staph

2 Jan 2009 06:55:41 AM

Mir's Fake Injuries vs. Nog's Real Staph Infection

Frank Mir Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira MMA UFC
(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Leading up to UFC 92, you may have heard some rumors that Frank Mir was battling injuries while preparing for his fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. We didn't put any effort into discussing it because hey, the dude was going to lose anyway, right? Turns out that's exactly what Mir wanted you to think. As he explained on a recent installment of TAGG Radio, a little media misinformation goes a long way:

"Every fighter gets injured a lot during training camps. One thing I've learned not to do is – I don't really give any validity to my injuries. Some of my injuries are fake. I've faked a few injuries in the past but not to pull out of fights or anything. It's just there are a lot of rumors out there, and when I hear them, I help people out. ... 'Go tell people and put it on the Internet.' That way when a real, legitimate injury goes through, people question whether I'm really hurt or not."

So apparently Mir was as healthy as he could have hoped to be, and certainly fought like he was in the best shape of his life. Big Nog, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. During an appearance on the Carmichael Dave show, Dana White let the cat out of the bag:

"Nogueira had some other problems too going into [UFC 92]. Nogueira had just gotten over a Staph infection and he had some other problems...If you’re a professional athlete, time is not good to you. Time catches us all.”

Sad but true. And Dana could be implying that Nog is suffering from other maladies that won't clear up as easily as a staph infection. Unfortunately, there's no cure for ten years of being punched in the head.

Semi-related: Following UFC 92 and Dynamite!! 2008, our heavyweight, lightweight, and pound-for-pound Power Rankings lists have been updated.