Report: Former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir to sign with Bellator

Frank Mir is on the cusp of signing with Bellator, marking the first time in more than 16 years that the former heavyweight champion will compete for an organization other than the UFC.

Mir (18-11 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has agreed to terms on a Bellator contract, and his signing will be formally announced in the coming days, according to MMAFighting.com. Bellator officials didn’t immediately respond to MMAjunkie’s request for confirmation.

Mir debuted with the UFC in November 2001 at UFC 34. He began campaigning for his UFC release after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) flagged him for a violation following a March 2016 fight with Mark Hunt.

The 27-fight octagon veteran was officially handed a two-year suspension retroactive to the date of the test, but has maintained his innocence. He listed numerous potential sources for the positive test, including eating kangaroo meat while in Australia for the fight with Hunt. However, he was still given a maximum punishment by USADA.

On July 9, Mir announced he’d officially been released from his UFC contract.

Now Mir moves to Bellator, where he joins the likes of Rory MacDonald, Gegard Mousasi, Ryan Bader, Chael Sonnen, Benson Henderson and others who signed with Bellator after lengthy UFC tenures.

Mir leaves the UFC with numerous heavyweight records to his credit, including most fights (27), wins (16), stoppages (13) and submissions (eight).

Although active UFC fighter B.J. Penn made his promotional debut prior to Mir, the former champion’s uninterrupted UFC tenure of 5,727 days is a record that may never be broken.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.