T Nation

Mir vs. Kongo at UFC 107?

#1

"Cheick Kongo, one of Bisping's Wolfslair teammates, is also angling to have a fight at the end of this year.

A source close to Kongo informed Sportsnet that the French striker is tentatively scheduled to face Frank Mir at UFC 107 in Memphis, TN.
...
Mir's camp has stated they have yet to hear of this fight request, but have stated they are definitely interested in fighting Kongo."

I think this is an interesting fight. Would Mir's TDs be better than Kongo's TD defense? Mir is good off his back, but can he get it there against a big athletic guy that has to be working TD defense pretty hard?

Mir has looked pretty quick for a guy his size, and the little striking we have seen actually looks pretty good. I think the striking match may be closer than some think. Partially becuase of Frank's apparent improvements and partially because Kongo would have to be very careful not to get taken to the Mat.

This fight would give us a really good look at Mir's striking, and I think it would be a good start for either guy to get back into the title picture. Dangerous fight for Mir though. He loses this one and he may be fucked until 2011.

#2

hmmm…kind of a weird fight. i wonder if this means the Mir is going to be the “gatekeeper” for title shots or something.

as far as Mir’s takedowns, i don’t think he uses conventional wrestling takedowns, so that could be very dangerous to Kongo. the strikinig, though, is light years apart, in my opinion. i think Kongo is the only true MT striker in the heavyweight division right now, and is dangerous to everyone, because of that.

if it goes to the ground, i think Mir will have this very easily. if it doesn’t, then i see a repeat of his fight with Brandon Vera…

#3

[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
hmmm…kind of a weird fight. i wonder if this means the Mir is going to be the “gatekeeper” for title shots or something.

as far as Mir’s takedowns, i don’t think he uses conventional wrestling takedowns, so that could be very dangerous to Kongo. the strikinig, though, is light years apart, in my opinion. i think Kongo is the only true MT striker in the heavyweight division right now, and is dangerous to everyone, because of that.
[/quote]

Spot on here. He (kongo) should be working with Sambo, greco, or Judo guys. I wouldn’t be too worried about a double or single leg. He needs to aviod the clinch or at least throws or trips once in the clinch.

#4

Frickin Kongo can’t stop a takedown to save his life, he just needs to work on grappling period. If he gets stuck with Mir on top of him, somehing’s getting ripped off or put to sleep.

#5

Mir will take him down and grind him out…I think this could go at 105 in England if Mir is ready by then, but who knows…interesting matchup…so then what for the division? Winner of Carwin and Velasquez gets a title shot. Say Carwin and Kongo win though…well Velasquez just beat Kongo, so he should get a shot before he does right? And what about old boys Nogueira and Couture? My bet is winner of this fight, Kongo and Mir, faces winner of Cro Cop and Dos Santos, for who gets the next shot after Velasquez and Carwin winner…but this Emelianko guy is out there too now…

#6

I think with the literal collapse of Affliction (they were planning on making trilogy their last show, but I doubt they wanted to drop the whole card. Now they have no bargaining power for guys under contract.) we’re going to see a few things changing in the UFC.

I mean Trigg and Belfort, rumors of Ortiz, just got signed to the UFC, who’s next? There’s no doubt the UFC is going to stay the mma mainstream powerhouse for quite some time, and they’ve proved before that they’ll give the fans the shows they want despite rankings.

#7

[quote]dhickey wrote:

This fight would give us a really good look at Mir’s striking, and I think it would be a good start for either guy to get back into the title picture. Dangerous fight for Mir though. He loses this one and he may be fucked until 2011. [/quote]

He could always go back to announcing WEC fights.

#8

[quote]Champ1989 wrote:
dhickey wrote:

This fight would give us a really good look at Mir’s striking, and I think it would be a good start for either guy to get back into the title picture. Dangerous fight for Mir though. He loses this one and he may be fucked until 2011.

He could always go back to announcing WEC fights.
[/quote]

which he did very well, imo…mir really has a good grasp of the fight game and the technical stuff, very good color guy… would like to see him call some ufc events too…

#9

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
Champ1989 wrote:
dhickey wrote:

This fight would give us a really good look at Mir’s striking, and I think it would be a good start for either guy to get back into the title picture. Dangerous fight for Mir though. He loses this one and he may be fucked until 2011.

He could always go back to announcing WEC fights.

which he did very well, imo…mir really has a good grasp of the fight game and the technical stuff, very good color guy… would like to see him call some ufc events too…[/quote]

actually, i think he’s one of the best commentators (besides Bas, of course) that i’ve heard. hopefully he will contniue to do that…i think that’s part of why i like to watch the WEC more than the UFC

#10

I don’t believe Mir is used up as a fighter. Really he showed SO much improvement in his stand-up during his fight with lesnar and Nog, I just think he underestimated brocks g&p. Honestly if you watch the tape he was on his side in half-guard like you should in jits, the problem with that is he was staring down the barrel of brocks nasty punches.

I think he needs more work on getting up from his back, rather than just trying to stall, or weather the storm. On thing’s for sure, Kongo will test him, and he Kongo.