Frank Mir is a master of many things, but he is particularly good at hyping fights. In fact, he may be the best. The work he did before his UFC 100 fight with Brock Lesnar was masterful. Fans that hated Lesnar loved it, and Lesnar’s valiant defenders hated Mir with all their being. He’s at it again, but this time with Cheick Kongo. By the time Countdown to UFC 107 was over, all I wanted was to see Cheick Kongo get his hands on Frank Mir.
Frank Mir told the press weeks ago that he intended to stand with Kongo and beat him at his own game. Mir has a lot of confidence in his striking, and I do think he’ll exchange a little, but there is no way he is going to try to win a kickboxing match at UFC 107. He will take this to the ground at the first available opportunity. He’ll do this because his livelihood depends on it.
If Frank Mir wins at UFC 107, the path to a rematch with Brock Lesnar begins. Carwin will get Lesnar’s first fight back, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mir fight the Nogueira/Velasquez winner for a title shot. Mir already started hyping a trilogy fight with Lesnar on the Countdown show, and it was one of those things where as soon as I saw him talking about it on television, I immediately realized what a monster number a third fight would do. But to get there, Mir needs legitimate wins. The path starts Saturday night.
I see Mir as the favorite, though I wouldn’t be shocked to see Kongo win. Wolfslair has never put enough emphasis on proper wrestling and jiu-jitsu training; it is primarily a striking camp, and I don’t buy into the idea that Kongo training on the ground out there is going to enable him to survive Frank Mir.