‘The Frank Mir Curse’: Is Overeem Next?

Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem met in the octagon this past Saturday at UFC 169 in what was sure to be an exciting heavyweight bout. As Mir walked into the cage, he looked to be in amazing shape but that proved to be irrelevant. Mir proved to be durable as he ate shots and kept working for submissions, but watching him get outnumbered in strikes 139 to 5 was difficult to watch.

‘The Reem’ had multiple chances to finish the fight but decided to play it safe and not blow his gas-tank by going for the finish. The result was a fifteen minute mauling from Overeem. Dana White took to the podium during the UFC 169 Post-Fight Presser and shared his thoughts on Overeem’s performance: ‘It was crappy’. White thought Overeem could have finished it whenever he wanted but played it safe only to keep his job.

Despite all of this backlash, it is possible that this could have been the best case scenario for Alistair Overeem.

Outside of sports, curses are downright silly. We know walking under a ladder will not give anyone bad luck. However when it comes to sports, diehard fans know that curses are as real as it gets.

Curses have affected teams in professional football and baseball for decades. The Madden Cover Curse has damaged a number of careers and it’s debatable that the only player to break the curse, Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson, is even human. The Chicago Cubs landed a spot in the playoffs in 1908 due to a stat-error and went on to win the World Series that year. Since then, they have not won a single World Series Championship.

Casual fans may not understand, but diehards know that sport curses exist.

Even though our sport of mixed martial arts is so young, it is hard to believe that curses already exist… and Overeem may have avoided one of the most famous of curses with his decision win over Frank Mir.

“Every fighter that has finished Frank Mir goes on to lose his next fight… or worse.”

Victim 1: Ian Freeman
UFC 38: Ian Freeman def. Frank Mir by way of TKO, 4:35 of Round 1
Curse Effect: UFC 40: Andrei Arlovski def. Ian Freeman by way of TKO, 1:25 of Round 1

Victim 2: Marcio Cruz
Win: UFC 57: Marcio Cruz def. Frank Mir by way of TKO, 4:10 of Round 1
Curse Effect: UFC 59: Jeff Monson def. Marcio Cruz by way of Decision (Split)

Victim 3: Brandon Vera
Win: UFC 65: Brandon Vera def. Frank Mir by way of TKO, 1:09 of Round 1
Curse Effect: UFC 77: Tim Sylvia def. Brandon Vera by way of Decision (Unanimous)

Victim 4: Brock Lesnar
Win: UFC 100: Brock Lesnar def. Frank Mir by way of TKO, 1:48 of Round 1
Curse Effect: Brock Lesnar fell victim to diverticulitis and retired after going 1-2.

Victim 5: Junior dos Santos
Win: UFC 146: JDS def. Frank Mir by way of TKO, 3:04 of Round 2
Curse Effect: UFC 155: Cain Velasquez def. JDS by way of Decision (Unanimous)

Victim 6: Josh Barnett
Win: UFC 164: Josh Barnett def. Frank Mir by way of TKO, 1:56 of Round 1
Curse Effect: UFC 168: Travis Browne def. Josh Barnett by way of KO, 1:00 of Round 1