(Drunk foul shots are always the toughest foul shots.)
Well…this is interesting. According to a report by USA Today and in accordance with both Strikeforce and UFC officials, it appears that Daniel Cormier’s first and last Strikeforce title defense against none other than former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir. The fight will go down as the co-main event of the Gilbert Melendez vs. Pat Healy headlined Strikeforce event on September 29th, a decision that will in no way come back and bite them in the ass. Seriously, the co-main event? WHO IS MAKING THESE DECISIONS?! The guy who invented the Candwich?!
[UPDATE] It appears that the fight is now being looked at for an October or November Strikeforce card, likely as the main event.
Minor rant aside, Dana White informed USA Today that Mir would make for a perfect test for Cormier:
There has been a lot of speculation as to who Cormier would fight next, and this is the fight that makes the most sense.
The reality is, Cormier is one of the best heavyweights in the world. He just won the grand prix and beat Josh Barnett. He needs to fight opponents of that caliber, and Frank Mir is that guy.
A surprise considering Mir is on the heels of a second round (T)KO loss to Junior Dos Santos? Further proof that the remaining Strikeforce belts aren’t worth the pleather and scrap metal they’re made of? A little bit of both?
Help us decide.
In an interview with MMAWeekly, Cormier stated that he could not be more thrilled to be fighting a big name in Mir, considering he was angling for a fight with Tim Sylvia beforehand:
You’ve got to tip your hat off to the executives at Zuffa for doing something like that and to Frank Mir for doing it. I respect Frank greatly for stepping in and taking this fight. This fight can elevate my status in the sport a ton.
Tim Sylvia’s accomplished a lot, but he just hasn’t really fought in the top of the sport for a while. No disrespect to Tim, but this is a much easier fight to get pumped up for. I dropped my phone a couple of times while I was trying to look at Twitter.
Now that it’s official, I honestly can’t help but feel a little bad for Frank (yes, that’s possible). Aside from the fact that he is essential dropping down to the Triple-A’s for a fight, the guy has suffered more than a couple rather brutal KO losses as of late, and although he stands as good a chance of beating Cormier as any heavyweight not named Junior Dos Santos, lord knows what another knockout loss will do to both his mental well being and his status as a top-tier heavyweight.
On the other hand, this is probably one of the best possible matchups for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner, and should make for one hell of a fight for the heavyweight division to go out on. There is also the fact that Cormier will likely break one, if not both of his hands in the first two rounds, making it much easier for Mir to avoid permanent brain damage if he is able to drag the fight into the latter rounds.
Currently our top pick for the greatest undefeated fighter in the sport today, Cormier is fresh off the aforementioned win over Josh Barnett, in which “Black Fedor” used a combination of effective striking and a few beautiful slams to keep Barnett off balance en route to a unanimous decision victory. A two-time Senior Freestyle Olympic trials winner and an NCAA Division 1 All American with incredible knockout power to boot, Cormier poses many similar threats to Mir as Shane Carwin did in their interim title fight at UFC 111. Let’s just hope that the ref can step in a little quicker this time should Cormier manage to put Mir’s lights out. Otherwise, Mir is going to have to start tattooing information onto his body and taking photos of his friends and family to deal with his inability to form new memories. Always remember Sammy Jenkis, Frank.
But what do you think, Potato Nation? Is this a good matchup for either man, and how do you think it will go down?