UFC Fight Night ‘Bigfoot vs. Mir’ Notebook: Primal Motives

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Frank Mir has come to terms with one inescapable truth: In MMA, “Bigfoot” does exist.

Seeking his first victory in more than four years, Mir will take on former EliteXC, Cage Rage and Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Antonio Silva in the UFC Fight Night “Bigfoot vs. Mir” main event on Sunday at the Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The 35-year-old Las Vegas native has suffered four consecutive defeats since he snapped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm with a kimura at UFC 140 in December 2011.

Mir last competed at UFC 169, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Alistair Overeem. The Dutchman outstruck him by a staggering 139-5 margin, according to FightMetric figures.

“I took some time off,” Mir said in an interview with the “UFC Tonight” program. “It was an easy solution. Close friends and training partners tell me the four guys I fought are highly ranked and tough, but I took time off and addressed some things to be a better athlete and be at my full capability.”

Nearing the end of a career that included an Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title reign, Mir claims to be driven by the same forces that drove him to enter MMA in 2001.

“I have the same motivation as I did in the beginning,” he said. “I want to compete. I love to fight. The lifestyle makes me who I am. The accomplishments that come with it are just a result of doing what I love to do, but I’m not doing it for records. It’s the lifestyle I’ve lived for last 14 years.”

The monstrous 6-foot-4, 265-pound Silva presents a myriad of problems, from powerful hands and a punishing clinch to a devastating top game. The American Top Team heavyweight is winless over his last three fights and has not fought since being knocked out by Andrei Arlovski in September.

“I think ‘Bigfoot’ has a good counter right hand and a long reach,” Mir said. “If you’re aggressive and take it to him, you can be successful, but if you let him off the hook, you’ll be unsuccessful.”

Mir welcomes the chance to fight in Brazil for the first time.

“I just spent the summer hanging out in South America and spent a week in Sao Paulo,” he said. “I had a real warm welcome, so that gave me the notion I could fight there. If I wasn’t fighting a Brazilian here in Brazil, I think I’d be the crowd favorite.”

BONE OF CONTENTION

No fight on the UFC Fight Night “Bigfoot vs. Mir” lineup carries more importance than the lightweight co-headliner between Edson Barboza and Michael Johnson.

Barboza, a former Ring of Combat champion, has rattled off back-to-back wins and now owns a stellar 9-2 mark inside the UFC. Johnson, a Blackzilians representative who reached the final on Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” will enter the cage on the strength of a three-fight winning streak. Both men have title aspirations at 155 pounds.

The 29-year-old Barboza last appeared at UFC Fight Night “Edgar vs. Swanson” in November, when he captured a unanimous decision from Bobby Green in Austin, Texas.

“I think Edson is a very skilled fighter with a few holes in his game,” Johnson said in his pre-fight interview with UFC.com, “and I will expose them.”

Johnson, 28, last competed at UFC Fight Night “Gustafsson vs. Manuwa” in March, as he claimed a three-round verdict against Melvin Guillard in London.

“He is a tough guy,” Barboza said, “like the other fighters in my division.”

THIS & THAT

Cezar Ferreira and Sam Alvey share a common opponent in Elvis Mutapcic. Alvey dropped a unanimous decision to the onetime Maximum Fighting Championship titleholder, while Ferreira was victimized in a 25-second knockout ... The two men who have finished former Jungle Fight champion Adriano Martins -- Donald Cerrone and Ronys Torres -- own a cumulative record of 55-11 ... Iuri Alcantara has fought as a welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight during his career ... Sean Strickland is one of nine fighters who have won the King of the Cage middleweight title. Chris Brennan, Dean Lister, Joey Villasenor, Billy Ayash, Keith Berry, Brandon Hunt, Brad Burrick and Daniel Hernandez are the others ... Jessica Andrade has recorded five of her 12 victories via guillotine choke-induced submission ... All nine of Matt Dwyer’s fights have resulted in a finish, seven of them inside one round ... MMA Lab representative Mike de la Torre sports eight-, 36-, 39-, 41-, 57-, 75- and 96-second stoppages on his resume ... According to FightMetric, T.J. Waldburger is the second most active submission fighter in the history of the UFC welterweight division at 4.8 attempts per 15 minutes, trailing only Dustin Hazelett (5.7) ... Cody Gibson wrestled collegiately at Menlo College and Bakersfield College in California ... Ivan Jorge owns 12 traditional submissions among his 25 pro wins: seven via rear-naked choke, three via guillotine choke and one each via arm-triangle choke and anaconda choke.