Frank Mir will no longer be facing Antonio Tarver next month.
Multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting that Tarver is out of his scheduled 10-round matchup with the former UFC heavyweight champion following an initial report from ESPN.
The report states that Tarver’s withdrawal stems from not meeting requirements to compete via the Georgia Athletic & Entertainment Commission. A request from MMA Fighting to the commission has not been answered at this time.
Per sources, Mir is still expected to compete on the card and a matchup with Steve Cunningham—Tarver’s most recent opponent in 2015—is in the works should Cunnnigham be medically cleared to compete. The event, which will be headlined by Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren, will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Cunningham, 44, holds a 29-9-1 record in professional boxing with past fights on his resume including Tarver and reigning WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Mir, a 32-fight pro MMA veteran, was excited to make his debut in the squared circle and was inspired by the main event of Triller’s first card between legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
“Watching Roy and Mike, especially Mike Tyson, someone I can relate to, someone who really let himself go there through his late 30s and 40s,” Mir said. “There were times Mike was walking around 300 pounds, he wasn’t healthy. Now you look at him, he’s cleaned up his diet, his motivation, his training, and we got to see a phenomenal version of him. So that, again, as a fighter who’s getting older, I found it especially inspiring.”
Tarver, 52, is a former WBA, WBC, IBO and IBF light heavyweight and IBO cruiserweight champion and is best known for his trilogy against Jones Jr. where he picked up two victories.
