Global Fight League are a brand new MMA promotion that have been making waves recently and they’ve just announced a very interesting fight between Fabricio Werdum and Frank Mir. Both men are legendary figures in the sport and although they are both at the tail-end of their careers, being heavyweights allows them to stay competitive much later than lighter fighters. They also both had their own reigns as the UFC heavyweight world champion but what makes this fight so interesting is the fact that they both made good use of their elite grappling in order to succeed at that level.
Mir was first to reach the top of the mountain, as he win the UFC heavyweight title all the way back in 2004. He was never able to defend it as he was involved in a devastating motorcycle accident that left him too injured to compete and was stripped of the belt. He won the interim heavyweight title in 2008 and challenged for the undisputed title twice after that, before leaving the UFC for Bellator. He only had three fights for Bellator and although he never formally retired, he hasn’t competed in MMA since his last fight for them in 2019. Mir’s record stands at 19-13 with 9 submission wins, and he’s regarded as one of the best grapplers in heavyweight MMA history.
Werdum’s stint as the UFC heavyweight champion came much later, as he originally competed for PRIDE and StrikeForce primarily. He won the title in 2015 after originally being the interim champion, and he has only competed sporadically since leaving the UFC in 2020. He famously had a bare knuckle MMA fight with Junior Dos Santos in 2023 and including that loss, his record currently stands at 24-10-1 (1) with 12 submission wins. With over 60 professional fights and 20 submission wins between them, Fabricio Werdum and Frank Mir will push each other to the limit on the ground. Neither man has ever been submitted in MMA though, so it’ll be interesting to see if either of them can change that.
Global Fight League (GFL) announced the news that Fabricio Werdum and Frank Mir would be fighting each other in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
