QUOTABLES: Frank Mir says if fighters are smart, they won't train with others in their own weight class in the UFC

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

[Roy and I got the call and we] were actually in the gym together the very next morning so we kind of discussed how it was gonna go like 'Look, there's only so many heavyweights, I guess we're gonna have to fight.' I think both of us were looking forward to fighting when there was a little bit more on the line as far as one of us having a title or pushing ourselves up into a number one contender position. It is what it is. It's beneficial to the promoter to have two guys from Vegas fighting on their Memorial Day weekend card so I understand it and it's business, so I gotta just go out there and fight...

I think the UFC's a small area, there's not a lot of fighters, a lot of depth. I think what you're going to see in the future is guys refusing to train together. I think right now you have guys that are open to training with different guys around. One lesson I learned from Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans is if there's any heavyweights in the UFC, I'm not gonna train with them anymore. Why would you? That's a potential opponent. If he gets any kind of advantage over you in the gym, learns a secret or knows something about an injury, that could potentially cost you a lot of money. I think in the future if guys are smart, they'll stop training with guys in their own weight class in the UFC...

-Frank Mir talks to RawVegas.TV about his new training philosophy now that the UFC has booked him against a friend in Roy Nelson.

Penick's Analysis: It's probably a smart strategy for fighters worried about the potential of fighting a training partner to not train with people in their weight class that they might need to fight down the line. In a perfect world, these situations of teammates being matched up with teammates would only come about in number one contender or championship opportunities, and so it doesn't necessarily have to apply to every fighter at every level; but the reality of the sport is that to advance some will need to be willing to fight anyone to make their way up the ladder. The best way to circumvent that would be to follow Mir's lead and not train with fighters in their own weight class if they wouldn't be willing to fight them.

[Frank Mir art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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