Frank Mir Says UFC Release Would Be Best Once He’s Suspended

Frank Mir spoke with MMAjunkie about his future after testing positive for a banned susbtance following his UFC Fight Night 81 loss. Some highlights are below:

On his likely fate: “USADA looks like it’s going to be the two-year ban. Originally, they came to the house and I gave them all the different supplements I had taken, and different gyms I train at, where there’s supplements there and protein shakes for everybody. They collected samples, and I heard last month if I wanted those samples tested, I would have to pay for it in the lab, and I was told from one of the attorneys involved that it’s thousands of dollars to start doing that. So I basically chose to not go ahead and invest in it, just because as of right now, with a two-year suspension, I don’t know when I’m fighting again. And that’s probably why I’ve survived so long in Vegas – I don’t gamble. The idea of throwing money out there to find out and possibly reduce the sentence, not knowing exactly what’s going on and how the process works, I opted to not try to do that.”

On his future with the UFC: “I really see the only result is to be released by the UFC. I don’t see any other way about it. If they release me, then I can go back into fighting. I can go into broadcasting, start working in those realms – commentate for the different shows that are out there, which is something I greatly want to do and I’ve been begging to do it for years with the UFC, and for some reason I’ve kind of hit a ceiling, I guess. Other fighters – good fighters, good commentators – (who are broadcasting), I feel like I can hang out there or even be better than. But I never get in the roation. So maybe leaving (the UFC) is not the worst idea as far as opportunities go.”

On potentially fighting elsewhere if he’s released: “Yeah, that’s the way I see it. (My manager) is in the midst of talking to (the UFC) about it. It’s been brought up. I really don’t have any preferences. There are a lot of great fighting organizations out there. Obviously, Bellator is a big organization and doing very well and doing things. … The silver lining to this whole situation is, even when I was in good with the UFC, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to sit at the table and commentate fights. I’ve been asking to and wanting to, and for some reason it never works out to fruition, cageside calling fights. If it’s not going to happen in the UFC since I’ve been blocked for whatever reason from doing so, maybe I can do it somewhere else.”