Dana White Says Mir vs. Lesnar is Still on

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 7, 2009 5:46 AM EST in News Comment 38 comments

Kevin Iole is reporting that per Dana White the fight has not yet been canceled or postponed:

Fiveouncesofpain.com initially reported Friday that the bout was off because of a back injury sustained by Mir. It later corrected that to say it was a knee injury. And then MMAWeekly.com reported Mir had knee surgery.

....

“I don’t know anything about it, so I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about it,” White said of Mir’s injury and the report that the fight was off. “I’m not too worried about it now. If that were the situation, I’d know about it. I honestly don’t know right now. I haven’t talked to Frank and I haven’t talked to Lesnar and if that’s the situation, I’m not going to make any statements until I talk to everybody.”

But a source in Las Vegas close to Mir said his knee began swelling excessively last week after a workout. After an examination, Mir had arthroscopic surgery to “clean up” the knee.

If it was just a "clean up" it won't take excessive time for recovery and it is still very realistic that the fight takes place as scheduled. I think at this point the ball is firmly in Frank's court as he has to rest it and then see if he is able to train normally and determine if he can have a productive enough training camp for a fight of this magnitude.

[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas: Frank Mir interview at the 2009 Arnold Classic - says he hopes the fight is moved to the summer because of his knee and that he can't train for 4-6 weeks. (video) [1:20 min mark]

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Frank got injured before Nog and didn’t train until Thanksgiving and looked great (although apparently Nog wasn’t in tip-top shape.) So he has the ability to perform well after a short camp. If he can do the Frank Mir special of tapping the dude in 4 seconds a one day camp will probably suffice.

by MattTil on Mar 6, 2009 7:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I should’ve known this was wrong as soon as supremacy vouched for Caplan earlier… I really want to see this fight.

by subo on Mar 6, 2009 7:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ya, has an interesting habit of saying he’s said something or predicted something just as someone in the established MMA media says as such.

by LiuLang on Mar 6, 2009 8:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I have said nothing about this situation.

Plus,

5OuncesOfPain, MMAWeekly, and MMA Mania have all reported.

ZING!

by MMASuPreMaCy on Mar 6, 2009 8:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

With different injuries…

I can’t help but think that this is another head game by Mir.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Mar 6, 2009 8:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

MMA Bay can exclusively report that Mir has had both arms amputated due to a toboganning accident but he is hoping to have replacement bionical arms in place for a fight in the fall.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

So what if Mir waits a month

Then decides he can’t do it, how can they put together a main event that quickly?

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 7:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Have a backup in place

I doubt the UFC sits there and waits on Mir. Basically it buys them time to get a plan B made up.

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by achengy on Mar 6, 2009 8:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, it just seems kind of unfair to have a couple guys training hard to fight in May then say “Wait a minute, you guys can slow down now, you don’t have to peak for 2 more months”.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The UFC can throw together an OK main event in a couple days. They threw Hughes-Alves together real fast.

by MattTil on Mar 6, 2009 8:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

First off, they put that fight together over 6 weeks in advance, not “a couple days”. Second of all, that was a crap main event where one guy got smashed by another guy who missed weight.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I mean they throw it together in a couple days after the chuck/shogun/rashad/irvin fight was scrapped. It was not a stellar fight, that is correct, but it wasn’t a terrible replacement main event on paper.

by MattTil on Mar 6, 2009 8:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well sure, they could throw a main event together right now, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what they plan on doing, at this point it sounds like they are going to wait Mir out and see if his knee heals quickly enough to still fight in May.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It could also be just a hoax by Mir’s camp. IIRC, he did say something about spreading false injury reports from his camp after the Nog fight to keep his opponent guessing about his real status. This could very well be one of them.

by Johann on Mar 6, 2009 7:58 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Yep, this is what I was figuring. Especially with Meltzer talking about it not being called off yet.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Mar 6, 2009 8:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

“Every fighter gets injured a lot during training camps,” Mir said. "One thing I’ve learned not to do is – I don’t really give any validity to my injuries. Some of my injuries are fake. I’ve faked a few injuries in the past but not to pull out of fights or anything. It’s just there a lot of rumors out there, and when I hear them, I help people out. … ‘Go tell people and put it on the Internet.’

“That way when a real, legitimate injury goes through, people question whether I’m really hurt or not.”

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by Anton Tabuena on Mar 7, 2009 1:43 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

wow, that really muddies the waters :(

by Benicio on Mar 7, 2009 3:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

From Meltzer

As of about an hour ago the fight had not been officially canceled. Mir’s injury requires arthroscopic surgery and it will be touch and go. He may be able to do the May show or it may be moved to UFC 99 or 100. More later tonight.

by The Bronzeville Bully on Mar 6, 2009 8:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No way in hell this fight gets moved to UFC 99 which is in Germany, 100 makes sense but it will never happen overseas.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

wouldn't mind seeing it at 100 though. :)

http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/

by Anton Tabuena on Mar 6, 2009 8:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Me too, and while they’re at it leave GSP-Alves and Rashad-Page/Lyoto too, we can make due with a couple crappy events in a row before that.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i sense mir fans using this as an excuse when the fight still takes place..

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by Anton Tabuena on Mar 6, 2009 8:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I was thinking the same thing, sure sounds like a handy dandy excuse to me. Of course if Lesnar wins you know the UFC can’t wait to book a rubber match anyways.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yep, sounds good...especially since someone already stole the Staph Infection excuse....

by Razreshat on Mar 6, 2009 8:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Actually I’ve never once heard Nog mention it, the reporting of the staph infection has all come from outside sources.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Like Dana White a couple of days ago.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Mar 6, 2009 8:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, what I’m saying is Nog isn’t using that as an excuse, but I bet Mir would if he were to lose to Lesnar.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But if Dana pressures Mir to fight when he’s not ready isnt that a legitimate gripe? There has to be a tonne of pressure on these guys to fight regardless of their health conditions at the time and as we’ve seen time and time again, it all plays a part in the result.

by Benicio on Mar 6, 2009 9:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Dana is seeing all money on this one if he is pushing Frank into this fight.

by bignerd on Mar 7, 2009 1:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What we have here is Frank Mir dictating to Dana

when he will or won’t fight. Dana sounds like he was completely out of the loop, and if there’s one thing we know Dana likes, it’s control. At least control of the information stream, which Mir denied him.

Dana’s not going to be happy about this, no matter how it shakes out. Mir’s messing with Dana’s plans for Brock’s ascent to mainstream stardom, and the UFC is banking hard on Brock being able to convert mainstream combat sports fans.

Mir’s flexing his muscles and seeing how much he can get away with, while simultaneously setting up the drama for a trilogy. And frankly, the drama is quite compelling, in the event this fight takes place as scheduled and Brock (predictably) pounds Mir into dust. Mir beats Lesnar when Lesnar is still so green he’s dripping like a jungle leaf, and Lesnar beats Mir when he’s got a bum knee. Can’t make a much more compelling case for a trilogy between the two.

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Mar 7, 2009 1:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If the guy isn't ready to fight . . .

Than just delay it. It’s one of UFC’s best match ups for the year. Let’s not ruining it by having a hurt fighter try to rush back.

by bignerd on Mar 6, 2009 8:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Even if they push it back that won’t stop Mir from using it as an excuse. He’ll just say the knee still isn’t 100% but he can’t wait for the rubber match and he’s gonna be in top shape for the rematch.

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 8:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Perfect solution

Have Brock break his knee and have surgery at the same time. Really, do you want to cry more about an excuse that has yet to exist?

by bignerd on Mar 6, 2009 9:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I just think it’s funny this is the second fight in a row that rumors about an injury that may or may not have happened are cropping up weeks before the fight. Strange coincidence huh?

by ufc4 on Mar 6, 2009 9:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs