Maybe Frank Mir wasn’t able to return to the Bellator cage as quickly as he expected after an April meeting with Fedor Emelianenko, but he certainly found other ways to keep busy.

Earlier this month, for example, Mir met Satoshi Ishii in a grappling match at Quintet 3. And then, just this weekend, Mir competed against retired fighter and fellow former UFC champion Forrest Griffin at the Black Belt CBD Invitational in Las Vegas.

Sure, those didn’t involve the face-punching part – which Mir will get to do against Javy Ayala at Bellator’s “Salute the Troops” event in December. But, for the heavyweight, there are plenty of ways to make staying active on the mats useful in the cage.

“There’s a certain level of conditioning that I don’t receive in practice, that I receive in training,” Mir told MMAjunkie Radio on Thursday. “It never became more evident than when I grappled with Forrest this last weekend. Forrest and I have trained together since 2005, when he first came off (“The Ultimate Fighter”), I’d show up and work out down there, then eventually he came over. We’ve just trained over the years, constantly in the same gyms. We sparred together many many hours and wrestling. So he’s somebody I’m used to.

“But even with the stage set up, and us really trying to beat each other – I’m trying to win. Even though it’s somebody I’m familiar with, those three rounds fatigued me, very similar to what it feels like to be fighting. So it helps me, constantly pulling up those grappling competitions. I think it’s just another way for me to stay constantly motivated between fights and keep up my level of conditioning.”

As for why Mir has been away from the Bellator cage for so long? Well, it out wasn’t entirely optional. The 39-year-old said he’d been angling for a fight since July, and was somewhat expecting it to materialize around September or October, but it kept getting pushed back for matchmaking reasons.

Mir (18-12 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) now finally has a return date against Ayala (10-7 MMA, 5-4 BMMA) on Dec. 14, at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. It took some waiting, but the time and place ended up working out “for a lot of reasons,” including a particularly important one: Mir’s 15-year anniversary with his wife on Dec. 10.

“We actually had a vacation booked,” Mir said. “So when I got the phone call to fight on the 14th, I haven’t fought since April, I’m not going to say no, I’ve been waiting to get a fight. So I had to give her the bad news that, you know, we’re going to have to postpone the celebrations. And then a couple of days later, when I found out that it was in Hawaii, I actually made the joke, ‘Hey, it worked out. We’re going to go to Hawaii for our anniversary.’”

Make no mistake, though. Mir isn’t seeing this as solely a vacation. He knows he’s got business to tend to, as well, and he’s not looking past his “extremely athletic” competitor.

“(Ayala) throws things from far away that a lot of guys shouldn’t be able to land, and he’s able to because of his athleticism,” Mir said. “I heard he was a wrestler, but, watching the fight, it seems like his wrestling is probably one of the weaker areas. So I don’t think it’s going to be a surprise to anybody that we’ll have to exploit that as much as possible.”

Here’s another thing that came in handy: Because of the recent grappling competition, has been able to focus even more on the area where he stands “head and shoulders” above Ayala. But that’s pretty much as far as Mir will go when it comes to assessing his upper hand – despite what their resumes might suggest.

A part of Bellator’s roster since 2013, Ayala’s career highlight is arguably a quick knockout win over Sergei Kharitonov in 2016. Although Ayala put on a valiant effort in his following fight, against Roy Nelson, he was ultimately outpointed. Ayala followed that up with a first-round knockout loss to Cheick Kongo back in May.

Mir is, himself, coming off a three-fight skid – capped off by a knockout to Fedor Emelianenko. Win or lose, though, it’s hard to miss the level of competition the former UFC champion has consistently faced. Among his highlights, wins over Brock Lesnar, Mirko “Cro Cop,” Roy Nelson, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Despite it all, though, Mir refuses to put himself in a different level than his competition. In fact, in an unpredictable sport like MMA, he sees no point in even putting things in those terms.

“Look how technical of a kickboxer (Kharitonov) is,” Mir said. “We got to see that on display against Roy. Very few guys, ever, hurt Roy, let alone win through a knockout. That just shows what level of striker Sergei is. Even though Sergei is a better striker than Javy Ayala, as far as we break down the technical aspects of striking, Javy Ayala is not on the same level as Sergei. But, because they’re heavyweights, because Javy is athletic, he has a 16-second knockout over him.”

That’s a chance that Mir, whose grappling chops are really no secret to anyone, quite reasonably doesn’t want to take.

“Again, Sergei Kharitonov is a phenomenal striker, and Javy caught him. He’s capable of catching anybody if he does that,” Mir said. “So I really want to eliminate striking with him in the first round. Make sure he’s fatigued and tired and wear down his athletic ability.

“… Like I’ve always said, no one really accidentally chokes each other. People get knocked out all the time by luck, so …”

For more on “Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops,” check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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