• UFC 146

Mir: Only stupid people say I'm not the best ever

ESPN staff
May 25, 2012
UFC 146: On dangerous ground

Frank Mir insists only "stupid" people would argue against the fact that he is the best heavyweight in UFC history, and he mocked Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's claim that the American's ground game is "simple".

Mir will challenge for the UFC heavyweight title against Junior Dos Santos this weekend, believing he can become a three-time champion. Previous wins over Tim Sylvia and Nogueira [for the interim belt] have seen Mir hold UFC gold twice, while he holds more heavyweight wins in the UFC [14] than any other fighter.

Those who argue against Mir's status as the best ever point to the likes of Randy Couture - the legendary Hall-of-Famer - but Mir believes "intelligent" fans know who tops the list.

"A lot of the general fans know. My statistics stand alone on my accomplishments in the UFC," Mir said during Thursday's press conference. "There's a select group in life that speak from emotion, not intelligence. They don't look at statistics, they don't look at track records, they don't watch videos and form opinions.

"They form opinions with emotions. And the problem is, all of us who are intelligent, we're not very loud when we think something. We don't scream something, we don't get passionate, we don't get angry, it seems that it's the stupid people who are passionate about what they have to talk about.

"Just because you're the loudest, doesn't mean you're the majority."

Mir was reminded in front of the gathered media of Nogueira's comments that he does not know why everybody worships Mir, saying his ground game is simple and it's only his attacks that are dangerous. Mir has beaten Nogueira twice, first out-boxing him and then breaking his arm in the second, so he laughed off Nogueira's views.

"I think something got lost in translation! If I'm rolling with somebody and they break my arm, I'm going to say, 'That guy's really good, he was awesome.' It's not a humility thing, it's more that you're saying that the guy sucks and is simple, yet he broke your arm!

"I didn't knock out Mirko Cro Cop because he's not good at stand-up, the guy is phenomenal at stand-up. I didn't beat Roy Nelson because he's no good, he's an extraordinarily tough guy."

Addressing comments made by Dos Santos, who said Mir "is not a man" due to perceived inability to recover from tough spots, Mir again answered in eloquent fashion.

"I think he was trying to increase his ability to be known outside [the MMA community]," Mir said. "People like Brock Lesnar, they sell tickets. Let's face it, Junior can't do much to improve inside the Octagon, so it's his marketability outside the Octagon that needs work.

"Our media is notorious for reporting things that are hot topics, think about it, of all the things he's said, this comment is the one that keeps getting brought up. I don't take it personally because I know Dos Santos and I know what type of a guy he is. But I've proved otherwise many times.

"Look at the Nogueira fight, let's face it, I didn't start off too good guys. He caught me but I was victorious. The first Brock fight, I don't think I was ahead on the scorecards as he wore his hands on my face.

"But we do a pre-fight medical so maybe when we do the hernia thing I'll prove to Junior that I'm a man!"

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