Death Threat Law & Legal Definition: “Under state criminal codes, which vary by state, it is an offense to knowingly utter or convey a threat to cause death or bodily harm to any person.”—www.definitions.uslegal.com
“The offence of utter death threat may be prosecuted by summary conviction or by indictment. If prosecuted by indictment, the accused person is entitled to elect trial by jury and upon conviction is liable to up to five years jail.”—www.defencelaw.com
“I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries.”—Frank Mir, WXDX Radio
Not exactly the usual non-literal metaphor of “I’m gonna kill that guy!” that is heard so often in competitive sports.
In fact, I don’t think that a summer goes by where my son, who plays middle linebacker, doesn’t have at least a dozen other kids telling him that he’s a “dead man” out on the football field (easier said than done by the way).
As a coach, I may not believe such a frivolous threat in literal terms, but make no mistake, I am always conscious and aware of any perceived intent to injure another player, regardless if it’s my son or not.
Contact sports can be very emotional. I take nothing for granted and my responsibility as a coach prevents me from underestimating potentially inappropriate intentions to hurt or injure another player.
Given Mir’s recent obsession with Lesnar, which became stalwartly fuelled by his prior embarrassing defeat, Mir’s comments must be taken seriously by the UFC, as well as the authorities.
They simply must.
We cannot pretend to know Mir’s current state of mind. We cannot make assumptions that Mir is simply “hyping” a fight, and we cannot ignore the potential danger of this incredibly unfortunate situation.
Some of you may be thinking that this is a slight overreaction or that this is possibly even an acceptable level of behaviour in sports (which as a stand-alone opinion, I would have to strongly disagree).
But what if in this particular case, you are wrong?
What if Mir is deadly serious?
I really hope that the Governor of New York State or the Ontario Premier didn’t catch wind of Mir’s incredibly disturbing and irresponsible remarks. Trying to get MMA legalized is tough enough it seems, and this absolutely plays right into the old stereotype that MMA is nothing more than a ruthless, lawless “bloodsport.”
Without a doubt, it makes the UFC (Mir’s employer) and all of MMA in general, look extremely bad.
Even worse, it makes each of its supporters look bad as well (guilty by association). Believe it or not, Mir’s reputation becomes our reputation. It’s like Frank Mir reached out through the media and punched every single MMA fan square in the face.
This absolutely is “one step forward—two steps back.”
Bottom line: it insults and undermines all of our hard work in this sport.
Personally, I have been a long time advocate and supporter of all things MMA and I have taken it upon myself to speak out on the things that I don’t particularly like. I have consistently refused to sit back and accept the negatives of this sport, even if it has sometimes meant that I had to against popular opinion.
I refuse to accept bad behaviour as a natural part of this sport.
I have been a martial artist in the truest sense of the word for my entire life and I believe very strongly in the values of sportsmanship and honour.
I believe strongly in the good things found in MMA (and I hope that if you are reading this—you do too).
It’s the bad things that I have intolerance for and I have never given up trying to make a positive difference.
Frank Mir now has me asking myself “why?”
Why am I putting my personal reputation on the line amongst my friends, my peers, my colleagues, my family members, my children, my players, my community?—trust me, the list is very long.
I speak out and voice my opinions because I love this sport and I believe in its future. Or at least, I thought I did.
Now I’m not so sure.
This whole thing about “hyping” a fight just goes too far in my opinion, even for combat sports.
I believe that all professional athletes have a social responsibility to act in a way that should not be deemed illegal or as a detriment to their sport. The entire MMA community will now suffer at the hands of Frank Mir who has pushed us back into the stone ages and created a major set-back in MMA’s drive for mainstream acceptance.
So the question is: what should be done about Mr. Francisco Santos Mir?
I’ll just leave you with this:
“After lying on the ice for several minutes, Moore was removed on a stretcher. He suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts. To date, Moore has not appeared in another professional hockey game.
Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and lost approximately $850,000 in salary and endorsements. The Vancouver Canucks were also fined $250,000, on March 11, 2004, for “…failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to [the incident].”
Responsibility, folks.
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These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.combatsoup.com
That comment does seem to be quite over the top. I would definitely agree that something needs to be done!
Well said James! Mir's comments were ridiculous and whether they were meant in jest or not, it was the last thing MMA needs when it is still trying to gain respect and credibility! It's just added to my list of reasons why I dislike him!
The sport speaks for itself and there's no need to exaggerate or make statements like this one made by Mir.
Legal standards should remain applicable in regards to athletics. Stating intentions to debilitate someone should be unacceptable in all contexts; following through with them should be a felony.
I can not think of an incident where athletic violence has been held accountable in a court of law but Mir crossed the line on this one.
The more he runs his mouth, the more desperate and jealous he sounds. I mean he talked and disrespected Brock over and over again…then Brock beat him into hamburger meat in a beatdown where he embarassedly held Mir’s head with one hand, while beating him senselessly with the other.
Mir is such a HIPOCRITE. He talks about respect, blah, blah, blah. but he talks about tearing someone’s head off and ending someone’s life
didnt mir come out and basically say that the only reason he is continuing his mma career is to get the chance to fight brock again.this guy is deeply obsessed on a disturbing level
What makes it even worse, everything he hates about Brock he has become himself. Even the original hype, trash talking machine, Tito Ortiz has never taken things to that level. The ogre, barbarian that Brock is, officially has more class then Mir now.
Mir is a very manipulative and insecure person. He feels very threatened by Brock, well because Brock is a bigger bully than he is
Great article James!!!
What i find interesting is that he didn’t learn his lesson last time about talkin crap about Brock. Lesnar is like the Hulk, piss him off and he just gets more mean, stronger and more ruthless, all while keeping his focus. So bad idea from Mir, who is the greatest reigning imaginary heavyweight champ in UFC history
sounds like premeditated murder. Too bad Brocks neck is the size of my chest
good read as usual
wow, he should be fined for those comments
any other respectable league (nhl, nba, nfl) he would be slapped with a huge fine!!
This is to far, you don’t say you want to kill someone. Also, this does very little to enhance this sports image in the mainstream. Dana or someone should put a lid on this guy quick
If the UFC doesn't acknowledge this, then they are fucked up. This so bad for the sport.
Hi, James…
Thanks for letting me in on this article about the frank Mir incident. Here's my opinion:
Bertuzzi wasn't suspended for making threats. Frank Mir say's he wants Lesnar to die in the octagon. Would any MMA fighter or pro boxer be arrested if the other the other guy died in the ring/octagon during a fight? No, of course not. MMA is about kicking/kneeing/punching/take downs/submissions–to cause as much bodily harm as possible. Hockey is about scoring goals.
Also, regarding fight hyping: I can't stand trash talking before MMA fights. It's classless and bad for the sport. The only thing worse than pre-fight trash talking is post fight trash talking. After Mir beat Lesnar, did he jump in Brock's face screaming? Did he further insult Brock by jumping on the microphone to spew more post fight trash? Brock huggers remain conveniently silent about that.
Frank Mir is an idiot trash talker, and making pre-fight death threats is not cool. Will Dana White call off the fight and suspend Frank Mir? No, because both Mir and Lesnar are low class loudmouths: perfect fits for the UFC's angry and aggressive sales pitch for the 14 – 28 age demographics.
I agree and I do feel this comment was over the top. However, does anyone remember BJ Penn saying he was going to fight GSP “To the death”? I don't really recall there being too much controversy over that. Although I do think him describing it as he did does make it a little more demented.
When you’re angry you will make the best speech you’ll always regret, that’s all that happened. People get away with worse on a daily basis. We all have made mistakes, let it go and move on. Frank can learn from this that his feelings are real and he’s allowed to feel the way he does, just needs to keep it to himself.