Mir: Rousey makes my job as a dad tougher
Fran Mir: “I graduated high school, but I never went to college. So that’s one thing I’m an advocate for, for my children to attend a four-year university.”
It used to be when Bella Mir told her daddy Frank that she wanted to be a UFC fighter too, he could point out that there was no women’s division. Then Ronda Rousey came along on 2013, and is the biggest draw in the sport. According to Forbes, Rousey made $6.5 million in the last year.
(I used to be able to say) there’s not much of a living you could make at this lifestyle, related the former UFC heavyweight champion to Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie.
Mir’s father ran a Kenpo karate school when he was growing up, so fighting is in the blood. As his son’s name is Cage, it is in the name, too. Cage is also “gnawing at him” to get the gloves on. However, like every smart fighter ever, Mir’s goal for his children is education first.
I’ve made it very clear to her that they go to private school; I’m very adamant that they go further, said Mir. I think every parent wants their kids to go father than they did. I graduated high school, but I never went to college. So that’s one thing I’m an advocate for, for my children to attend a four-year university and have that in their pocket as far as world experience.
As long as they follow those rules I have with school and college, I’ll help them out. I’ll be in their corner. The minute they’re going to dive into professional fighting and they’re going to drop out and they’re going to put all their eggs in one basket, that’s when I’m going to have a problem.
The sport has been good for Frank Mir, as he has for it. It is why he can afford to send his children to private school. But he was the head bouncer at the Spearmint Rhino when he started fighting, and he wants his children to have wider options than that.
You can train and be a good martial artist and enjoy and do amateur fights, even do pro fights, he said. Have a 9-to-5 job that you can do, and if you want to fight on the weekends, so be it.
Obviously, what Ronda’s done with the sport and how much more lucrative it’s become, and now that the UFC switched gears; there was a time when (White) wasn’t going to allow females in the UFC. Now, they’re showcased in main events.
So my daughter is pointing at this going, ‘Hey, dad.’ I think I had to sit back and go, ‘OK, I see it, too,’ so I’ll relax a little.
Frank Mir fights fellow former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at UFC 191 on Sept. 5 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.
