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Frank Mir Explains Why He Turned Down Bout with Fabricio Werdum in Brazil

Prior to finalizing a bout between himself and former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, there were rumors regarding a possible matchup between Frank Mir and Fabricio Werdum.Since claiming a second victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UF…

Prior to finalizing a bout between himself and former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, there were rumors regarding a possible matchup between Frank Mir and Fabricio Werdum.

Since claiming a second victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140, Mir was hesitant on facing Werdum in the Brazilian’s homeland, when he hinted at the idea of meeting Mir at UFC 147 in Rio de Janeiro.

Mir said he feared for his safety and well-being in Brazil, especially after defeating one of the country’s most respected and beloved fighters in Nogueira.

“I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t know if that would be such a great idea, I don’t know if I’m gonna be that well-received there.’ I’d have to go there for a whole week with my family, my wife and my children,” Mir told CraveOnline.com.

“I don’t think I’m in (Chael’s) boat yet, but at the same time if I go to a restaurant and someone is a Nogueira fan, what are they gonna do to my food?,” he added.

Instead, Mir will likely feel more comfortable in his own country, when he slated to meet Velasquez at UFC 146 in Las Vegas on May 26th.

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Dana White: UFC Heavyweights Are Beginning to Build Their Own Legacies

The UFC heavyweight division has always been synonymous with heavy-hitters, but UFC 146 will usher in a new era of heavyweight fighters.The UFC held a press conference to promote UFC 146 and featured some of the card’s top stars, including UFC heavywei…

The UFC heavyweight division has always been synonymous with heavy-hitters, but UFC 146 will usher in a new era of heavyweight fighters.

The UFC held a press conference to promote UFC 146 and featured some of the card’s top stars, including UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. This will be the first time the company has featured five heavyweight bouts on the main card.

UFC President Dana White has billed this event as a main card “stacked with heavyweights” and although the heavyweight division traditionally has not been entertaining to watch, the UFC boss thinks otherwise.

“The heavyweights bring that excitement that you’re probably gonna see a knockout but I think this fight there could be knockouts or submissions,” White said. “The fight with Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, these guys have out-struck everyone lately. Frank Mir showed what he’s capable of doing with his last win.”

The heavyweight division has undergone a makeover recently, as familiar names like Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia have been replaced with stars like Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir and Junior Dos Santos. What was once perceived as a weak division has now turned into one of the more skilled and talented weight classes in mixed martial arts.

Heavyweight fighters are able to finally gain the recognition that they had hoped for and begin to create their respective legacies, something that seemed impossible to accomplish due to PRIDE FC overshadowing the rest of the heavyweight competition.

“Pride’s heavyweight division was awesome. They had a lot of legends built there. Our division is right on that level,” White said.

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Lights, Cameras…Little Plastic Cups? UFC 146 Fighters Drug Tested After Press Conference

(Test this man! No one has that much style naturally)

Mike Chiappetta reports that the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided to test some of UFC 146’s big boys yesterday after a press conference held in Las Vegas to promote the May 26th event. Fighters given the surprise tests were heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, #1 contender Alistair Overeem, Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez, Roy Nelson and Antonio Silva.

Nevada has been able to test athletes randomly for a while now, but only recently got an increase in their department’s funding that has allowed them to begin such testing in earnest, according to Chiappetta. The state commission decided to take advantage of all the fighters coming to the state, and save the money it might have cost to go to them, in effect. As the MMAFighting report explains:

(Test this man! No one has that much style naturally)

Mike Chiappetta reports that the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided to test some of UFC 146′s big boys yesterday after a press conference held in Las Vegas to promote the May 26th event. Fighters given the surprise tests were heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, #1 contender Alistair Overeem, Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez, Roy Nelson and Antonio Silva.

“According to Kizer, the commission currently has a deal in place with Quest Diagnostics which allows the lab to send testers on-site to obtain samples. After the conclusion of the UFC 146 press conference, the fighters were taken in groups of two to an MGM Grand VIP lounge to submit their sample. Kizer could not say when the results would be made available, saying they may not be publicly released until after the event’s May 26 completion. Of course, that would likely change if any of the tests came back positive and put one of the night’s big fights into jeopardy.”

As you might remember, after some difficulties keeping to Nevada’s required drug testing late last year, Alistair Overeem was given a license that required he undergo two more random tests from the commission. The surprise one he submitted to yesterday will count as one. We wouldn’t even deign to imagine that Alistair uses any banned performance enhancing substances, but we just hope he doesn’t have any banned recreational substances passed off to him while party rocking from bad influences.

Check out the video (for the press conference, not the urine collection, you weirdos!) below:

Elias Cepeda

UFC 146: Dana White Talks About Dos Santos vs. Overeem and Roy Nelson

The UFC is putting the best of the heavyweight division on its upcoming UFC 146 card in Las Vegas, and to headline the event, reigning heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will take on former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem in what should …

Overeem will enter the bout with a 36-11 record, including 15 knockouts and 19 submission wins. His opponent is also a finisher with 10 knockouts in 15 fights.

“This is a fun one,” White said of the main event at the UFC 146 press conference. “Again, the card is stacked with great heavyweight fights. I love this main event with Alistair and Junior dos Santos. Junior dos Santos has been knocking everyone out, except for Roy, and Alistair looked so good in that fight versus Brock Lesnar so, interesting fight.”

Dos Santos is coming off his impressive knockout victory over Cain Velasquez while Overeem was last seen defeating and retiring Lesnar.

After a rough stretch of fights in 2006 and 2007, Overeem made the move to the heavyweight division where he has since gone on to become both a K1 and MMA champion. His wins include those over Lesnar, Brett Rogers, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum and Todd Duffee.

“For me, the question is how is Dos Santos going to deal with the kicks and the knees and the elbows,” White continued. “Since he has been in the UFC, I’ve never had to see him deal with that, the stuff that he is going to have to deal with from Alistair Overeem, fought a pretty one-dimensional fight. He’s Chuck Liddell-like. He’s defending the takedown and drops bombs, but he’s never dealt with anybody who tries to throw kicks and knees, works the clinch like Alistair Overeem does. I’m really curious to see how Junior dos Santos plans on dealing with that.”

Other main-card bouts, all of which feature heavyweights, include Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane del Rosario, Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva.

If anyone was wondering if Nelson would be dropping to 205, he’s not. Having gone 1-3 in his last four bouts, this is a must-win for him, and it’s also a very serious test against one of the division’s biggest fighters.

“I’m done with it,” White said of trying to convince Nelson to drop to light heavyweight. “I’ve been encouraging him to shave his face and cut his hair too, but he doesn’t want to listen to that either.”

Despite losing and taking tremendous amounts of punishment against Werdum, Mir and Dos Santos, Nelson was never stopped. His 16-7 record shows him losing six fights by decision and only one by knockout, which came when he was dropped by Andrei Arlovski in 2008.

White admits Nelson is a good fighter, but it’s for the wrong reasons.

“I’m cool. I like him,” White continued. “He’s a tough guy with a ton of heart, goes in there and gives it his everything. My thing is, I’d love to see him take this thing serious. When you got a chin line that, and a heart like that, you can’t deny the guy has a great chin, a great heart. He can knock people out too. If he really could get to 205, he’d be a force.”

UFC 146 will be available on pay-per-view on May 26.

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UFC 146: Reasons to Get Excited About Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

The Ultimate Fighting Championship officially kicked off preparations for UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem with a press conference in Las Vegas. The featured bout will put UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos against former K-1, DREAM and Strikefo…

The UFC Heavyweight division has been in a state of flux in recent years. With a limited talent pool, putting on top-draw fights between fighters not named Brock Lesnar has proven difficult. However, with the addition of Overeem and other transplants from the Strikeforce brand, the division appears to be on its way to the forefront.

I would be lying if I said that just watching the faceoff yesterday didn’t get me pumped up for this main event. If for some strange reason you need a reason to get excited for this fight, here’s a few to help you along the way.

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UFC 146: Will Alistair Overeem Stand with Junior Dos Santos?

Lest my article be hijacked by a K-1 lynch mob, let it be known from the outset that I am a massive kickboxing fan and an admirer of Alistair Overeem.Indeed, I regard Overeem as one of the world’s premier strikers, a modern Hercules and an extremely in…

Lest my article be hijacked by a K-1 lynch mob, let it be known from the outset that I am a massive kickboxing fan and an admirer of Alistair Overeem.

Indeed, I regard Overeem as one of the world’s premier strikers, a modern Hercules and an extremely intelligent MMA fighter—which is exactly why I expect to see the 250-pound Dutchman impersonating Randy Couture on May 26.

Let’s start at the top. Overeem is a K-1 Grand Prix champion, perhaps the best heavyweight kickboxer in the world. In kickboxing, I would confidently back Overeem against all comers, counting on a vicious counter-hook or “Uber-knee” to end most nights in devastating fashion.

My problem, then, is this: Having watched Overeem blow his way through K-1’s 2010 tournament, I’m not convinced that his striking is particularly well-suited for use in MMA. For the most part, Overeem weathers the storm behind a tight double-forearm guard, waiting for the opportunity to smash his opponents with perfectly timed counter-strikes. While this strategy works brilliantly using K-1’s well-padded gloves, successful striking defence in MMA tends to be predicated on movement—covering with 4-ouncers is a gamble, especially against Junior Dos Santos.

Likewise, the range at which Overeem fought the majority of his 2010 bouts is dangerously kickboxing-specific. Successful strikers in MMA tend to move in and out of the pocket with straight shots, given that hooked punches leave a fighter dangerously open for takedowns. Dos Santos’ striking has been nurtured in this environment, forcing the Brazilian phenom to develop a long jab, crushing long-range uppercuts and hooks dissimilar to those Overeem uses in K-1, which tend to be short, tight strikes piled on to an opponent cowering against the ropes. In the Octagon’s vast diameter of 32 feet, it is unlikely Overeem will be able to back JDS against the cage with strikes alone, rendering his usual K-1 methodology virtually useless.

Not that Overeem doesn’t know this, of course. While the media churn out articles filled with talk of a “striking war,” few people have are considering the possibility that Overeem will employ his greatest MMA asset: his strength. Come fight day, expect to watch a well-conditioned Reem pushing Dos Santos against the cage, throwing free-hand hooks from a wrestling clinch and searching for the doubled-handed Thai plum, a feature of the Dutchman’s game, which, though prohibited under K-1 rules, can be used to bone-crushing effect in MMA.

I may be wrong. Perhaps we’ll see a classic kickboxer vs. boxer matchup, an epic striking battle in the centre of the cage; on paper, such an outcome would not be shocking, given the background and stated intentions of both fighters. Somehow, though, I doubt this will the be the case. Dos Santos is simply too proficient at fighting from the outside, too good at drawing his opponent’s guard open for the knockout.

Expect the majority of 146’s headliner to be played out in MMA’s “grey zone” between wrestling and striking, Overeem pushing his offense on the Octagon’s periphery while Dos Santos wedges, sprawls and circles, seeking to throw combinations from outside the pocket.

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