If there is one thing that is true about the sport of mixed martial arts, it is the fact that you never know what to expect around the next corner. These days, it seems like there is a new polarizing headline at least once a week.
Lately, TRT, judging, weight-cutting issues, rape videos and crazy tweets seem to be an everyday occurrence in the world of an MMA fan.
So, when a story broke that Alistair Overeem had failed his drug test prior to UFC 146, I was hardly shocked at the news. I wasn’t happy about it, but like I said before, it seems to the norm these days. It feels like this is a war and this is just one of the 500 bombs that have fallen from the sky just this week.
Not to downplay the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, but are we all that shocked that the gargantuan Alistair Overeem is doing more than eating horse meat and lifting weights? Not really.
In all likelihood, Overeem will be yanked from the main event of this May’s UFC 146 event. This would leave UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos without an opponent. Many have recently speculated that Frank Mir will fill the gap left by an Overeem removal.
This seems to be the only likely scenario if Overeem does in fact find himself removed from the main event. Frank Mir is not only a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, but he is the only heavyweight who is riding a win streak over top competition.
Mir is seasoned, in shape and confident enough to take the fight to Dos Santos from the opening bell.
Anything can happen in a MMA fight with four-ounce gloves and a couple of heavy-handed big boys, so there typically isn’t a huge shock factor in heavyweight bouts.
When a guy at bantamweight scores a crushing knockout, we all stop and take much more notice due to the rarity. But with heavyweights, we aren’t easily shocked due to the fact that all these guys can finish their fights so quickly with their power and size.
Now, with this in mind, it would still be an unlikely scenario for Mir to be favored in this fight. After all, Junior Dos Santos has precision boxing and power in his hands that is incredible.
Frank is coming off of a beautifully brutal come-from-behind win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira in which he snapped Minotauro’s shoulder with a kimura.
But Frank also showed that Nogeuira could rock him with punches. Mir has been knocked out recently by bigger, stronger men, such as Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin taking him out with strikes.
It is absolutely possible that Frank Mir could emerge the champion at UFC 146 if given the opportunity.
However, he had better look to get it to the ground and work the champion into his world. If he does not get Dos Santos to the ground early, he will lose. He simply cannot let Junior get his boxing and range going early.
Frank cannot survive the ferocious punch combinations that JDS puts together. In the end, can Frank Mir shock the world and beat Junior Dos Santos?
He can if he makes the champion fight his way. It would be an extremely lofty goal indeed, but this is the only way that he can win.
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