With filming of the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" complete, former UFC-heavyweight champion Frank Mir (11-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) is now free to focus on his December UFC interim heavyweight title clash with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).And as Mir recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), the task is certainly daunting.
"You just drown out there," Mir said of facing Nogueira. "It's almost like he's a shark -- and you're beating him up, you're beating him up -- and he's like, 'Yeah, but you're in the water. Eventually you're going to get tired, and I'm going to eat you.'"
Nogueira has been in considerable trouble early in both of his UFC bouts. Heath Herring dropped Nogueira to the canvas at UFC 73. But Herring did not want to engage Nogueira on the floor, and the Brazilian used the time to recover and earn a decision victory.
Former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia used crisp striking and an effective jab at UFC 81 to batter and bloody Nogueira. One positioning mistake in the third round was all "Minotauro" needed to sink in a fight-ending choke.
"When I watch that, I'm like, 'Oh. I guess the best approach is to just to try to beat him, not to blow your gas by trying to knock the guy out,'" Mir said. "Because he can be dropped, but you're not knocking him out. Don't jump on him and kill yourself trying to finish him because he's not going to be finished."
When Mir and Nogueira were announced as opposing coaches for "The Ultimate Fighter," most assumed their year-end clash would be for the UFC's heavyweight crown. Unfortunately for the pair, current champion Randy Couture was able to settle his differences with the UFC and return to the organization.
Mir admitted the prospect of fighting only for Nogueira's current interim title was a bit disappointing.
"There's a little bit of frustration behind it," Mir said of the entire situation. "Obviously with Randy coming back, I think it's a great thing. I'm glad he came back. And I'm glad he's able to go ahead and compete now and finish his career the way it should have been finished -- not in a courtroom.
"But I wish, if the circumstances had let it, that Randy could have waited until after Nogueira and I and fight the winner. I think that would have been more of a logical, more acceptable circumstance. I think there would have been a lot less criticism."
Instead, Couture will face MMA newcomer Brock Lesnar in November for the heavyweight title. Mir understands the UFC's logic behind arranging the fight, but would have preferred a different scenario.
"It is what it is," Mir said. "Am I perfectly happy with the situation? Not at all. Do I understand it? Yeah, I get it.
"Brock Lesnar sells tickets, bottom line. Brock could be fighting somebody tomorrow who should be on an undercard -- it could be a prelim fighter. But if he's fighting Brock, it'll be a main event fight.
"Brock, by himself, could sell a card. And very few fighters right now in our sport have that kind of drawing power. So he's going to get things his way -- and favors career-wise -- that other fighters don't get the opportunity to have."
Mir believes the hype surrounding the Couture and Lesnar fight has affected the significance of his upcoming bout with Nogueira.
"I think [the Couture and Lesnar fight] takes some of the air out of Nogueira and I," Mir admitted. "Now we're fighting for the interim belt. But even some of my own family members are like, 'So, when you're fighting Nogueira, is it a three-round fight or a five-round fight? What are you guys fighting for? If [Couture] is the champ, what are you guys fighting for?' That's not the greatest thing to hear."
But rather than get caught up in the debates surrounding the current four-man UFC heavyweight title picture, Mir knows he must focus on the task at hand. "A win over Nogueira on a personal note would be phenomenal," Mir said. "It's kind of like a changing of the guard.
No comments:
Post a Comment