Mixed Martial Arts Career
Mir met UFC matchmaker Joe Silva at a school Silva was visiting. Silva saw potential in Mir as a future UFC fighter and suggested that he first prove himself against some fighters in the mixed martial arts world. Mir would make his professional MMA debut against Jerome Smith at HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown on July 14, 2001. Mir won the bout by judges' decision after two rounds. He won another match by submission against Dan Quinn at IFC Warriors Challenge 15.
After these events, Mir made his UFC debut against Roberto Travern. Traven had fought once in the UFC before (at UFC 11), and was the 1999 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship open class champion and 6th degree black belt in BJJ. Mir defeated Roberto Travern by armbar at 1:05 of round one at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001. The submission earned Mir the "Tapout of the Night" award.
Mir's next match in the UFC was against Pete Williams and took place at UFC 36: Worlds Collide on March 22, 2002. Mir submitted the veteran Williams (who had never been submitted before) at only 46 seconds into the first round with a shoulder lock that has since been named after Mir.
He faced Ian Freeman, at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall, held in London, England on July 13, 2002. Despite several leglock attempts by Mir, Freeman achieved side control at around four minutes into the first round, landing numerous elbows and punches on Mir's head. After Freeman separated, the referee signaled Mir to stand back up. A time out was called due to an apparent cut on Mir's face, and the referee stopped the fight when Mir had difficulty standing up. The call is considered controversial by some fans (including Mir himself) because of the fact that he was never officially finished by Freeman and the fight only stopped due to difficulty standing up, which has been suggested was a smart, but bad call by the referee since that loss.
After the considered-controversial loss to Freeman, Mir then faced David "Tank" Abbott at UFC 41 on February 28, 2003. Mir defeated Abbott in only 46 seconds into the first round by submission (Toe Hold).
On June 26, 2003 Mir fought Wes Sims at UFC 43: Meltdown. Mir won by disqualification at 2:55 of round one after Sims stomped down on Mir's face after slamming his way out of Mir's armbar attempt. They would rematch at UFC 46: Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir won by KO at 4:21 of round two.
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