Frank Mir is set to fight former boxing champion Kubrat Pulev in a mixed-rules bout within a triangular cage for Triller promotion Triad Combat this coming weekend, and the former UFC heavyweight titleholder claims it will be the biggest payday of his career.
“The second Brock fight was close, but that was the second-biggest in my career,” Mire said on the MMA Hour show. “But no. This one, in fact, if I hit my bonuses and I win, I’m basically touching on seven figures and I’ve never been within a couple hundred grand of that in the MMA world.”
Mir admits it is tough to look back and realize he didn’t really make the kind of money that he should have for his blockbuster rematch with Brock Lesnar back at UFC 100 in 2009.
“That’s a testament to what Triller’s doing. Pushing the paydays and sharing the income. I realized this a couple of years ago, this is kinda bittersweet for me. I looked at the amount of pay-per-view buys that Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury sold. And what they took home for paydays.
“Me and Brock sold more pay-per-views, and I took home nowhere near as much as either one of them. Brock and I combined didn’t take ten percent of what they took.”
Mir’s fight with Pulev is essentially a boxing match, but with modified gloves and techniques like superman punches, spinning backfists and punches from the clinch being legal, but not the long list of other offensive weapons that MMA fighters typically like to use, such as kicks, knees and elbows.
Also fighting on the same card will be other former UFC stars like Mike Perry, Matt Mitrione and Albert Tumenov.
