Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier: A brief breakdown of duo’s potential – UFC Special
In quite an unexpected development, never before practiced by UFC, a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion has been announced to collide with Strikeforce’s heavyweight Gran Prix champion Daniel Cormier.
The engagement seems to be a bit odd as Frank is a UFC veteran who has spent his whole career in UFC. Daniel, on the other hand, is a Strikeforce heavyweight king.
Despite the fact that there does not seem to be an apparent reasoning behind the announcement of a high-profile unique clash, there still exist certain significant aspects that make the bout quite interesting and somewhat favourable for the duo.
Apart from what UFC match maker Joe Silva’s is thinking, after the announcement of the current clash, hypothecations and predictions have started to pop out in the media.
Some people are dubbing Daniel as the winner whereas others are portraying Frank as Strikeforce’s possible future heavyweight champion. Quite frankly, both men possess almost equal level of talent and credibility.
Daniel, 33, since the inception of his mixed martial art career is on a win streak, boasting 10 wins. The Californian pounder has nailed three of his opponents by submission and four by knockout.
Apart from above, Cormier has won two bronze and two gold medals while taking part in grappling competitions held by different Olympic associations. This is the one aspect that is being dubbed as a decisive one by most analysts.
Daniel, albeit might not possess a powerful fist unlike Frank, still has the grappling edge which will enable him to hold down the former UFC heavyweight champion on the octagon mat for substantial time.
Furthermore, the undefeated streak and the status of being the fifth best heavyweight in the world will definitely motivate the former XMMA heavyweight champion to pick up an upset win over Frank Mir.
However, there are certain other factors that shift the winning chances altogether in Frank’s corner. Mir, also 33, has been in a total of 22 mixed martial art bouts, boasting 16 wins.
The veteran pounder has nailed a huge nine of his opponents by submission and four by knockout. Mir is undoubtedly known as the best submission specialist in the world with moves so lethal that they can even break arms to end the bout in a brutal manner
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a perfect example.
Daniel, on the contrary, is not a powerful submission specialist as he has pinned just three of his opponent by submission and mostly depends upon the straight forward knockout game.
The second aspect that will aid Mir in his upcoming bout against Daniel will be his massive size and muscle advantage. Daniel weighs 238 pounds whereas Mir exhibits a huge 260-pound on the weighing scale.
With this much body mass, Daniel will not only face severe difficulty in grappling the former champion but also will have to absorb much more powerful jabs that he has ever received in his whole career.
Mir can now throw extremely raw-powered jabs that can even break jaws. Moreover, he can use his body weight easily to break any grappling attempt made by Daniel.
In addition to the above, Mir can also now easily drag Daniel down on the octagon mat to apply any of his submission manoeuvres. While keeping in mind the above mentioned break down of the duo’s abilities, only one thing can save Daniel from total annihilation.
Cormier needs to use his grappling aspect optimally that is hold Mir down for elongated time periods frustrating the veteran and above all controlling the octagon. If Daniel is able to do so he can easily collect a win over one of the best submission specialist
and above all a two-time UFC heavyweight champion.
For the time being, the odds are in favour of Mir who has a higher chance of winning the bout at least on paper.
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