Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Asks For His Release

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion has been in the UFC for over a decade. If he has his way, he won’t be for much longer.

Mir announced on The MMA Hour this week that he’s requesting that the UFC release him. This comes after Mir tested positive for oral turinabol metabolites following his loss to Mark Hunt in April. While he says that he’s innocent, he’s not appealing the decision because of costs associated with doing so.

“As of now I’m under suspension, as of April 2018 I’ll be eligible to fight again the UFC, and even more, as troubling as that is, they have it to where I can’t do any broadcasting,” Mir said. “Not that I was ever going to get it in there, just because I’ve been asking for several years since the WEC since put this in the rotation, right now I’d like to be released by the UFC so I can continue my career in other avenues,” Mir said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting).

Mir also said that after taking a look at the situation he was facing, as well as his bank account, he realized that he had to be able to make a living. Having his freedom to fight, as well as his freedom to do work as a commentator restricts his ability to do so, which led to him wanting his release.

A similar situation took place in 2012, when Stephan Bonnar wasn’t allowed to continue providing analysis for the UFC after testing positive for drostanolone for his UFC 153 fight with Anderson Silva. Chael Sonnen was also removed from his spot as an analyst for FOX in 2014 after series of drug test failures.

Mir told host Ariel Helwani that he’ll always feel bad about the way his UFC tenure has ended.

“It will be one of those things that I’ll be very sad about how this is how I spent 15 years of my life in the UFC, and this is how it ended. It’s not a happy note to end on. It will be one of those things that I’ll chalk up as a regret until the day they put me in the ground. I just have to move on and try to continue with other aspects of my life,” Mir said

You can read more from Mir’s announcement on the MMA Hour over at MMA Fighting.