The weigh-in for Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem went off without a hitch, as both fighters came in under the 265-pound weight limit. The two will meet on Saturday night in Newark, N.J., at UFC 169.
Mir came in at 256.5 pounds, while Overeem was a half-pound heavier (257 lbs) per Bleacher Report MMA:
The two had the requisite staredown, per UFC on Fox:
You can see video of the full weigh-in below.
Although this fight is a bit down on the card, it is one of the more intriguing of the night—both fighters enter UFC 169 badly needing a win.
Frank Mir’s stock has taken a nosedive since getting knocked out by Junior dos Santos at UFC 146. Following that defeat, he lost to Daniel Cormier and then Josh Barnett.
The knock against the 34-year-old has always been that he could win big fights, but he couldn’t win the biggest ones. Whether it was the loss to dos Santos, or coming up short in title fights against Shane Carwin or Brock Lesnar, Mir has been stuck in his own kind of purgatory.
Now, however, he seems to have descended into the inferno.
Should he lose four fights in a row, UFC may decide that enough is enough and drop Mir from the roster. He’s not going away under his own volition, telling Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com:
I kind of know [that] no matter what it’s not going to be my last fight. I’m still younger than a lot of the guys in the division.
There are two ways I would consider retirement. One is losing to guys who are not top-level competition. The other is if I started losing where it’s like, ‘OK man, you were knocked out viciously and staring at the rafters.’ I won’t endanger my health.
It’s unlikely that beating Overeem would put Mir back on a path leading to a title shot, but it could help prolong his career in the Octagon.
On the other side, Overeem is looking to get his UFC career back on track and possibly get back near the top of the heavyweight rankings.
He came into UFC with a ton of hype and demonstrated exactly why when he pummeled Lesnar into retirement at UFC 141.
After that win, though, it’s been all downhill for Overeem. One drug suspension and two losses later, the 33-year-old has become a bit of an afterthought in the division. In addition, speculation over his possible performance-enhancing drug use will dog him the rest of his career.
Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie.com reported that Overeem made a concerted effort to change his training in order to drop weight. Overeem said to Bohn:
I actually dropped some weight. I wanted improved cardio, so obviously you want to lose some weight. That actually goes automatic. A lot more cardio and you automatically lose a lot of weight. We just wanted [my cardio] to be better.
Beating Mir would at least help to shift some of the focus back on his in-ring work.
Plus, there’s still some time for Overeem to earn a heavyweight title shot. He’s got loads of talent, and if he can show that he’s no longer made of glass, one or two more wins could see him take on dos Santos or whomever is the heavyweight champion.
This should be an entertaining fight. Although Overeem has the physical advantage and is the betting favorite, should Mir tag the “Demolition Man” early, he could pull off the upset.
Whatever happens will likely have significant ramifications for both fighters’ careers.
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