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Frank Mir granted immediate release from UFC

By Kristen King

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 20: Frank Mir of the United States prepares to enter the arena before facing Mark Hunt of New Zealand in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on March 20, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 20: Frank Mir of the United States prepares to enter the arena before facing Mark Hunt of New Zealand in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on March 20, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /
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In the final chapter of the Frank Mir versus the UFC saga, the heavyweight has announced his release from the promotion.  

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir has not competed inside the Octagon since March 2016, when he lost to Mark Hunt in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir by first-round knockout.

Shortly after the fight, USADA announced that Mir tested positive for the banned substance known as Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) and was suspended for two years upon further investigation.

Once the news broke, Mir took to social media and denied any use of banned substances. He even went as far as to call USADA out for their testing practices because he was proven innocent but then guilty after the association did some retests.

“What I can do is reiterate my denial and ask you to note that my position on this issue has remained consistent. By contrast, USADA now has two versions of their narrative concerning me,” said Mir in a statement posted on Facebook.

With a suspension in place, Mir would be allowed to come back and compete in 2018. Sadly, Mir is coming to the end of his MMA career and the now 38-year-old would be forced to ask for his release from the UFC to pursue other endeavors to make a living.

A little over a year later, his wish was finally granted.

Speaking on his PhoneBoothFighting podcast, Mir made the announcement and gave details as to what would be next for his career.

“We are now officially no longer part of the UFC. I finally have my release. It’s official,” said Mir. “They put a couple little contingencies in there basically because USADA is not able to regulate or has no ability to do anything outside of the authority of the UFC [and] they knew that once I was released, technically I could go do whatever I want.”

For Mir, this release makes him eligible to sign with other promotions and fight again starting as early as April 2018. The reason behind this is based on one of the contingencies in his release, which allows him to fight but only when he can be regulated by a commission.

Currently, Mir has his eyes set on competing in grappling tournaments and continuing to do color commentary, with his most recent gigs coming from the Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) promotion.

“I already have the foot in the door over at the ACB. I have a contract with them to do commentary and I’m very happy with how they’re doing things. I really like their promotion,” said Mir.

The options for Mir are endless and with a career that is bound to come to a close, he’s only looking for a couple more fights with big names. Having a resume of wins over the likes of Brock Lesnar, Roy Nelson and Antonio Nogueira, Mir is in a good position to be picked up by any willing promotion.

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