[Cat--Smasher]

Drysdale: You don't tap to Mir, you scream

Guilherme Cruz: Who have you been coaching?

Robert Drysdale: Frank Mir, Forrest Griffin… Vitor Belfort trained here when in Vegas. Dan Hardy trained here, Martin Kampmann, Matt Riddle… Everybody who comes to Vegas train here at the gym. No exceptions. There’re lots of guys, man.

GC: So everyone who goes to Las Vegas trains with you, is that right?

RD: Jiu-Jitsu, yeah. Now we started Wrestling and striking trainings too so guys don’t have to go elsewhere. For a long time guys used to come to my gym to train Jiu-Jitsu and then left to train striking, Wrestling and sparring in another gym. Now we offer it all. We started it like four, five months ago and it’s getting bigger. Now we have nine people at Wrestling class. When it first begun it was just me. We had a Jiu-Jitsu school and then a Jiu-Jitsu focused on MMA school and now we have a MMA school.

GC: How do you see Frank Mir-Daniel Cormier fight going?

RD: Man, it’s a hard one. It’s hard because the guy’s tough on the stand-up and has good takedowns. The mistake most people make when fighting Frank is underestimating him. Everybody that underestimates him gets caught. Frank’s a sniper, lands directs hits. He choses the right moment and lands it when finally does. It’s a tough fight but he’s prepared. We know it can go to the ground and Frank may be on the bottom and we’re training for that. I guess Frank has an advantage on striking. On the ground, if he (Cormier) makes a mistake, he’ll get caught. But he’s a tough guy, a guy whom we respect a lot. It’s a fight we’re taking very seriously. We never joke about a fight.

GC: Could you analyze Cormier’s ground game, since he hasn’t shown it on his fights so far?

RD: He knows how to block Jiu-Jitsu. He knows what everybody knows: the anti Jiu-Jitsu. He knows how to defend an armbar and a triangle, has Wrestling base and a good posture. He won’t make a mistake, but we’re bringing some traps for him.

GC: But only defending Jiu-Jitsu is not enough when one is fighting Frank Mir.

RD: Exactly. That’s what I tell people. You can’t make a mistake with him. I train with the guy. He goes smoothly, you think he’s not paying attention. Brother, the guy catches you and you don’t see that coming. You can’t tap, you have to scream. If you try to tap out he breaks you in half (laughs).

GC: He breaks people during practice?

RD: No, but he’s very strong. When he goes 70 percent it’s like other people going 100 percent. That’s the problem. To train with him you gotta be ready to tapout the entire time.

Drysdale: You don't tap to Mir, you scream - Mixed Martial Arts News



UFC vs. Strikeforce: Mir vs. Cormier set for Nov. 3rd

The first cross-promotional effort between UFC and Strikeforce looks to have a date.

The heavyweight battle with former UFC champion Frank Mir (16-6) facing Strikeforce Grand Prix tournament winner Daniel Cormier (10-0) will take place Nov. 3 in Oklahoma, according to a Showtime source and sources in the Cormier camp.

Mir recently did an interview with MMAFightCorner.com where he talked about the fight taking place on Nov. 4 in Oklahoma, a Sunday night. That would be unusual given Showtime has aired all of its major MMA shows for the past few years on Saturday night, and a Sunday night would be going head-to-head with what is usually the highest rated NFL game of the week.

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news...t-for-Nov-3rd/