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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Daniel Cormier took care of business on Saturday night on the final Strikeforce card, handling Dion Staring with ease before forcing a ref stoppage in the second round. Following the win, Cormier laid down the challenge once again to the man he was supposed to face in November, Frank Mir, calling for a fight on April 20 at UFC on Fox 7.
Though the fight isn't signed yet, it might just be a formality, as Mir himself was open to the fight when asked about it late last week in Las Vegas while attending the World MMA Awards.
"I'm hoping Cormier has a good outing against his opponent," Mir said in an interview with Heidi Fang at MMAFightCorner.com, "which I can't recall his name right now...which the fact that we all don't know his name very well, I'm assuming that means that he should do well and hopefully come through unscathed so that he can do what he wants, which is come into the UFC and I can be more than happy welcome him."
"I think it's an excellent test for him. I think, you know, always be careful what you wish for. I think that his wrestling will definitely be tested in our fight. My submissions have the ability to definitely change outcomes of fights pretty quickly."
Penick's Analysis: Staring proved a bit difficult to stop on Saturday despite offering up no offensive threat, so it may be seen by some as a knock against Cormier. He'll come into his debut, likely against Mir still, with something to prove and with a statement to make, but Mir's right that he'll be a major test for the Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix winner. Cormier's wrestling and top game is fantastic, and he showed another flashy throw against Staring last night, but against Mir he'll have to contend with a very good submission game. However, we've seen strong wrestlers control Mir before, and though Cormier's not nearly the size of Brock Lesnar, he's got perhaps a stronger wrestling game, and technique wise is probably better. It's going to be a great test for Cormier, and a chance to make a good first impression to UFC fans.
[Frank Mir art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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