Despite Bellator contract, Mir declares himself a free agent

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Frank Mir will fight for Bellator once more but after a discussion with Scott Coker, he’s available to fight or commentate for anyone - and he has some options in mind.

Frank Mir’s Bellator career never really got off the ground. After a USADA suspension took away years of his fighting career, the former heavyweight champion ended his 16-year relationship with the UFC and signed with the competition. But with just three fights and one win under his belt over his two years with Bellator, he’s looking for more during the twilight of his career.

On his Phone Booth Fighting podcast, Mir explained that he still has a fight left on his Bellator contract, which he intends to fulfill. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no way to know when that will actually take place. So CEO Scott Coker gave him a pseudo-release, and he has declared himself a free agent (transcribed by MMA Junkie):

“Basically I had a good conversation with Scott Coker,” he said. “(I’m) still going to have a fight with them, just because there’s a fight left on my fight contract. Scott was very easy to talk to about it – their company’s shut down, he hasn’t even left his house in three weeks – so, once they start up, there’s going to be a backlog of fights because they have so many fighters on their roster.

“So now I’m basically, not basically, I am a free agent. Even though I would still do fights for Bellator, I’m not beholden to any contract to anybody now. So I can try out the free market and see whoever opens up to fighting first.”

Mir explained that the exclusive Bellator contract hampered his burgeoning fight commentating career, which is he hoping to breathe new life into now that he’s free to work with anyone. He also mentioned that he’d love to fight in Japan, mentioning RIZIN as a possible destination. But there is one organization, and one man, that he seems particularly interested in working with.

“KSW looks like a phenomenal show,” he enthused. “Man, their production value is crazy. They have some interesting fights over there in the heavyweight division.”

“I dunno, fighting the strongest man in the world, (Mariusz) Pudzianowski – that would be interesting!”