Early this morning Fanhouse’s Mike Chiappetta broke the news that an interim title is in the works for the UFC heavy weight division. The obvious contenders are second and third ranked heavy weights, Shane Carwin and Frank Mir, respectively.
According to sources close to both fighters verbal agreements are in place and a bout agreement is in the process of being drafted. With current title holder, Brock Lesnar, out for an undetermined length of time due to an intestinal illness, UFC execs have decided to create an interim title. UFC 111 is set to take place in Newark, NJ and will be the first time the UFC has been back to the state since UFC 78 in 2007. Carwin, 11-0, last fought at UFC 96 where he knocked out heavy weight contender Gabriel Gonzaga. Since that fight Carwin has had two scheduled fights with Lesnar that have been postponed and subsequentially canceled due to Lesnar’s illness.
Mir, 13-4, is coming of a weekend win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 107. He’s 1-1 against Lesnar and requested a rematch with the champ as soon as he was healthy and able to fight. Going into his fight with Kongo, Mir added approximately 20 pounds of muscle mass to his body; a welcomed addition. Unlike some heavy weights, Mir gained the additional weight by increasing his strength while maintaining his agility and quickness.
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Mir walked through Cheick Kongo without breaking a sweat, and in my opinion is deserving of another shot at the belt. If Brock remains out of action, then this match is the next best thing. Would have preferred to see Carwin match up with the current champ, but if that can’t happen, this is a good way to keep the UFC heavyweight picture alive and moving forward.
Mir can answer a lot of questions if he is able to overcome Carwin’s strength, his powerful striking, and his wrestling ability. Can’t think of a better preparation for Lesnar/Mir III than this fight.
Shane Carwin will also see many benefits if he is victorious against the former heavyweight champ. Many fans have questioned Carwin’s MMA pedigree, citing Gabriel Gonzaga as the only real test of Shane’s abilities, but a win over Frank Mir should silence those voices.
It will be very interesting to see how this one unfolds. Having put Kongo into a vulnerable position with a great overhand left, will Mir try to stand with Carwin and slug it out? A bigger, stronger Mir may have added punching power, but is that the route to victory against an iron-jawed brawler like Carwin? And if this match ends up on the ground, will the power wrestling of Carwin allow him to suffocate Mir up against the fence like Lesnar did, and rain down the ground and pound, or will Mir be able to defend, luring Carwin into a submission?
This should be a great fight. I’m definitely a big fan of both of these warriors, and will be highly anticipating this interim title match, in hopes that the winner will have a chance to vie for the real thing against a recovered and healty Brock Lesnar.
Very good point mu shin. Carwin-Lesnar was the one fight at Heavyweight that I really wanted to see, but like U said…this is the next best thing. I believe CArwin will be subbed by Mir.
he’s a tough opponent mir is for sure for anyone and i belive he will beat carwin.i hear everone talking about valasquez but i think when he faces mir,nog,lesnar or carwin shit even todd duffee i think his lights will be put out.where is herring?
Carwin by one man wrecking crew!!! Had a lot of respect for Mir before his fight with Kongo,the 20 pounds that he gained has seemed to have brought a new found arrogance with it and it fucking pissed me off something chronic!!!
Carwins the same size as Brock and I see it going the same way as Mir vs Lesnar 2…..BOOM…..SMASH….WALLOP….CRASH….BANG….Mir a bloody mess and Carwin showing more class than Lesnar did by helping up after removing his fist from his face!!!
Frank Mir is an absolute stud….If this Carwin-Mir fight does go down…Mir will definitely become the Interim Champ. Shane Carwin is 6′4” and 260 great wrestling and decent striking. That knock-out of Gonzaga was a lucky throw when he was rocked. Mir is better in his striking, ground, and BJJ. Mir I believe has too many weapons and skills that Carwin can handle…Lesnar is more one dimensional than Mir in his weak striking and good takedowns…Carwin would do better against Lesnar cause he wouldn’t have to worry about gettin an arm pulled or a his neck choked…and if your saying Carwin and Lesnar are the biggest and that could pose threats…Mir is 6′3” and was 264.5 against Kongo…he’s just as quick and nimble but he’s got that weight gap closed off a little bit for the next time him and Brock meet…I’m thinking Mir Beats Carwin Convincing and Easily. Then when Brock is Healthy I believe they have their Rubber Match….I believe Mir Comes back and prevents Brock’s bullrush takedowns…keeps the fight on the feet and knocks brock out with a knee or a good left hand that sent Kongo to the floor i believe Brock will panic and do something foolish that exposes himself like cheick did and will be submissioned or TKOed…and If you think Brock won’t panic and has experience…Kongo has 30 fights…Brock has 5….He’ll Panic if his Bell is Rung…Thank you reading my opinion… even if you agree or disagree….
carwin is alot slower than brock lesnar.frank mir is a stud for sure and i wouldnt mind seeing a rubber match,only if it is worthy,meaning mir wins to get to brock.
Mir is a solid fighter, but he doesn’t have GREAT striking. All of the sudden his win over Cheick Kongo has everybody saying he’s got hands now. Was it a great shot? Hell yeah. Was it great striking? Not exactly. He crouched down and came up with a big over hand. This is the same move that Kevin Randleman used to knock Cro Cop out cold. Is Randleman a great striker? Randy Couture used it on Tim Sylvia. It’s not great striking, it’s great game-planning for MMA. You crouch down to scare the guy who doesn’t wanna end up on his back, especially Cheick Kongo haha. Then, when he drops his hands to defend the shot, you blast him over the top with the overhand. Excellent work by Frank Mir.
But, this would not work against Shane Carwin. Carwin is probably much more confident in his takedown defense than a guy like Cheick Kongo. And TooMuchtoHandle, you wanna talk about somebody who panics when his bell gets rung? Look at Frank Mir. Look at any of his losses. Freeman, Cruz, Vera, Lesnar. What did these guys do? They beat on him and he broke. Ian Freeman fuckin smashed him.
it’ll be interresting to see if Mr Mir’s new found confidence is for real…meaning will he crack like K-fan brought up ( crack again) or has he really become smarter AND STRONGER?
too hot to handle…this is the sight to express yourself. As long i’ve been here it’s my favorite site to agree and disagree with the fellow fans of MMA. There are some cats that really know their stuff,…we’re not always nice, but we’re honest…welcome.
The thing Shane Carwin has, that he proved in the Gonzaga fight, and that you can’t train for or improve in the gym, is an amazing chin, coupled with outstanding recuperative abilities. These will stand him in good stead in all of his future fights, and will test all of his opponents in their attempts to seperate Carwin from consciousness.
I think Mir’s standup is much improved, as he demonstrated in the now disputed Nogueira fight, as well as in his knockdown of Cheick Kongo. Was is great striking? I think Frank has shown effective striking, and in MMA, that will win you some fights. He put Kongo in a vulnerable position with that overhand left, and then choked him out. If there is a path to victory against the bigger stronger athletic wrestlers like Carwin and Lesnar, that reads like a pretty good plan to me. Mir’s true strength and above average aptitude will always be the submission/ground game, but with his increased mass and strength, his striking can only improve even more, giving him more tools to gain an advantage in his quest for regaining the heavyweight title.
As stated previously, I really like both of these guys, and hope for an exciting hard fought battle when they make it into the octagon.
this isnt the same mir that fought vera,cruz,especially freeman.i do agree he worked on that overhand in the gym for that fight and practiced where nog would leave him openings also.mir hasnt had the best time with wrestlers who keep tight on him and give him no room for submissions.with mir putting more weight and muscle on i think he matches carwins power,i think mir has better standup than carwin well enough to distract to make an opening.it does come all down to what happens on the day but i feel mir has a better chance of taking it.
I agree with Daley here. This isn’t the same Frank Mir that fought Sylvia, Vera etc… He also has a well above average ground game…in particular his submission game. I rarely if ever have disagreed with our sights jedi but mu shin I believe that Mir has the bset submission game next to Big Nog. I know Fedor will put you to sleep too but he’s too busy Ko’ing inferior heavy’s right now. I feel this is Mir’s fight to win and title to win and keep. i do believe he has an answer for Brock. I hope we get to see that tho, I don’t like him but he’s got a family so I hope Brock returns in full effect. This started out to be a very weak card but it quickly has become a very intising fight card.
Cota- No disagreement here. We are in total accord. What I was trying to say was that Mir’s improved striking will only increase his opportunities to engage his unparalleled ground game, giving him even more chances to win. I think with Kongo as an example, he used the striking to open the door, and slammed it shut with his submission skills.
Having posted here for quite a while, it’s always been my perspective to try and analyze each fighters likely path to victory, and leave it at that. I always feel like this game is so unpredictable that to call a fight one way or the other is often nothing more that a fan’s partisanship, which is cool, but most of the time, not why I write this stuff. For me it’s about trying to psych out the strategy that will win, and the techniques it might take to implement that stategy.
From that perspective, I see this match riding the razor’s edge. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Shane Carwin yet, and so far, he’s risen to every challenge. He’s smart, he’s strong, and he’s got powerful hands to go along with a wrestling base. Mir has an obvious edge in experience, and while a lot of fans seem to disparage Frank for his sometimes verbose ranting and egotistical attitude, the guy has overcome major life challeges to be where he is, and seems to keep evolving in his MMA game. As a fan, I’d have to say I’m a Mir supporter, but I think Carwin has all the tools to develop into a dominant champion, and this power-play will have to play out amidst the blood and canvas in the cage…
got cha mu shin…
Carwin is also going ot have to deal with a little thing called…”Ring or Octogon Rust!!!”
He is the biggest ( litterally) threat to Brock or the UFC heavyweights to come along in a long while. the point brought up by an earlier post was that Carwin has a hell of a chin, can take a great shot and re-coup…what about Cain’s ability to do the same? he took a hell of a beating from Kongo and kept his cool and came back to dominate the fight. Albeit on the ground but he still dominated against the UFC’s latest heavyweight gate keeper, Kongo. Mir has to be careful not to get too big and loose his grappling skills, flexablity. His mouth was big but so was his improvement in his striking game. Indeed mu shin, that’s why they fight the fights…u never know who will be the next MATT SERA!!!
I’m not saying Mir can’t beat Carwin, but it will be interesting to see how he does it. We haven’t seen Carwin get put in jeopardy by a decent submission fighter yet. Mir may or may not have an advantage standing, he won’t be able to pull the fake-shot to overhand that he landed on Kongo, because he’s facing a wrestler who won’t be quite as wary of the takedown. However, I am worried about what will happen if Carwin puts Mir on his back. Will Mir keep an active and effective guard, or will Carwin land some big punches and break him?