Set to take place Saturday night May 26th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is an epic card of heavyweight action. Headlining the event is the Champion Junior Dos Santos defending his belt for the first time against Mir. This is my breakdown for the main event fight.
Frank Mir - Most decorated UFC Heavyweight still fighting, BJJ Blackbelt and powerful striker.
Frank Mir has nearly 11 years of service for the UFC competing since 2001 and has been the champion twice previously. Mir's style is Balanced, he has a very well rounded skill set both on the standing up and on the mat. Mir is constantly improving his stand up game and has proven he has Knock Out Power. However Mir is most skilled on the ground where he is a BJJ Blackbelt and has a tendency for leaving his opponents with broken limbs if he gets a hold of a submission, 9 of Mirs 16 career wins come by way of tap out.
Side Notes - Mir is the first guy to ever Knock Out and Submit MMA Legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mir holds the record for most submissions attempted of all heavyweights.
Junior Dos Santos - Boxing Specialist, BJJ Brown Belt, powerful puncher.
Junior Dos Santos is a boxing specialist with Knock Out power in either hand that could end the fight at any second. He has arguably the best boxing in the UFC Heavyweight Division and is what got him to become the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Dos Santos is also a Brown Belt under the Nogueira family but up to this point we haven't really seen his ground game. Dos Santos has great take down defense stuffing 85% of opponents attempts, which allows him to keep the fight up we're he is better then everyone up to this point.
Side Notes - Undefeated in the UFC 8-0, KO Victories in 5 of his 8 UFC Fights, only taken down 1 time in the UFC.
Mir has the advantage in Jui-Jitsu and size
Even though we haven't seen JDS grapple, I do believe that Mir has the advantage. Mir defeated Dos Santos coach, mentor and idol by submission and is the only guy on earth to do it in an MMA fight so he automatically gets the advantage on the mat in my opinion. Mir also outweighs Dos Santos by a good 10-20lbs which he could use if he can get in top position.
JDS has the Stand Up advantage
JDS has been looking unstoppable, he has destroyed all of his opponents in his UFC career so far with his boxing pedigree. Saturday Night Dos Santos goes against an opponent with all of his career losses coming by way of knock out which happens to be JDS's specialty. Dos Santos has knocked out 5 of 8 and has badly beaten the opponents he didn't knock out. As stated above Dos Santos also does not get taken down very often at all, he stuffs 85% of opponents take downs and knows how to keep the fight standing where he is more likely to win.
Final Thoughts and Prediction
In what will be Dos Santos' very first title defense, Junior will look to avenge the loss of his mentor and friend Big Nog. Junior's advantage on the feet will likely be what decides the outcome of this fight. With only 1 opponent ever being successful at taking JDS down once to the mat, Frank Mir is going to have his work cutout for him getting the fight to the mat where he would be in charge. If we take a look at Frank's history he only losses if his opponent can knock him out, not saying that Mir has a glass chin I'm saying that if your going to win against Frank Mir you gotta knock him out, which is exactly what Dos Santos is good at doing. The odds are stacked highly against Mir to win this fight if it stays standing, I believe Mir needs to get the fight to the ground any way possible, he needs to clinch up with Dos Santos and either sneak in a trip or desperately pull guard. Even though I'm a strong believer that Frank Mir's chances of winning greatly go up if the fight goes to the mat I am going with JDS in this one. Dos Santos reign is here and I don't see Mir being the guy to dethrone him. I'm calling it for Dos Santos by TKO
