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UFC on Fox 7: Can Frank Mir Back Up His Trash Talk Against Daniel Cormier?

When talking about fighters who excel at promoting fights, MMA fans usually mention Chael Sonnen. But a fighter who doesn’t get enough praise in the fine art of selling fights is Frank Mir, who faces Daniel Cormier at UFC on Fox 7 on Saturday. Mir knows a thing or two about selling fights, having been in the main event of the biggest pay-per-view card in UFC history, UFC 100 vs. Brock Lesnar.

Mir doesn’t use the WWE style or go over the top. He simply says exactly what he feels about his adversary. It’s not so much talking trash as much as it is an articulate, honest and matter-of-fact assessment of a particular matchup.

As a former WEC color commentator, Mir reports his advantages and disadvantages as smoothly as any expert analyst on a pre-fight show. He doesn’t necessarily throw around a barrage of verbal insults, but he won’t hesitate to make a certain fighter’s weakness a point of topic. He also doesn’t shy away from discussing his own.

The former UFC heavyweight champion isn’t one to spare words or shy away from saying what he can do to an opponent. As an almost 12-year veteran of the UFC, he has traveled a road filled with peaks and valleys and has experienced everything a fighter can in MMA.

He was around in the days when fight cards had nicknames, such as his debut at UFC 34: High Voltage. He has witnessed more than 10 UFC heavyweight champions and has seen countless others vanish from the division. He almost joined them after a serious motorcycle accident nearly cost him his career.

Competing on the world’s biggest stage of MMA, fighting in five title fights, continuing to face top-level competition and remaining relevant at his age in the heavyweight division are no small feats. They have earned him the right to speak, but can he back up his words this time around when he faces Cormier at UFC on Fox 7?

Without a doubt, he can. Mir may be a +325 underdog going into this fight (according to Bovada), but he has plenty of advantages over Cormier. He not only has the edge in experience against UFC-level competition, he will also enter the Octagon five inches taller than Cormier, with an eight-inch reach advantage and a 20-pound weight advantage.

It goes without saying that Mir can walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to applying his Brazilian jiu-jitsu acumen to any fight. He is as comfortable on the ground as he is breathing.

The Las Vegas native owns the record for most submission wins in the UFC with eight. Along with those eight submissions have come three broken arms, two by armbar and one by a kimura. The last of those was suffered by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira—who was given the edge on the ground in that fight by many experts.

Yes, Daniel Cormier has Olympic-caliber wrestling, but if the fight goes to the ground, he is not going to be in a good place. Dealing with Mir’s guard can be like walking into a hornet’s nest.

Many will favor Cormier should these two combatants end up in the clinch. Maybe so wrestling-wise, but Mir has the ability to throw fight-ending knees from the clinch, as evident in his KO win over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović at UFC 119.

Most people see Cormier having the distinct advantage in the stand-up striking department. Mir has gotten caught before, yet so have many heavyweights. Junior dos Santos made Mir look silly at UFC 146, but Cormier is not on dos Santos’ level. Cormier does have heavy hands and can certainly catch Mir, hurt him and end his night early.

However, Mir has that ability as well, and he will have a considerable reach advantage. If he does win the fight, it probably won’t be with a knockout, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hold his own in the stand-up.

Cormier trains at one of the best camps in MMA, at the American Kickboxing Academy with current UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez. Before this fight camp, we could not say the same about Mir, but now that he has joined the highly praised Jackson’s MMA Gym, we can.

Mir needed to get out of his element and make adjustments to improve himself after last year’s loss to dos Santos. He now has training partners like Jon Jones, Travis Browne and Andrei Arlovski as well as one of the smartest game planners in the business in Greg Jackson. This could prove to be the difference in the fight and push Mir to a victory on Saturday night.

Mir has fought the best of the best for almost 12 years. He has faced Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Nogueira and the best in the division. Cormier has not.

Cormier’s toughest opponents have been Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva; the rest of his resume is littered with names like Dion Staring, Devin Cole and Gary Frazier. Not to mention, his first fight in the UFC will be Mir’s 21st.

Cormier is the favorite. He called out Mir and then called out Jon Jones as if beating Mir were inevitable. The pressure is squarely on his shoulders. Mir will be in a place where he’s been 20 times before and will be comfortable.

The time for talking will be over on Saturday night. Mir has said plenty and will prove he can back it up.

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If Jon Jones Breaks Tito’s Record, Is He the Greatest Light Heavyweight Ever?

Jon “Bones” Jones has been perched atop the UFC’s light heavyweight division for a little over two years. With a victory over Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, he will have successfully defended his belt five times in a row, tying the ma…

Jones is currently sharing second place with two of the all-time greats: Frank Shamrock and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell. Should Jones secure a sixth straight title defense, would that make him the greatest UFC light heavyweight ever?

I am not necessarily saying no. Yet, I am not immediately compelled to say yes, simply for the fact that anointing a fighter as the greatest ever in their respected division requires more of an archetype than just title defenses. More on that later, but first the subject in question.

Jones has finished three out of his four title defenses, submitting the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. All of those were extremely impressive. Were they as impressive as Chuck Liddell’s four straight knockouts in his title defenses? Maybe that depends on your subjective flavor of violence.

Jones, in many pundits’ opinions, gets the nod in level of competition on his current streak, yet Chuck Liddell took out UFC Hall of Famers Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz in his four-fight reign. No other light heavyweight champ can lay claim to that feat.

Keep in mind this is still a comparison of title-defense streaks, not overall careers. Look at it this way: Tito Ortiz, who currently owns the record of five straight, would never be considered a greater champion than Chuck Liddell, or even Frank Shamrock, since “The Legend” defeated him the only time they fought and vacated the belt afterward. Had he not done so, we could be talking about Jones trying to surpass his record of maybe even more than five straight.

Liddell and Shamrock both defeated Ortiz, but never fought each other. We can only assume how Jones would fare versus either of the three, but we will never know for sure.

Judging who the best ever is never exactly, well, an exact science.

Since Jones is only 25 years old and still has plenty of time left in his career, he could very well end up being the best light heavyweight of all time. Even if he breaks Ortiz’s record, it’s still too early to anoint him as the greatest. Winning 16 fights inside the division with 10 career knockouts in your career like Chuck Liddell, those are some examples needed to meet the criteria of an all-time light heavyweight king, in this writer’s opinion.

Jones’ rise to prominence as the currently ranked No. 2 pound-for-pound UFC fighter is indeed a distinct and special era in the history of the UFC. Let’s face it, the UFC was begging for someone to stay at the top of the division for more than one fight after Liddell lost his invincibility and his title to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

From “Rampage” on through Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the light heavyweight division was a revolving door that featured five champions in six fights. There were only two successful title defenses out of the five fighters combined, and the oft predicted “Machida era” never materialized. Jones rose to great heights in a short period of time, and brought forth a name and a mystique along with a skill set and dynamic fighting style not yet seen in MMA.

We’ve only seen a glimpse of his career. He could go on to break Ortiz’s streak, win the rest of his fights and retire with never being truly defeated. However, with so many ways to lose in MMA, there may also be a day where we have to talk about how he lost his last three fights by knockout like Chuck Liddell and should call it a day. By that time, there may be another phenom who has entered the discussion of greatest ever.

If there was a Mt. Rushmore of the greatest light heavyweights in UFC history, Jon Jones face would be etched in stone. He is already the best of his era.

So again, if Jon Jones breaks Tito Ortiz’s streak of five straight title defenses, is he the greatest light heavyweight ever? I say no. Even if he breaks it, we still need to see more.

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TUF 17 Finale Results: What We Learned from Travis Browne vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Travis Browne delivered a barrage of lethal elbows to end Gabriel Gonzaga’s night at the 1:11 mark of the opening round of their heavyweight contest at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.Browne missed a high kick right out of the gate, and Gonzaga immediat…

Travis Browne delivered a barrage of lethal elbows to end Gabriel Gonzaga‘s night at the 1:11 mark of the opening round of their heavyweight contest at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.

Browne missed a high kick right out of the gate, and Gonzaga immediately went for a takedown. Browne then found himself pressed up against the cage, worked his left under hook to fend off the takedown attempt and with his free hand, delivered the lethal array of elbows to get the finish and “Knockout of the Night” bonus.

What we will remember about this fight

Nothing too memorable in a fight that only lasts a little over a minute, but we are reminded that in the heavyweight division, any fighter’s night can end in an instant. Browne struck first and struck hard to end Gonzaga’s two-fight win streak.

What we learned about Travis Browne

We learned that Browne’s left leg was fully recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered during the Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva fight, and that he lacked no confidence in it after immediately opening the fight with a left high kick.

Browne proved that he is still one of the better heavyweights in the UFC—and if not for the loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva—could already be ranked in the top 10 of the division.

He needed a win and went out and got it done in exciting fashion, earning an extra $50,000 in the process.

What we learned about Gabriel Gonzaga

We learned that Gonzaga sold out for too long on his takedown attempt of Browne, and it cost him dearly. He did look great in winning his first two fights back under the UFC umbrella, but once up against stiff competition, we are reminded now that his best days are clearly behind him.

What’s next for Travis Browne

An asterisk most likely needs to be placed next to his loss vs. “Bigfoot” Silva. That being said, he still has to earn his way into the upper echelon. A fight against the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Soa Paleli, Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo or Pat Barry vs. Shawn Jordan sounds about right.

What’s next for Gabriel Gonzaga

If he doesn’t receive a pink slip—which is highly likely even after one loss nowadays—maybe he gets another fight against the loser of the fights mentioned above, Phil De Fries or the loser of Shane Del Rosario vs. Dave Herman.

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Travis Browne vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: Browne Ready to Show off His Ground Game

Travis Browne was on a roll in the UFC heavyweight division before he faced Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva last October on the UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot card. A win that night might have earned him a shot against one of the top-ranked h…

Travis Browne was on a roll in the UFC heavyweight division before he faced Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva last October on the UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot card.

A win that night might have earned him a shot against one of the top-ranked heavies in his next fight. Instead, Browne blew out his hamstring by overextending his leg on an attempted front kick and eventually succumbed to a TKO stoppage. He fought valiantly on one leg and made no excuses after the fight. Recently though, Browne admitted that the injury was a factor in the loss.

“Oh, yeah definitely, it definitely had something to do with the loss,” Browne said recently as a guest on Darce Side Radio. “When you are only fighting on one leg, it’s pretty bad. Especially for my style, I’m a very mobile heavyweight.”

The light-on-his-feet Hawaiian nicknamed “Hapa” had to wait two-and-a-half months before he could train for Gabriel Gonzaga, his opponent at the The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale on Saturday night. Browne did not mention any setbacks and said he is “good to go” as far as his hamstring is concerned.

Gonzaga, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, has two submission victories since his return to the UFC and is looking for his third win in a row. Most of his career wins have come by way of knockout or TKO.

Browne is confident in his own striking and explained that his grappling should not be underestimated, even against a savvy tactician like Gonzaga.

I think obviously my strength is my stand-up, but some of my strength is the unknown and that’s my ground game and my wrestling. Nobody really knows about that. Nobody knows about those two things. Always—they just think of me as a striker—and I welcome that. So, he has a lot of figuring out to do once he gets in close with me. If he does get me to the ground, he has to find a way to keep me there. I trust what I can do from the bottom.

Browne has been training with another Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in preparation for this fight—former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. “He’s definitely helped me with my confidence,” Browne said.

Browne needs a win to avoid his first-ever losing streak and to gain a shot against a ranked opponent in the near future. But he is only focused on Gonzaga at the moment.

“All that matters right now is going there and winning this fight vs. Gonzaga and putting on a show for the fans.”

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Urijah Faber on Fighting Scott Jorgensen: ‘Rip the Band-Aid off vs. Peel It Off

Urijah Faber had less than a week to celebrate being the first fighter to submit Ivan Menjivar in over 11 years—with his rear naked choke victory at UFC 157—before deciding to agree to terms for his next fight. It was one he looked at with some trepidation before ultimately deciding to go forward with it. When the No. 2 UFC ranked bantamweight steps in to the Octagon to face Scott Jorgensen, he will not only be fighting a good friend, he will be fighting someone he helped bring into the sport.

“It’s kind of a weird fight for me,” Faber said recently as a guest on Darce Side Radio. “It’s probably the first time that I fought somebody that is actually a very close friend.”

“When I first started in this sport he was at Boise State, and I was coaching at U.C. Davis,” Faber explained. “I kind of recruited him into this sport. He probably wouldn’t be in this sport if it weren’t for me telling him he should give it a shot.”

While Faber had about a three-year head start before Jorgensen started his MMA career, both fighters have almost identical records in the WEC and UFC: Faber is 11-5 and Jorgensen is 10-5. Both fighters are represented by the same management and have avoided facing each other before, but since Faber has made the move to 135, he explained it was been brought up more than once.

“I talked to my managers at MMA Inc., Jeff Myer and Mike Roberts,” Faber related. “Mike said ‘Hey look, we’ve been avoiding this fight the last couple of years. It’s the third time it’s come up between you and Scotty and they want it to have you do it possibly in May or July,’ and I was like ‘yeah I’d rather not.'”

That conversation took place in the morning, then after speaking to Jorgensen and mulling it over for the duration of the day, “The California Kid” decided to agree to it.

By the end of the day they had an offer for me to fight in this TUF Finale, and it was kind of like doing a favor because Demetrius fell out. It was like shoot man it’s like rip the band-aid off vs. peeling it off. Get this out of the way. We don’t have to think about it too much. Go in there as Scotty Jorgensen’s tattoo says ‘No Mind.’ Go in there beat the crap out of each other and move on.

“I’m fighting the best guys in the world, and I have been for 10 years now,” Faber said with pride. Jorgensen has faced some of the best himself, and like Faber has lost by decision to both Renen Barão and Dominick Cruz. Both fighters have trained together in the past, and know each other’s styles quite well.

We’ve trained together quite a bit actually. It’s going to be an interesting fight. I think I’m probably a little bigger than he is, and we are both known for our conditioning and are very well rounded. He knows a bunch of my good chokes, so it’s going to give him a little edge there, and I kind of know what he brings to the table. It’s going to even out, we’re just going to get in there and mix it up.

Both fellow bantamweights have gone the distance many times, Faber of course the more experienced in the five-round department. With both fighters only being finished twice in each of their respective careers, Faber never by submission, the odds of a full 25-minute battle and a “Fight of the night” award are very high.

“It’s a main event, and it’s on a big card and it’s a five-round fight,” Faber said. “I’m prepared for a war man. He’s a tough dude: known for his conditioning, he’s got submissions and he’s got knockouts. It’s going to be a great matchup.”

Once the cage door closes for The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale’s main event, even though they agreed to fight, there is still the possibility of it being very difficult to stare across the cage and see a friend you now have to punch, kick or attempt to submit.

I’ve got to say no, but you never really know. I guess the best thing is we’re doing something that we love. We started out as competitors. I was at U.C. Davis, he was at Boise State. There was a really good chance we would’ve competed against each other then, and we weren’t best friends there, best buddies at that time. We’ve always had a competitive relationship. I’m not going to let it deter me from anything I want to do.

Michael Stets is a Contributor for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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What the Mainstream Media Gets Wrong About MMA

20 years may seem like a long time, but compared to the other major sports organizations, it’s considerably short in length. Back in 1993—when the first UFC event occurred, under the SEG banner—it was promoted as no holds barred, having no rules, being dangerous and in some instances risking death. Those monikers and that reputation is still to this day a detriment to the sports growth.

Many a story will often resort to sensationalism or ill-educated opinions on the sport. Sure the MMA media and hardcore fans know they are far from the truth, but the non-fans and laymen don’t. They latch on to these incorrect descriptions and ignorant statements, believing them as gospel.

A perfect example of this is a recent article in the NY Post by Michael Bongiorno titled “Too Brutal for NY.”

“How can we teach our children that gratuitous violence has no place in society,” Bongiorno wrote, stating his case for why New York State should not legalize MMA. “When every day they are bombarded with violence — with the most brutal contestants lauded as victors and heroes? Bongiorno came to this conclusion “In the 30 seconds I watched,” he said.

Not only do these types of statements hurt the case for MMA in NY, they hurt the sport period. Think of how many people read the NY Post, and how many people may think—after reading that article—that MMA is in fact a brutal and horrible sport that is a bad influence on children. That is only one article!

Another gaffe by the mainstream media is referring to MMA as UFC. A couple weeks ago the hilarious clip of longtime MMA announcer Michael Schiavello’s pronunciation of Resurrection Fighting Alliance fighter Danny Mainus, made its way to The Jimmy Fallon Show on NBC. It was awesome to see MMA talked about on late-night network TV, but Fallon’s intro showed a still very common and prominent misnomer.

“During a recent UFC fight,” Fallon said, mistaking the RFA for being the UFC. “We always have those guys on, we’re big fans.”

The good part about this problem is that it’s not an attack on MMA, it’s just confusion about the sport and number of promotions there are. The bad part is that the UFC gets the mention and the RFA does not.

Credit must be given to the UFC for building brand name recognition that is comparable to what Kleenex has become for tissues or any other brand that has become synonymous with a household product. The UFC is the most recognized, popular and successful.

Other organizations like Bellator and the World Series of Fighting have their work cut out for them if they want to keep this mistake from reoccurring.

What the mainstream media needs most is to be educated about the sport, especially before they cite facts that aren’t true. Too many times certain writers jump the gun with their bias and it comes off like a film critic who always gives horror movies a bad review. If they did their homework and learned of what they were writing or talking about (journalistic integrity), it will only be more beneficial to them and to those that are unfamiliar to the sport, instead of spreading the misconception of bloody battles where lives are in danger.

Now as far as non-fans go, as per usual I must further educate my family members on the sport. My older sister is still amazed that the UFC has enough money to fly their fighters to Japan. 20 years is still just a short period of time.

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