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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist The two coaches from the eighth installment of 'The Ultimate Fighter' will face off at UFC 92 for the "Interim" UFC Heavyweight Championship and the chance to face Brock Lesnar in the near future to clear things up atop the heavyweight division. Both men are known for their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and both have been recognized as the UFC Heavyweight Champion, and this fight looks to be as competitive as it is important. This one has all the makings of a truly great heavyweight battle and should be a treat to watch.
Frank Mir is a stud.
Ask him and he will surely tell you at least once or twice, but when he is in shape and properly motivated it's actually true, at least in terms of the fight game. The problem is that he has battled a debilitating motorcycle wreck and the loss of his drive somewhere along the way. His snapping of Tim Sylvia's arm to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 48 is still a sight which causes some folks to feel a little bit nauseous, but it also can serve as the last time that it appeared Mir was at his best.
In September of 2004, Frank's motorcycle was struck by a car and he suffered a broken leg as well as much damage to his knee as a result. He is lucky to be alive and even luckier that he has been capable of fighting once more but it has been a long climb to get back to the top. An interim UFC Heavyweight Championship was born while Mir recuperated, and this was much like the situation we have now where an interim belt was created while Randy Couture sat on the sidelines. However, Mir was unable to return in time to face the interim champion Andrei Arlovski and as a result the UFC awarded Arlovski the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship. Frank would not return to the Octagon until February of 2006.
His return was disappointing and he lost by way of TKO to Marcio Cruz, and it seemed as if he shouldn't have come back so soon and almost certain that he would not regain the form of his past self. He looked as bad as his return as he was in miserable physical shape when he faced Dan Christison at UFC 61. Frank would get the decision victory over Christison, but he looked like he had been training with Tank Abbott and Ricco Rodriguez as they hopped from bar to bar while stopping at ever Krispy Kreme along the way. Things got even worse when he lost to Brandon Vera at UFC 65 by way of first round TKO. Frank looked like a miserable shell of his former self and it seemed as if it would be best for everyone if he were to retire.
A trained and properly motivated Mir returned to defeat Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74 in what was his best showing since the accident.
At this point is when we found out that Brock Lesnar would be making his UFC debut and it would be coming against the former champ in Mir. Clearly this looked to be like Lesnar was getting thrown in with top guys too quickly but it really looked as if Mir were being used as cannon fodder for the former WWE superstar. This fight against Lesnar would do much to determine if Frank Mir was going to continue to be a contender or merely end up a gatekeeper for the division.
Well, Lesnar came and rained down hammer fists but Mir was able to submit the rookie with a kneebar at the 1:30 mark of the first round; and with this victory announced that his days as a competitive force in the division were not over just yet. It should be clear to anyone that Mir was selected to face Lesnar because he seemed to be past his prime and could be an easy target for the newcomer. It would appear that perhaps Mir came to grips with the realization that no one took him seriously any longer and used this to rededicate himself to the fight game.
Frank Mir served as coach on this past edition of 'The Ultimate Fighter,' and while he made no new fans with his coaching style or egotistical attitude it was clear that he was back. There was a fire in his eyes and he was actually in shape for once in a long time. The announcement that he and Nogueira would face once the show was over suddenly didn't sound like as much of a mismatch as it once would have been. Mir's talent has never been denied, but he has been notoriously lazy; and the prospect of him being driven to succeed once more does not bode well for the rest of the division. When he steps into the Octagon against Nogueira, this will be the moment when he officially makes his comeback to the UFC.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was run over by a truck somewhere between the ages of 9 and 11. I say this because every single source which can be consulted seems to have this happening at a different age. The reason this is relevant is simply to show just how tough this man is from inside and out. To be honest he is the sort of guy who probably could get run over by a truck today and simply shrug it off with a "not again" type of response. Nogueira has never been finished in a fight, but this mentality and toughness is not born of mixed martial arts but rather from deep inside of him.
This isn't about getting deep inside of Nogueira. First, that sounds like the title of a Brazilian film that one could find if he stumbled to the wrong section of the video store, but secondly it is because this man's shell has never been cracked enough for anyone to see anything aside from what he wishes to show us.
Nogueira has only lost 4 times in his career, with two coming at the hands of Fedor, and one a piece to Josh Barnett and Dan Henderson. This is why Affliction and their supporters could declare that their heavyweight division is so superior to the UFC, and it is because they have both Barnett and Fedor on their roster and both men summarily defeated the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. Affliction has the best heavyweight in the world, but it doesn't mean that Nogueira would sign on and be relegated to folding shirt boxes in a warehouse. The man is a gifted heavyweight who was beaten by the best in the world in Fedor, and suffered losses to two other gifted fighters in Henderson and Barnett. The fact that Big Nog has fought well over 30 times in his career and only lost to 3 different fighters says quite a bit about him as a fighter.
Nogueira is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master, and he is at the very least one of the very best practitioners who is currently competing in MMA. It is certain that he will be the very best that Mir has ever faced but it isn't so much his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that could cause Mir fits but rather his toughness, which can not be accurately measured. With a fighter like Mir it is easy to point to certain fights in order to break him down and take a proper look at him but such a thing is not such an easy task in Nogueira's case.
The list of names of men that Nogueira has faced and beaten reads like a veritable who's who of MMA talent. He got revenge over Josh Barnett in their rematch and the same went for Dan Henderson while he also holds victories over such notables as Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Ricco Rodriguez, Mirko Cro Cop and the freak of nature known as Bob Sapp.
I would say that the Bob Sapp fight in particular is the best one to use in order to get a true feel for the warrior spirit that Nogueira does in fact possess. Bob Sapp is not and was not ever a special fighter, but really just a precursor to Kimbo Slice in that so many were simply enamored with his looks along with his size and athletic prowess without taking into account his many flaws. However, when he faced Nogueira it seemed as if he was going to become an actual force in MMA, with many hoping that this would be the fight which could make good on all of his promise.
Bob Sapp is huge, and he looked even bigger in facing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and for the early stages of the fight used his sheer strength and aggression to fully dominate his foe. On strength and size alone, Sapp is one hell of a specimen but in MMA it is not necessarily about just those two factors. If it were we would have champions named Magnus Ver Magnusson and the first UFC Hall of Famer would probably be Bill Kazmeier, who would have routinely fought inside of the Octagon and squatted Toyotas before chucking telephone poles across the parking lot. It helps to be big and strong and one only has to look at current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar to realize this but once again you must also be skilled which Lesnar is and Sapp most certainly was not.
Strength and size will get you far, and ability will take you further, but you still need to have heart, which is something that is not measured but rather shown in the heat of battle. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has ability but it was his heart that broke down Bob Sapp and allowed him to find a way to win once his opponent was simply worn out. Sapp was exhausted from pummeling Nogueira, and it is an absolute fact that his will was also broken and he was probably wondering just what kind of man he happened to be in the ring with. When Nogueira submitted Sapp in the 2nd round of their fight it proved just how much heart counts in the course of a fight. Sapp tossed Nogueira around like a rag doll and could never finish him off because he lacked the ability, and his opponent had too damned much heart to give in to his attack.
YouTube wasn't around when Nogueira was run over by a truck but one can imagine that the truck was unable to ever run again if we go by his fight with Sapp. This fight in particular is the one that I feel is the best example of this man as a fighter, and why he poses such a threat to Mir. Mir may not be able to match him in terms of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but he isn't really that far off; however in terms of heart he isn't even in the same area code.
For Frank Mir to win this fight it is going to take something that we don't even know if Mir has and that is most definitely heart. Mir is going to come into this fight in shape and ready to go as he has actually been focused on training and not slapping ass at the Spearmint Rhino for once. Now, for all I know he has still been ogling the flesh at the club but I am certain that he has at least been doing so while knocking back distilled water and popping off sets of 100 sit-ups in between gropes. Mir will be in shape, and at his very best, but he is going to need more than this if he hopes to pull off the victory.
In my opinion this fight will not take place on the ground as much as most would expect, and this is going to be due to the fact that Mir is so damned skilled on the ground that he is not so likely to be caught by Nogueira. This one will be won or lost on the feet, and Mir's stand-up is very suspect, so this one looks to be all Nogueira and all night long unless Frank can show us something new. He is going to need to be willing to eat Nogueira's jabs and prove capable of weathering them if he hopes to take the man down, and he is going to have to be able to take a beating in order to come out on top. As it stands I see nothing to suggest that Mir has a true way to win this fight; but the man is a former champion who realizes how important this bout is, and as such we should be seeing a new Frank Mir on Saturday night. Las Vegas is the home of magic and perhaps Mir can pull a Criss Angel and make himself appear in the form of a fighter we have never seen before, as this is exactly what will be necessary to win.
For Nogueira to win this fight he is going to have to respect Mir on the ground and disrespect him on the feet. Seriously, he should know that he holds the advantage on the feet and take full advantage of the fact and keep this one a stand-up war for as long as he can. Even the best can make a mistake, and Nogueira isn't one to do so, but you just never know and Mir is not your easiest foe on the ground. Nogueira should pepper him with the jab and be sure to throw punches in bunches to make Mir think twice about taking him down. This fight is all about will, and Nogueira's is simply too much; but it is likely that he could wear Mir down a la Bob Sapp and land an easy submission once his foe is beaten up and ready to quit mentally.
Bent's Prediction: Nogueira by Unanimous Decision
I truly do feel that we see the best Frank Mir we will ever see on Saturday night, and this is why I see this one going to the cards, but I still think this will not be enough for him to get the victory. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a true fighter, and by this I am not meaning to discount any other fighters but am saying that some men have that certain something that cannot be learned in the gym or achieved by working hard. Nogueira was born with it, and if any fighter truly has the Rocky Balboa "eye of the tiger", it is "Minotauro." Mir has the skill but Nogueira has better skills and definitely has the will to win which we have really never seen from Mir. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a true stud and odds are that he will make Mir look like a gelding at UFC 92.
[Mir Photo (c) Spike TV]
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