Frank Mir will fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the UFC interim heavyweight title at the end of this month, and he expects that to be the toughest fight of his career."I'm watching all of Nogueira's old fights to get ready," Mir told me when we talked this week. "He's a great martial artist."
Mir said he's training as hard as he ever has for the Nogueira fight -- which will take place at UFC 92 on Dec. 27 in Las Vegas -- because he believes he needs to fight better than he ever has before. And he also said he thinks he's going to need to out-fight Nogueira for 25 minutes and convince the judges that he's won at least three out of five rounds, because Nogueira is simply too tough to be knocked out or submitted. All in all, Mir knows he has a very, very big challenge ahead of him.
But while Mir had nothing but praise for Nogueira, he has a different attitude toward the man he'll fight if he beats Nogueira, Brock Lesnar. Mir has already defeated Lesnar once, at UFC 81 in February, and he says he's certain that if they fight again, he'll win again.
"Brock Lesnar will never be able to beat me because he has no submission skills," Mir told me. "What's he going to do, knock me out? No one has never knocked me cold. What's he going to do, arm bar me? No way. He is powerful. He is big. But martial arts isn't filled with guys from the NFL. Lesnar had to grab the cage not to get taken down by Randy Couture, who's 220 pounds. Lesnar isn't the phenom that everyone makes him out to be. He started at 30. Have you ever seen a boxer start at 30 and become a world champion?"
I told Mir that most fans think he'd lose a rematch with Lesnar, based on the way Lesnar was pounding him early in their fight. Mir got a brief reprieve when the referee stood the fight up and warned Lesnar about hitting Mir in the back of the head, and shortly after that, Mir submitted Lesnar by catching him in a knee bar.
Mir said he understands why fans think that way, but that he believes he's so much more skilled than Lesnar that he'll be able to beat him even if Lesnar jumps on top of him and lands a series of punches.
"You see, he was completely kicking my ass," Mir said. "He was beating the s**t out of me. But I'm saying I'm going to figure out a way to win. Lesnar hit me so hard I was seeing flashes of light every time they landed. But at no point did quitting ever cross my mind."
Mir also said that, despite Lesnar's freakish athleticism, he thinks he'll have a significant conditioning advantage over the bigger man.
"The next time we fight, it's a five-round fight," Mir said. "Even if he beats the s**t out of me for the first two rounds, he won't last. He's so big, and the bigger you are, the harder it is on your heart. ... Brock can take me down. He's bigger, stronger and wrestled for 20 years. When he's fresh, if he wants to put me on my back, he'll put me on my back. But until then I'll be putting my shin upside his head, and when he does put me on my back, what's he going to do then?"
Looking back on his first fight with Lesnar, Mir said he thinks the UFC chose him to be Lesnar's first opponent in the Octagon because the UFC thought Lesnar would win. Mir said the UFC believed he would fight against Lesnar the same way he fought in 2006 in a loss to Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz, a fight that Mir described as "Frank Mir at his p***iest moment."
But Mir says he's advanced so far as a martial artist since then that he barely recognizes the version of himself who lost to Cruz.
"I watch that fight now and it completely haunts me," Mir said. "By training with Ken Hahn, who comes from that full-contact karate school where he's hitting me in the back of the head while I'm hitting the bag, I learned that pain is a temporary state."
Mir said it's that training that gives him a chance to beat Nogueira in two weeks, and that makes him certain he'll beat Lesnar if he gets the opportunity in 2009.
But there's one person Mir doesn't think he could beat: Fedor Emelianenko.
"Fedor's the best heavyweight in the world," Mir told me. "I hope one day I could fight him and do well, but right now he's better than I am. As a martial artist you have to be truthful about yourself so you can approach your training properly and get better. Fedor has great killer instinct, he's tough, he's strong. If I fought him I'd try to catch him in a submission, but I don't know if Fedor can be beaten. He's the best heavyweight."
However, in a sign of just how much respect Mir has for his next opponent, Mir said he believes that Nogueira could beat Fedor. Although Fedor twice beat Nogueira by unanimous decision, Mir says that if those two fought for long enough -- and without judges -- Nogueira would figure out a way to come out on top.
"If Nogueira and Fedor fought in a fight with no time limit, I would bet on Nogueira," Mir said.
Fortunately for Mir, there is a time limit when he fights Nogueira, and he thinks he can beat Nogueira in 25 minutes. And Lesnar in less than that.
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mir is right about Fedor Emelianenko.
He can not be beat right now. I do not want to see another Fedor / Nogueira fight. Big Nog would get finished. Mir must not have watched all of Big Nog's fights after all...
Mir vs Lesnar should be funny the next time they meet.
No doubt Lesnar will do anything he can to avoid another run-in with Mir. I It will be another submission win for Mir except in the first round. Some will find that funny i suppose.
I guarantee with a couple more fights to give him more experience,Lesnar can beat both Mir and Fedor,Lesnar is the best fighter in the world you just watch and see!
he is right about Fedor but i do also think that nog is good enoguh to last and beat Fedor cuz i also seen Fedor get tiered in both of their fights and he is right he might beat nog cuz as you know age and all damaged caused by all the battles he has fought have hurt him as u seen in his fight with Herring he was knock down and with Tim sylvia he was getting beat but Tim's lack of ground skills didn't hel him but Mir is a differnt case cuz he feels like a fish in deep water when he gets to the mat even though Fedor is my favorite fighter we as mma fans have to be realistic that in this sport anybody can get beaten any given time. i always though Wanderlei couln't be beaten and he did but til now i still cheer for him everytime he fight cuz win or lose Fedor or Wanderlei have been my favorite fighters and if u all r real mma fans dont get dissappointed when your fighter loses cuz they r humans like the rest.
I think that Mir & Big Nog will fight standing much of the fight, and Nogueira will outwork Frank for several rounds ... then he will stop Frank with strikes when he gets exhausted in the 4th round or so.
Neither guy has great wrestling/takedowns, and we saw in the Nogeuira/Herring fight than even after taking the big kick, Nogueira still wanted to stand.
Everyone always talks about Mir not having good takedowns. I believe he won the Nevada state wrestling title as a senior. and u couldnt say he doesnt with good proof in his latest fights.Lesnar, big world class wrestler, Truth great wrestler who usess it to not get taken down. Hardonk he took down at will
Omar - the combined time of the 3 fights you mentioned isn't even 4 minutes ... you can't learn anything about a guys wrestling in that time.
Frank doesn't have the same competitive spirit/desire that Nogeuira has. Something as silly as the coach's challenge on TUF (soccer) showed us that ... neither guy could play soccer, but Nogeuira was diving to defend the goal & Frank wouldn't do much more than stick his hand out.
I worry about the beatings that Big Nog has taken over the years, but I still think he is just too tough and experienced for Frank ... especially in a 5 round fight.
How ridiculous is Mir? He comes up with all these lame excuses about why he "will" beat Lesnar. Give me a break. The way he talks about their previous fight it's obvious he's making excuses about getting his @ss pummeled by Lesnar. He got lucky he was able to get Lesnar in that knee bar. Some of these guys, like Mir, think that karate and martial arts trump brute strength, and they tend to look down on guys like Lesnar for that reason. Garbage.
Lesnar's strength is a much stronger advantage than Mir's martial arts skills. Do you think Lesnar now knows about the mistakes he made in that fight? Do you not think that Lesnar is training to prevent submissions? Is Mir going to all of a sudden overpower Lesnar in their next fight? No. You can't teach strength, especially Lesnar's strength, but you can teach technique, and Lesnar will be well-prepared for their next match. It's going to be fun seeing Lesnar pound Mir into submission, thus forcing Mir to stop making ridiculous comments like the ones stated in this article.
I agree with vito Lesnar is a freak. He is the most dominant heavyweight to date. Coture would beat Mir or Nog Lesnar made Coture look like a kid. I would like Lesnar to get a little more experience then see him and Fedor that would be the greatest hevyweight fight ever. Tim Silvia is a joke.
wow strong MMA math skillz. If you actually knew anything about MMA you would know it's all about match-ups. Randy Couture stylistically didn't have the tools to beat Lesnar. What's Lesnar's biggest weakness? Submissions. Something both Nog and Mir excel at. Everyone talks about the fact that Lesnar has been improving and training. Great, but it has taken Nog and Mir years to get to the level they are at, someone training for less then two years isn't going to have the tools to defend their level of BJJ. I also have to laugh at your statement "Lesnar is the most dominant heavyweight" how exactly did you come to that conclusion? He's won 2 fights in the UFC, and hasn't even defended the title yet. Get of Brock's cock.
submissions are not luck they are skill, lesnar was out played by mir, lesnar was a bad match for randy , couture should not have tried to exchange with him , mir will beat lesnar on the ground any day . you have to take a beating to find a submission, thats just real...fedor best out there all around , standing, ground, you name it... mir better than nog , lesnar , fedor, and couture in the submission game...
Talk is cheap.I think Mir talks too much, he will get his day with lesnar again,all this guy does is talk crap about lesnar.lesnar is the champ and he deserve credit for it ,as for fedor he is damn good ,but look out lesnar is the next big thing in the heavy weight division.
hahah comparing mir's jiu jitsu is like comparing take down skills of a wrestler to a boxer. Ziplocklester i hate to say it but your stupid. Frank mir is a joke. He tapped out lesner just b/c lack of experience. If lesner had any experience in that fight with mir, he would of let him stand back up in drop him again inforcing his will upon him.Haha better than nog. yours also crazy. I couldnt agree anymore with Ivan though, i respect his opinion.
Anyone who thinks mir will beat lesnar is just stupid. lesnar was controlling mir so good in the first round of the fight that he had mirs head banging off of the canvas. which is pathetic for mir beinging a former champion. he was getting owned by lesnar in that fight. its no shocker that he won he was the champion. but look who the champion is now and he will be for a long time.
Whatever Mir is smoking, I want some! If you even get past your next fight (I got my money on Minotauro) Lesnar will destroy you! And why even bring up Fedor? Brock will beat anybody in the world right now and he is gonna be champion for a very long time.
This is all such absolute nonsense. Mir has no chance of beating Nog anywhere!!! ground OR stand-up. Mir idolizes Big Nog and that's exactly why he's going to lose. Even still, Lesnar would destroy Mir in a rematch. Mir even getting another potential shot at the title is a complete joke, but then again, this the UFC and they will NEVER put on the real fights that the fans want...they'll just keep recycling the same reality show garbage and trying to make push fights no one wants to see down our throats:
Randy vs. Chuck 10?
Rampage vs. Wandi 7?
Rampage vs. Chuck 15?
Are you f--ing kidding me?
All u guys keep saying Lesnar was pounding on Mir , and he got lucky and caught him.Taken from the other perspective, Mir was Taking his pounding like a man , and trying to survive , but as soon as big Brock got a little twisted, he tapped soo fast is was hysterical.when choosing between athleticism and technical skill, ill make HEART THE DECIDING FACTOR. and MIR showed it in the first fight , not the big ox.
What is Mir talking about? Why would he say Lesnar could never beat him because he has no submission skills? Who cares? The way I see it in order to be successful in MMA you need to be better than your opponent in 2 out of the 3 primary areas of engagement: striking, wrestling, and submissions. Lesnar could easily just wrestle defensively and knock Mir on his ass for five rounds. Does anybody have trouble picturing this? The only way Mir could beat Lesnar is if Lesnar gets carried away with the ground and pound and leaves himself vulnerable to a submission (like in their first match - and I can't see Lesnar making that mistake again);or if Mir is somehow able to dominate the stand-up. Lesnar's stand-up is unrefined but I just can't see Mir standing with the Vanilla Gorilla with any success - he is too fast, too powerful, and has too much reach. P.S. Lesnar can basically do this to anyone he can't ride like a pony or pound through the mat which means he may not lose again for a looong time.
Fedor is the best no doubt, but mir is alot tougher and more well versed than alot of people give him credit for, if he didn't get hurt in that accident and have to take that time off he would be the reigning ufc heavyweight champ it is a weak division definatley the weakest in the ufc. With all the talk about lesnar he proved he could bang and that you don't have to be good a submission expert to win, that is the only thing i don't like about mirs comments because anyone could land a punch on the chin and win a fight at any point don't get me wrong you have to be skilled in all aspects, but when Randy couture started he was a very skilled wrestler and gradually kept getting better, and better and tunned up all aspects of his game i think even though lesnar started late with the background, power, and athletism, i really don't see what him starting at 30 has to do with anything, you people can say all you want and argue about all that stuff, but Lesnar is a monster and will become the heavyweight champ and won't lose simply because there is no one to throw at him unless fedor come over and that will never happen so keep dreamin dana white will never do that
This first part is for the moron who said brute strength beats skill in the UFC. Every seen any of Royce Gracie's fights? Watch his fight against Kimo then tell me how brute strength is more important than skill. As far as Lesnar goes he is definitley getting better but dont put him in the same category as Fedor. He was not beating 45 year old Randy Couture's ass, he caught him with one punch that hit just the right spot. If that match had gone on 5 rounds i gurantee the results would have been different. Frank Mir is way too cocky but i bet he beats Lesnar..again because he is one of the Best Ju-Jitsu guys in the game and he would find a way to beat Donkey Kong