Frank Mir sees silver lining in Triller Fight Club loss: 'It's about the journey and not the destination'

ATLANTA –  Officially, Frank Mir didn’t add a professional boxing win to his resume Saturday at Triller Fight Club. By his standards, however, the performance was a victory.

Against former boxing world champion Steve Cunningham, the former UFC heavyweight champion went all six rounds and lost a unanimous decision. Though largely controlled for much of the fight, Mir held his own and showed glimpses of brilliance – a silver lining found despite the defeat.

“It is a victory,” Mir told MMA Junkie after the fight. “Honestly, my ultimate goal was to get a six-round decision. But if you said knock him out in 30 seconds or get a six-round decision where you boxed really well, I preferred that one. It sounds like maybe a defeatist mindset, but I think real martial artists understand it’s about the journey and not the destination. That means more to me and my overall life than catching somebody in 15 seconds.”

Sure, the fight was a boxing match, but Mir thinks the lessons learned will help him become a better mixed martial artist regardless of the discipline in which he competed on Saturday. Mir hung his hat on the successes, learned from the failures, and locked his focus on the future.

“I actually feel pretty good about it,” Mir said. “I felt that honestly, I won the first two or three rounds. … In my mind, if I know I can hang with a boxer for two or three rounds and win those rounds. Had that been an MMA fight, then I win the fight. That would carry over to my MMA career. That’s really what I am, is a mixed martial artist. It’s (about) looking to always push myself.”

Mir, 41, hopes he competes against Cunningham again, whether it be in MMA or bare-knuckle boxing. If they are paired up for a second time, Mir aims for it to be after Cunningham gives him some standup pointers.

“If Steve would’ve taken me up on (bare-knuckle), yeah, absolutely,” Mir said. “Before, I’m going to actually see if I can pick his brain and seek out what mistakes I made so he can make me a better fighter if he’s willing to do that. I think I was asked if we wanted to do an MMA fight. Obviously, I said yes to that. But I don’t think he would say yes to that.”

Triller Fight Club took place Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The main card aired on pay-per-view.

      

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