Frank Mir is presented the chance to become UFC heavyweight champion again this Saturday at UFC 146 in Las Vegas, right in his home state of Nevada. The current champion, Junior Dos Santos, will attempt to deny the hometown fighter that chance and leave the host crowd with a bad taste in their mouths.
Mir’s best chance to win over the formidable champion is to go back to his base art which he shares with Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion Daniel Cormier: wrestling.
The team captain of the 2008 USA Senior Freestyle Olympic Team, Cormier may be light-years ahead of Mir when it comes to wrestling.
Also way up there is his two-time nemesis Brock Lesnar, who was a former NCAA Division I wrestling champion.
Still, Mir’s winning the Nevada state championship during his teens in that tough sport is nothing to scoff at.
Keeping his confidence and continuously training in his wrestling skills could be his keys to victory come this Saturday night. And, upon securing the takedowns, add ferocious ground-and-pound a la Cormier in beating Josh Barnett.
There is no denying that Mir has one of the most dangerous submission games among the heavyweights, but while it’s true that his vicious 2011 Submission of the Year win over BJJ master Antonio Nogueira in UFC 140 was impressive, remember that it came about from a rather “special circumstance.”
Nogueira thought he was on the brink of pushing Mir off the edge, but uncannily got reversed and was the one who ended up fallen and broken.
Big Nog rocked Mir with an overhand right-jab combo in the first round. Next, he followed his stunned and prone opponent to the ground and started raining more fists.
After landing a number of head strikes, the confident Nogueira shifted to a guillotine-choke hold. Then, one of the most astounding comebacks in MMA unfolded.
Mir, still shaking off the cobwebs, remained all heart. Breaking free of the submission attempt, he scrambled and reversed Nogueira until he hyperextended and injured the latter’s elbow.
Now, will something similar to what befell Dos Santos’s idol and teammate happen this Saturday night? Will lightning strike twice?
Frank Mir has four of his 17 wins coming by way of KO; Dos Santos boasts of 10 out of 14. While anyone can land a “lucky” fight-ending strike, chances are Dos Santos the fearsome striker will be the one to slip one in.
And if Cigano lands it, it will strain credulity to think he just got just lucky.
It’s ground-and-pound en route to a decision win for Mir.
Do I honestly believe that Mir can wrestle down he who was not taken down by Shane Carwin, and in fact was the one who took the latter down twice?
Am I too confident that Mir’s high school state wrestling championship caliber—and whatever remains or has improved of it—still translates to effective MMA takedown skills in the UFC? That his wrestling will suffice in putting the defending champion on his back?
Well, maybe the hometown crowd will remain loud and proud all the way home.
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