LAS VEGAS - JULY 10: UFC heavyweight fighters Brock Lesnar (L) and Frank Mir (R) square off at UFC 100 Weigh-Ins at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on July 10, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Former heavyweight champion Frank Mir is definitely interested in a third fight with Brock Lesnar, even if he has to wait two more years for it to happen.
Mir and Lesnar have faced off twice with the series split at one win a piece, and a third bout between the two rivals has been bantered about for several years.
Now, Lesnar is poised to return at UFC 200 in a fight against Mark Hunt. But if not for Mir's pending suspension from the positive drug test he triggered from his last fight, he believes he would have gotten the call instead.
"I think so. I think he's a competitive guy and if he's going to step into the Octagon, he's going to want to get paid as much as he can for that appearance. I mean he's closing in on 40. So why not a fight with me?" Mir said recently on his Phone Booth Fighting podcast.
"A fight with me is going to be a much bigger payday, the two of us together, is going to make a much more impact than him versus anybody else. The storyline is just not going to be the same. The interest is not going to be the same. "
Mir is currently on the shelf following a knockout loss to Hunt in his last fight while awaiting word from the United States Anti-Doping Agency on whatever potential punishment he might face from the positive drug test.
A typical first-time suspension is two years, but Mir believes even if he's forced to sit out that long, a return fight against Lesnar would still be big business for everybody involved.
I think that even two years from now when I come back out of the suspension, a fight with Lesnar, if he still wants to come back again, it's still a huge fight. -- Frank Mir
"It's massive because of what brings to the table, what I bring to the table and the history that we've had together," Mir said.
"But that's out of my control."
As far as the fight currently in front of Lesnar at UFC 200, Mir knows what kind of test Hunt will give him and he believes the outcome will be determined in rapid fashion.
As a former NCAA heavyweight champion wrestler, Lesnar will likely look for the takedown while Hunt will attempt to stuff his shots and return fire with the bricks attached to his arms that he calls fists.
"I think we're going to know who's going to win this fight in the first 180 seconds. Mark Hunt is the hardest puncher I've ever faced," Mir said.
"(Lesnar) doesn't like to be hit. Not that anybody likes to be hit, but Brock for whatever reason has shown much more of a dramatic response to the negativity of taking those shots; to the point to where he's not asleep, it isn't like he got knocked out, he's not getting dropped, but he just turns his face away from adversity. That's a bad thing when fighting Mark Hunt, who I think it one of the hardest punchers in the division."
Hunt opened as a solid favorite over Lesnar ahead of their showdown July 9 in Las Vegas. From the sound of things, Mir is betting that the former K-1 kickboxing champion might add another highlight-reel knockout to his record once UFC 200 is over.
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