Once again, Dana White has gone too far. Kevin Iole's article at Yahoo! Sports this week focused on former UFC champion Frank Mir, and Dana White was quoted as stating Frank Mir's talent made him think of BJ Penn:
"Frank Mir is so talented, when I think of him and try to draw a comparison, the only person I can think of who is a fair one is B.J. Penn," said White, the UFC's outspoken president. "When they came into the UFC, they were young and cocky and had all the ability in the world. They were able to do things that other guys never could even think of doing, so they didn't have to work as hard as the others did.
"But now they're getting older and that window is closing. B.J. is finally taking his game completely seriously now and wants to leave his mark on this sport. He went out and said he would do it and he did. And now that's where Frank Mir finds himself. A committed and dedicated Frank Mir can be a very, very big factor in the heavyweight division."
Where do we even begin? First of all, how does Frank Mir remind anybody of BJ Penn? BJ Penn is one of the most talented fighters in mixed martial arts today. It's not just because he has unbelievable flexibility and great jiu-jitsu. There are plenty of talented fighters out there who have brilliant jiu-jitsu skills. One of the factors is that he is great at nearly every skill needed to be a complete fighter. He has very good striking skills that were a major factor in his wins early in his career. Is Frank Mir as complete as BJ Penn?
The answer is a resounding “No!”. The other comparisons that White makes are at least valid to an extent. Both have had great starts to their careers. Penn absolutely crushed Takanori Gomi and then defeated Matt Hughes for the UFC's Welterweight title, and Frank Mir managed to break Tim Sylvia's arm to win the UFC's Heavyweight Championship.
Once Penn returned to the UFC, he had trouble with losses to Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes at UFC 58 and 63 respectively. Penn has since won the UFC Lightweight title by defeating Joe Stevenson at UFC 80. Mir's road was different.
Mir has never been overly impressive. He lost a tough bout to Ian Freeman at UFC 38 in which he was basically dismantled in the standup game. He beat Tank Abbott... not relevant. He beat Wes Sims, but showed some signs of poor cardio in the second matchup. After winning the title and being involved in a horrible motorcycle accident, he dropped an understandable loss to Marcio Cruz, won a lackluster decision to Dan Christison, a lost a quick fight to Brandon Vera.
The biggest difference in the careers of both fighters is that Penn lost to fighters that were at the top of their games and at the top of the division. Mir lost to Cruz, a very green newcomer to the sport, and an up-and-coming Brandon Vera who simply overwhelmed him, but was just breaking out in the division. The fact is that the comparison in their careers is only skin deep. If you take a closer look, the comparison just isn't there. Mir isn't a complete fighter, and he doesn't remind me or probably anyone else except for the UFC of BJ Penn when he fights. Unless I see Mir come out with technical striking skills and putting opponents away, it'll remain that way.