Although oddsmakers have favoured Alistair Overeem to prevail over Brock Lesnar this weekend at UFC 141, Frank Mir doesn’t necessarily see the bout going to Overeem, at least not convincingly.
Overeem’s size is something to consider when matching up against Lesnar, as he stands 6’5″ and weighs in at 255 pounds.
However, given his experience with Lesnar, Mir believes Overeem’s size and strength will affect his cardio, and his lack of wrestling skills will prevent him from having any success on the ground.
“Are you going to try to tell me he’s going to wrestle with a national champion wrestler for five minutes? His cardio is going to suck [after wrestling with Lesnar for a while],” Mir said during an interview on ESPN Radio. “I’ve seen guys with muscles like that, and that’s why he slows down,” he said.
Mir has faced Lesnar on two previous occasions and is 1-1 against the 265-pound South Dakota native. Mir is the same size as Overeem, and despite being more efficient on the ground, Mir wasn’t able to utilize any offense from his guard.
Mir also pointed out that the Dutchman’s striking skills aren’t as strong as some may think, due to his vulnerability to being hit in his last bout against Fabricio Werdum, and predicted that Lesnar might be able to have some success on the feet against Overeem as a result.
While some critics have pointed to Overeem’s kickboxing and Muay Thai clinch being a key factor to stop Lesnar from taking him down, Mir said Lesnar’s wrestling ability will allow him to dictate the pace and score the take down at will.
“He’ll put his forehead in your chest, and he’s going to run you through. If he’s not able to take you down with that initial blast, he’s going to run you against the cage,” he said. “Then he’s going to rip your legs out from under you. Now, you should have gotten taken down in the middle of the area, but instead, you’ve been taken down against the cage [where it is more dangerous].
“Speaking from experience, that sucks,” he added.
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