All-American wrestlers. Brazilian jiu-jitsu aces. World champion kickboxers. Mir has faced them all and while he hasn’t always left these confrontations unscathed, he’s learned from them; more importantly, he’s still standing.
The 40-year-old heavyweight makes his first appearance of 2019 when he faces Roy Nelson on Friday in the main event of Bellator 231, a rematch of their UFC 130 encounter from May 2011 that Mir won by unanimous decision. Mir has expressed his reservations about facing Nelson again, though not out of any disregard for Nelson’s skills. It’s simply a matchup that by Mir’s own admission could end up being an uneventful encounter.