Frank Mir

By FCF Staff

Frank Mir is booked to fight Roy Nelson at Bellator 231  on October 25th, but the former UFC heavyweight champ clearly isn’t thrilled about the match-up.

The heavyweights battled back in 2011 at UFC 130, and Mir won the contest via unanimous decision. During a recent episode of Mir’s Phone Booth Fighting podcast, however, the veteran reported the following (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“They were like, ‘Hey we want you to fight Roy on Aug. 23 or 24, and I turned it down,” Mir said. I was like, ‘Ah, I really don’t want to fight Roy.’… Then I got the little email where they’re going to extend my contract and see if they can find me a new opponent.

“Well, lo and behold, they never found me a new opponent, and I didn’t fight. So, I come back and I’m texting them: ‘Hey can I get a fight sometime soon. Do you think I’ll fight before November?’ Then I get, ‘Well, we’ve got you pegged for Roy again.’ I’m like, ‘Man, you guys aren’t taking (expletive) no for an answer, are you?’”

“…Roy and I have trained quite a bit since that fight,” Mir said. “We know each other, too. That’s the problem, but no one wants to listen to me. When two guys know each other well – Roy knows me, and I know him – the idea of trying to bring any trickery is not going to really happen.

“Both guys understand what the other guy can do, and become very good at nullifying it.”

The 40-year-old Mir (18-13) is coming off a stoppage loss to Javy Ayala in December, while the 43-year-old Nelson (23-17) lost via decision to Mirko “Cro Cop” this past February.