Frank Mir can pinpoint the moment that led to his downfall against Fedor Emelianenko in the Bellator 198 main event. However, he said it’s a fixable issue.

After a more than two-year layoff, Mir (18-12 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) returned to action at Bellator 198 this past weekend when he met Emelianenko (37-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in the opening round of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix. The fight ended in a flash, with Mir succumbing to a 48-second TKO loss.

Although the contest was extremely short, it certainly didn’t lack action. Mir hurt Emelianenko with a hard shot in the opening seconds, but then “The Last Emperor” turned the tables and connected on Mir to end the Paramount-televised bout at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., near Chicago.

What happened in between those two moments is where things went bad, Mir said. The former UFC heavyweight champion got tossed into the air by one of Emelianenko’s trademark throws, and Mir admitted that caused him to react in an unwise manner.

“I lost my cool; I let my ego dictate how I fought,” Mir said on his “Phone Booth Fighting” podcast with co-host Richard Hunter. “I’m pretty good at being emotionless and trying not to let that enter, but as soon as I got thrown through the air, it was such a highlight-reel throw, my ego was very injured.”

Mir got right back to his feet after the throw, but instead of keeping a tactical approach, he let his wild side take over, he said. He went after Emelianenko with punches backed by cruel intentions, but his opponent kept calm and managed to capitalize on his overly aggressive foe to finish the fight.

“When we got up, I went into street fighter mode,” Mir said. “I threw left hand over left hand instead of setting up my strikes and being composed, which two years since I’ve competed seriously, my composure is not where it should have been. That’s probably where the most ring rust came into it. Once I got into a firefight, I just got emotional instead of staying strategic.

“It’s not like the throw hurt me. It didn’t really score that much for him. At that point, if I just calm down, I’m still winning the fight because I dropped him. If the fight had stopped at that moment I’m still winning on the judges’ scorecards, even with that throw. But because I was pissed off that I got thrown through the air, all of a sudden I just went for the kill instead of trying to fight like a martial artist. I fought like a street fighter, and that didn’t fair so well.”

Mir, 38, admitted that taking a fight against Emelianenko following a more than two-year layoff was probably not in his best interest. However, a matchup with the former PRIDE champion is something that’s been talked about for over a decade, and he couldn’t possibly turn down the opportunity.

The next fight is unlikely to come against a foe with Emelianenko’s credentials, Mir said, and it probably won’t come under the Bellator banner, either. Mir’s contract with the promotion is non-exclusive, and as a result, he intends for his next fight to take place for Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), which is a Russian-based organization that Mir also works for as a commentator.

“Bellator came to me, and they’re talking about October,” Mir said. “I would like to get a fight in with the ACB before that, so I can just get more time in clocked under me – so I can get my timing back on for fighting. You can train as much as you want, but there’s nothing like the real thing. I had 40 seconds the past two years, so I need some more time, some more rounds.”

If Mir can get a fight with ACB done over the summer, he could be back in the Bellator cage in the fall, he said. By then he hopes the Bellator tournament is near its conclusion, and he wants Emelianenko to come out on top so a rematch is in the cards.

“Hopefully next fight I’ll probably not take someone as dangerous as Fedor, probably get my feet a little bit underneath me,” Mir said. “Hopefully Fedor, after he goes through and has success and wins the tournament, maybe I can be his first title defense if I’ve strung together some wins.”

For complete coverage of Bellator 198, check out the MMA Events section of the site.