Last Friday night, in the co-main event of Bellator’s first card in Hawaii, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir experienced a brutal loss to Javy Ayala. Though Mir started strong in this fight, he was swarmed in the second round, and ultimately forced to tap out to strikes.

After the fight, it was revealed that Frank Mir had sustained an alveolar ridge fracture in the fight, which is what prompted his tap.

I just talked to @thefrankmir & he told me he has an alveolar ridge fracture, which caused the tap. Frank was without his mouthpiece for about about a minute & 1/2 of the 2nd round & that’s where the injury occurred. #BellatorHawaii @BellatorMMA

— Richard Hunter (@RichardHunter) December 15, 2018

I just talked to [Frank Mir] & he told me he has an alveolar ridge fracture, which caused the tap,” Mir’s ‘Phonebooth Fight Podcast’ co-host Richard Hunter said on Twitter post-fight. “Frank was without his mouthpiece for about about a minute & 1/2 of the 2nd round & that’s where the injury occurred.

Also told me he thought it was just his teeth so he was trying to pull them out so he could continue but then the pain went through the roof. This is a rough sport, folks.

— Richard Hunter (@RichardHunter) December 15, 2018

“Also told me he thought it was just his teeth so he was trying to pull them out so he could continue but then the pain went through the roof,” Hunter added. “This is a rough sport, folks.”

Now nearly a week removed from this grisly loss, Frank Mir is slowly healing up. That being said, he’s clearly still dwelling on his defeat.

Speaking on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Mir issued an emotional statement on this loss, which was accompanied by a picture he took with his daughter right after the fight.

“Fight life,” Mir began. “Thank you for all the support and messages from everyone. It means a lot. Thank you [Bellator MMA] and to [Javy Ayala], best of luck in your career.
Things don’t always go your way but you learned and keep moving forward.”

With this loss to Javy Ayala, the 39-year-old Frank Mir is has fallen onto a four-fight losing streak, having first been defeated by Andrei Arlovski by decision, and then knocked out by Mark Hunt, Fedor Emelianenko, and Ayala. He’s now 18-13 in sum.

What do you think the future holds for Frank Mir?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/20/2018.