Mir the only man to have beaten Brock Lesnar. Photo: Josh Hedges
Frank Mir was supposed to face Rodrigo Minotauro at UFC 119 this coming September 25, in Indianapolis. Due to injury, however, Minotauro was replaced with Mirko Cro Cop. Out goes the ground specialist and in comes a striking specialist with a potent left kick.
Obviously, the change means a strategy modification for the black belt, but it’s nothing that worries him, despite his praise for his opponent.
“I feel Cro Cop is still the one we saw in Pride. I feel a lot of guys have seen him enough to know too keep away from him and not stand still in front of him, which could be really dangerous, because he still has the same leg he always did. He’s very quick and agile,” he remarks.
“Mirko is really good with his kicks, but I’m not bad with my legs, either. If you add to that the wrestling I’ve been working on and my Jiu-Jitsu, he has a lot more to be worried about than me. Once the cage door closes, the advantage will be all mine. I can’t see any situation where I won’t feel comfortable with Cro Cop. I can beat him in more ways than he can beat me.”
One of Mir’s great abilities against Cro Cop really is his ground game. Frank has been around the mats for a long time, as you can see in the video below. Check out the former UFC champion in his gi back when he was a blue belt.