http://mmajunkie.com/news/18289/frank-m ... dcasts.mmaFrank Mir's future as a broadcaster for the promotion's sister company, World Extreme Cagefighting, remains up in the air, but today the former UFC heavyweight champion said he hopes to return to the commentary role he's held since the company first hit the Versus airwaves in June 2007.
"It's something that hopefully I'll be able to do in the future," Mir told MMAjunkie.com. "Right now, I'm concentrating more on my fighting career."
Mir is currently preparing for a UFC 111 interim title fight with Shane Carwin on March 27.
Mir was noticeably absent from this past weekend's WEC 47 event, and UFC light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar stepped behind the microphone, instead.
In the weeks leading up to the WEC 47 event, Mir found himself in the center of a hotly debated controversy after he conducted a radio interview with WXDX-FM in which he said he wanted rival UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to be "the first person that dies due to octagon-related injuries."
Mir subsequently issued a public apology for the remarks, and Bonnar was named a WEC broadcaster nine days later.
It's not the first time Mir hasn't been a part of the WEC broadcast. Jens Pulver replaced Mir at WEC 39 in March of 2009, and Kenny Florian stepped in at WEC 42 in June 2009.
Nevertheless, the timing of the announcement of the choice of Bonnar for the WEC 47 broadcast led many to speculate that the change was made because of Mir's unfortunate choice of words. WEC officials insisted to MMAjunkie.com at the time that the controversy had nothing to with the change.
Today, Mir declined to speculate.
"I can't speak for the WEC or the UFC about what contributed to any decisions or for anything moving forward," Mir said. "I think you'd have to ask them."
WEC officials declined to comment on the matter when contacted by MMAjunkie.com, but sources close to the promotion said company officials, citing a respect for Mir's upcoming fight, have elected to wait until after UFC 111 to meet with him regarding his broadcasting future with the promotion.
As to whether the controversy served as any sort of distraction to his training, Mir said he doesn't allow himself to get caught up in what is being said about him in the public.
"The blessing is that I'm kind of lazy when it comes to getting on the Internet," Mir said. "I don't even answer my phone that often, so I'm kind of sheltered from that type of approach. The people around me, I think they filter a great deal what I see information-wise, and a lot of times I don't ask.
"People go, 'Hey, do you want to hear what was written about you?' I go, 'No.'"
Mir said he does hope to be a part of future WEC broadcasts, but right now the interim title – and a rubber match with Lesnar – is his primary objective.
"Like I said, I've always enjoyed commentating, and I hope to be able to do so in the future," Mir said. "Right now, I'm just looking at this as an opportunity to go ahead and focus on what I do inside the octagon."
