Frank Mir: Underdog in 100

A true challenge lies ahead of Frank Mir. The former UFC heavyweight champ and now Interim heavyweight champ will battle the other holder of the belt, Brock Lesnar, in UFC 100.

Mir had proven that he have the skills and the will to be the best. Even after the seemingly career-ending injury, he bounced back to fight again eventually beating the MMA Hall of Famer, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, to claim the Interim championship. Now, to settle the best UFC heavyweight, he will try to defeat Brock Lesnar --- the physical powerhouse he narrowly defeated last year. 


It should be noted that at that time, it was still at the infancy of Lesnar’s MMA experience and development. Frank Mir was severely pummeled and it looked like he was losing. But suddenly, with a stroke of brilliance, he caught the inexperienced Lesnar in a sensational kneebar to win the match.

After that match, Mir had shown huge improvement in his stand-up striking and cardio. He dominated Nogueira and taunted Lesnar saying that he wants half of his belt back. Alternatively, Lesnar had fought twice since their match. He conquered power-punching Heath Herring and the geriatric wonder, Randy Couture. Lesnar had clearly improved in all aspects, especially in his striking and pacing but more importantly, he gained a great amount of experience against the two veterans he had fought. Lesnar had learned to avoid the rookie mistakes and embraced his superior physicality.


In scrutiny, Mir’s distinct advantage over Lesnar is his jiu-jitsu but it is difficult to imagine that Lesnar will make the same mistake of leaving a submission opening again. For sure, Brock will devote his training in submission defense. By negating the jiu-jitsu, he feels that there is no way that Mir can win. Based on the first match, he is massively stronger, more powerful, and deceptively faster. On UFC 100, he will try assert his size advantage through his wrestling skills. He may resort to striking using those cinder blocks he calls fists.

I’m not counting Mir out. I’m just stressing that Frank Mir’s odds are reasonably not good. Personally, I want Mir to win because in his victory, the essence of martial arts will be demonstrated. I want to see that a physically disadvantaged guy can win against a monster by means of skill and heart.

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