For Junior dos Santos, the road to heavyweight greatness begins when he comes face-to-face with former divisional champion Frank Mir in the main event of UFC 146. “Cigano’s” journey will be an arduous and testing one if he’s to …
For Junior dos Santos, the road to heavyweight greatness begins when he comes face-to-face with former divisional champion Frank Mir in the main event of UFC 146.
“Cigano’s” journey will be an arduous and testing one if he’s to surpass the heavyweight apogee he now resides in—the Brazilian standout is well aware that a plethora of green-eyed heavy-hitters await their turn to both ambush and wrestle the Holy Grail from his heavyweight holiness, and thus assume his lofty position.
With that being said, his trajectory to glorification and immortalization in the UFC’s heavyweight ranks starts here.
NB. Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia and Brock Lesnar are the only heavyweights in the history of the UFC to have ever successfully defended the title on two occasions.
UFC 146 is fast approaching and while some are lamenting the loss of the original main event, a fight that would have seen two of the best heavyweight strikers in MMA go toe to toe inside the Octagon, the fight that we will see between heavyweight cham…
UFC 146 is fast approaching and while some are lamenting the loss of the original main event, a fight that would have seen two of the best heavyweight strikers in MMA go toe to toe inside the Octagon, the fight that we will see between heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and former champion Frank Mir does have the potential to end in spectacular fashion.
Looking at the numbers for their UFC bouts, neither dos Santos or Mir seem to enjoy going deep into their fights as dos Santos has an average fight time of 6:25 per bout, while Mir’s average is just inside the horn for the first round at 4:59.
Dos Santos prefers to end his fights by strikes, as five of his eight UFC wins have come via knockout or TKO, with his most recent being the 64-second knockout win over Cain Velasquez, a victory that earned him the UFC heavyweight crown. For Mir, his preference is to end his fights via submission, something that he has done eight times during his UFC career.
Between the two, they have gone the distance three times in their UFC careers.
The odds have dos Santos listed as the favorite at -535, while Mir the underdog comes in at +385. The odds are nice to know, but the folks over at FightMetric have taken it upon themselves to take things to the next level, running 10,000 computer simulations of the fight. The results: Junior dos Santos was victorious in 66 percent of the simulations.
Now that you know the odds and the simulations, it’s time to see which fighter the pros pick for UFC 146.
UFC 146 will take place this Saturday live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and in an interesting twist, for the first time in UFC history, the main card will feature nothing but heavyweight fighters. The fight card has gone throug…
UFC 146 will take place this Saturday live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and in an interesting twist, for the first time in UFC history, the main card will feature nothing but heavyweight fighters.
The fight card has gone through some changes from what was originally booked and that has led some to see UFC 146 as less than a must see, but, as a whole, fight fans would be doing themselves a disservice if they missed this event.
The headlining bout will feature the current UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos facing off against former champion Frank Mir. In the co-main event, former champion Cain Velasquez will face the man that positively destroyed Fedor Emelianenko during the Strikeforce Grand Prix, Antonio Silva. In Stipe Miocic and Shane del Rosario you have two fighters that are a combined 19-0 with only one complete fight between them. What’s not to like about those fights?
In the preliminary bouts you’ll see fighters competing for their jobs, and other fighters, such as Edson Barboza and Diego Brandao looking to launch themselves up the rankings of their respective divisions.
The reality is, that top to bottom, UFC 146 is a solid fight card.
On Friday all 24 fighters will take to the scale at 7 p.m. ET and weigh in for the event and Bleacher Report MMA will provide you with all the information you need about the weigh-ins as they happen.
Here comes the heavies.At UFC 146, Saturday, May 26, at 10 p.m. ET, the heavyweight division will be on display. Featuring five heavyweight fights, UFC 146 is headlined by heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in his first title defense.Coming off a b…
Here comes the heavies.
At UFC 146, Saturday, May 26, at 10 p.m. ET, the heavyweight division will be on display. Featuring five heavyweight fights, UFC 146 is headlined by heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in his first title defense.
Coming off a brutal beatdown of Shane Carwin and a shocking first-round knockout over Cain Velasquez, dos Santos will defend his new heavyweight belt for the first time against Frank Mir, who is coming off an incredible arm-breaking submission victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Originally scheduled to fight skilled striker Alistair Overeem, who was removed from the fight after testing for an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone level, dos Santos now has to adapt to Mir’s grappling and jiu-jitsu heavy game.
What does dos Santos have to do to remain the champ? Let’s take a look…
Utilize his striking
Though dos Santos was originally planning to face Overeem, Mir is certainly an easier matchup. Don’t get me wrong, beating Mir will be no cake walk, but dos Santos has the clear striking advantage.
One of the heavyweight division’s better boxers, dos Santos has earned 10 of his 14 wins by knockout, with five of his eight UFC wins (six if you count Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s submission due to eye injury) also coming by way of knockout.
Statistically speaking, dos Santos lands more than 2.5 times more strikes per minute than Mir, and he gets hit substantially less than Mir. Look for dos Santos to use looping overhand rights and hard-digging uppercuts to steal Mir’s consciousness.
If dos Santos can put his hands to work like he normally does, it could be a very short night for Mir.
Keep the fight standing
This is a no-brainer. If dos Santos wants to be able to utilize his striking, he needs to stay away from Mir’s biggest strength—his grappling.
Though Mir isn’t a particularly incredible wrestler, he has high-level jiu-jitsu skills and a knack for breaking arms. Mir gets about 50 percent of the takedowns he attempts, and once on the ground, he relentlessly threatens his opponent with submissions.
Though dos Santos can hold his own on the ground, the path of most resistance isn’t typically the favored route in MMA. Instead of taking Mir on in grappling, dos Santos needs to use his prolific takedown defense to stuff Mir’s takedowns, use his footwork to stay off the cage and keep the fight in the middle of the Octagon.
Go for the kill
So, we know how Mir wins, but it’s equally important to note how he loses.
Mir has lost five times in his career, and five times he’s been knocked out. The fight is two days away, and already dos Santos should be smelling blood. If he gets Mir in a bad way, he should stay composed, follow up and work to finish the fight.
Mir is generally a resilient fighter, but he folds when getting hit repeatedly in the face really hard. Weird, right?
Easy as A, B, C
So, there you have it. It’s a pretty straight forward path to victory for dos Santos…stay on his feet, punch Mir hard and go for the kill. I know, easier said than done.
Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett’s epic Strikeforce championship battle last Saturday night not only precedes Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir’s own UFC 146 title fight this coming weekend, it also presents a high standard on how heavyweight …
Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett’s epic Strikeforce championship battle last Saturday night not only precedes Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir’s own UFC 146 title fight this coming weekend, it also presents a high standard on how heavyweight fights should be fought.
And heavyweights are all that matter this coming UFC 146 on May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with all its main card featuring bouts between the No. 1 promotion’s top heavyweights.
While it’s true that there have been more thrilling and fan-friendly heavyweight matches in MMA’s short history, the timing and quality presented by Cormier vs. Barnett compel any true fight fan to compare it with what Dos Santos and Mir can bring.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalists fought only last Saturday, and their impressively technical and courageous fight is still fresh in the minds of MMA fans.
As fresh as the memory of Barnett’s blood-splattered face.
Olympian wrestler Daniel Cormier outstruck and outwrestled the catch wrestler Barnett to win the concluding match of the 16-month-long protracted Strikeforce tournament. The newly-crowned champion delivered vicious elbows in the ground-and-pound, and even landed a stunning headkick in the standup.
The bloodied Barnett was dominated but was not without a fight, landing his own punches and knees throughout the 25-minute tiff. Fighting to the bitter end, the former UFC champion also highlighted his renowned grappling prowess by threatening with a kneebar in the fourth round.
Also remarkable was that neither fighter committed a glaring and costly error throughout the consummated five-rounder. (Unless you nitpick and count Barnett’s missed spinning backfist strike or two.)
The two heavyweights are definitely not your fumbling giants; they are true professional MMA combatants who have developed their athleticism and technical proficiency to a highly-advanced degree.
Both fighters proved that they truly are in the upper tier when it comes to game completeness—among elite fighters in any division, in any MMA promotion.
It remains to be seen how Dos Santos and Mir will fare compared to the main event stars barely a week ago.
The coming UFC heavyweight title fight may likewise prove exciting, with a finish via knockout or tap out. Both elite protagonists are also very capable of treating the fans to a highly technical fight round after round—if it lasts long enough.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final has served as a one-week advance front act for UFC’s own “Heavyweight Grand Prix.” But, it may outshine whatever Dos Santos and Mir—and the rest of the heavyweights in the other UFC 146 main cards—have to offer.
If you search the Internet for opinions on the UFC 146 main event featuring challenger Frank Mir versus UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos, one popular opinion seems to be a steady constant that you will find everywhere: Junior dos Santos …
If you search the Internet for opinions on the UFC 146 main event featuring challenger Frank Mir versus UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos, one popular opinion seems to be a steady constant that you will find everywhere: Junior dos Santos is going to knock out Frank Mir in Round No.1.
This opinion, of course, is nothing new to the former two-time heavyweight champion.
Mir’s entire career has been a case of overcoming obstacles to get to where is today. His initial UFC bout with Roberto Traven over 11 years ago, to the comeback of Pete Williams and Tank Abbott, Mir was always the guy that was supposed to lose.
His forearm shattering upset-victory over Tim Sylvia and a motorcycle accident that took his new UFC Heavyweight championship almost took his entire career as a martial artist away from him.
Battling back from personal and in-ring struggles, Mir buckled down and focused to overcome adversity by defeating Brock Lesnar with a kneebar and then went on to dominate the No.2 ranked heavyweight in the world, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the UFC Interim heavyweight championship.
The common theme here is that these were challenges that Frank Mir was not supposed to overcome, yet he did—and conquered.
With many writing off Frank Mir as a massive underdog and the dominance that Junior dos Santos has shown over the course of his own career to this point, the safe bet will be on the side of the champion.
I think that Frank Mir has something to prove. He has something that is driving him to be the champion once more.
The answer lies in his legacy that includes two title reigns—the longest tenure of a UFC heavyweight—the most wins by a UFC heavyweight (14), the most submission wins (eight) by a UFC heavyweight and the most different submission types used to gain victory (seven).
On May 26, 2012, Frank Mir will be fighting in front of his home crowd in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in another historic event featuring a main card of UFC heavyweights.
Mir comes into this fight with an outstanding record of 10-2 in the desert compared to Junior dos Santos’ record of 1-0, a victory over Gilbert Yvel.
Dos Santos also has to be aware that Frank Mir can not only end his night early by a submission but packs enough power to keep him honest on his feet as he attempts to defend his title for the first time, a difficult task for anyone that has worn the heavyweight championship.
Mir enters this bout with his all-familiar calm, confident coolness that makes opponents think that he might know something that they do not.
Mir knows that this is the most dangerous striker he has faced to date but that seems to be one issue he doesn’t mind and makes it seem to be his biggest advantage.
But why?
Mir brings a very well-rounded skill-set to this fight, more so than any opponent that dos Santos has faced up to this point in his career.
I for one will not be surprised if this fight stays standing for a lengthy period of time and not because Mir fails to take dos Santos to the ground. Mir has above average stand-up defense and has never been knocked out on the feet.
His striking is diverse to the point that dos Santos has to be weary of all types of strikes due to the fact that Mir won’t be shy of landing on his back. Expect a lot of kicks and knees to be coming from Frank Mir because if he does fall to the mat, dos Santos will be unlikely to follow.
Mir also has the advantage of being the larger fighter and can use some tie-ups against the cage to wear down “Cigano” and take him into deeper waters.
Mir can utilize a Thai clinch as an effective tool in that position but will have to be cautious of the dangerous uppercut that dos Santos possesses.
Standing and striking with Junior dos Santos isn’t impossible and shouldn’t be out of the question. It may seem like the harder road to travel but Frank Mir has the tools to be effective.
I also believe that Frank Mir has one advantage that Junior dos Santos cannot prepare for.
Now at 33 years of age, the window of opportunity is closing for Frank Mir and his best chance to regain the UFC heavyweight championship is now.
For Frank Mir, his back is against the wall. He is fighting in front of his home crowd, and together that makes Mir a very dangerous animal.
