira?

"Good day," Mir said, beaming. "Very good day."