It was the only submission loss of Williams' career. Mir faced Ian Freeman in London, England, at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall on July 13, 2002. Despite several leglock attempts by Mir, Freeman achieved side control four minutes into the first round and landed numerous punches and elbows to Mir's head. A time out was called due to a cut on Mir's face. After Freeman separated, the referee signaled to Mir to stand back up and stopped the fight after Mir struggled to do so. Mir then faced Tank Abbott at UFC 41 on February 28, 2003. Mir submitted Abbott with a toe hold in 46 seconds. On June 26, 2003, Mir fought Wes Sims at UFC 43: Meltdown. Mir won by disqualification at 2:55 of the first round after Sims stomped on Mir's jaw following a slam escape of an armbar attempt by Mir. They would rematch at UFC 46: Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Mir won by knockout at 4:21 of the second round. Heavyweight championship On June 19, 2004, Mir faced Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 48: Payback. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight 50 seconds into the first round after Mir broke Sylvia's right forearm with a straight armbar. Sylvia initially protested the call but relented following a replay of the break. He was taken to a nearby hospital where an x-ray showed that his arm was broken in four places, two in both the radius and ulna bones of his right forearm. Sylvia underwent surgery later that week. Mir earned his BJJ black belt from Ricardo Pires following this performance. Motorcycle injury On September 17, 2004, Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. The accident caused two breaks in Mir's femur and tore all the ligaments in his knee. An Interim Heavyweight Championship was created while Mir recovered from surgery, which Andrei Arlovski won by defeating Tim Sylvia via first round submission. On August 12, 2005, the UFC learned that Mir would not be able to face Andrei Arlovski in October as scheduled and stripped him of the title after 14 months, promoting Arlovski to undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. In 2010, Mir told FIGHT! Magazine that he was grateful for the accident as it gave him time to be with his wife. Return to the UFC In his first bout since the accident, Mir fought 4th degree