Frank Mir has been asked to head south for the winter to headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night 61 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on Sun., Feb. 22, 2015 on FOX Sports 1, which takes place inside Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
But despite four consecutive losses, Mir won't call this a do-or-die situation.
That's because his performance will dictate his future, as a great fight -- even in defeat -- won't be enough to prompt him to retire. But if he gets clowned by Antonio Silva or looks putrid in defeat, then it might be time to start asking himself the tough questions.
From his conversation with Combate:
"[Retirement] depends on my performance. If I perform very badly, I'll obviously have to think about it, but I'm facing a strong guy and if I put on a great show against Bigfoot -- even if I lose -- I won't retire. My latest defeats were in fights against four extremely tough guys. But I can't have any more defeats. I cannot even think about having more defeats and I have to be well prepared."
Fair enough.
But what he wants and what UFC President Dana White decides could be two completely different things. It's important to note that Mir has lost seven of nine fights by way of knockout or technical knockout, something that could prevent him from getting licensed at age 35 (and soon to be 36) if he comes up short in Brazil.
How do you see this fight playing out?