Mir: Ref made the right call
Frank Mir: “My lights were on, but I had no bearings on where anything was coming from. So the effectiveness of me being able to defend myself was very low at that point.”
At last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 85, Mark Hunt hit Frank Mir with a big right hand to the side of the head and Mir dropped. Hunt walked away and the referee called the fight over. Some fans questioned whether or not Mir was actually out and if the the referee should have allowed the fight to continue. Mir himself said this week on his podcast that he agreed the referee made the right call:
“Yes, it was a good stoppage,” Mir said. “My lights were on, but I had no bearings on where anything was coming from. So the effectiveness of me being able to defend myself was very low at that point.”
Mir said his equilibrium was totally affected by Hunt’s punch and he wasn’t even sure where Hunt was. The first person he was able to locate was Goddard running over to see if Mir was capable of continuing. Goddard ruled that he was not. Hunt never even attempted a follow-up shot, instead just walking away.
“It shows you show disorientated I was by the shot — the guy fully dressed was the one who caught my attention,” Mir said. … “It could have been bad [if the fight continued]. I see the reason for stopping it. At that point, intelligently defending myself, it would have been a scramble to find out where Mark was coming from.”