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[Sniggles]

Mir Buying in Bulk Against Carwin

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
by Brian Knapp

Much was made about Frank Mir’s decision to add some 20 pounds of muscle to his frame in advance of his UFC 107 matchup with Cheick Kongo. However, the brief bout with the chiseled French kickboxer lasted barely more than a minute and shed little light on whether or not a bulkier Mir was a better Mir.

That figures to change when he takes on the hulking Shane Carwin in the UFC 111 “St. Pierre vs. Hardy” co-main event on March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

“Carwin’s been an athlete his size a lot longer than I’ve been at mine,” Mir said during a Tuesday teleconference to promote the interim heavyweight title bout. “The greatest indication of whether [adding more weight has] been beneficial will be whether or not I can negate some of his strength.”

One of the more powerful competitors in the heavyweight division, the undefeated Carwin has not competed in more than a year. He believes the time off will prove helpful in his quest to reach the pinnacle of the division.

“The time off has given me a year of technique to work on,” Carwin said. “I’ve been able to work on a lot of different aspects of the game and become a more complete fighter.”

Carwin last appeared in March 2009, when he knocked out former title contender Gabriel Gonzaga in 69 seconds at UFC 96. The 35-year-old Colorado-based heavyweight has stopped all 11 of his opponents inside one round, but it was his performance against Gonzaga that caught Mir’s eye.

Mir Buying in Bulk Against Carwin

We shall see if a bigger Mir is indeed a better Mir. It was evident with Kongo, but will it be against Carwin?

[Xanatos]

ya, but I'm certain the smaller Mir would have done the same job against Kongo

[roland]

A bigger Mir is a better Mir in todays HW division. When you look back at the Lesnar fight you see the ridiculous size descepancy and you realize that unless Mir hits a submission-which he is great at doing- he can not beat the new breed of super heavy weight. I think that size alone would prevent Mir, Cain, and Dos Santos from beating pre illness Lesnar (who knows what he will be like when he returns) and Carwin. One of Mir's greatest strengths has been his mma IQ which I think is very high. He understands game planning, psycological warfare, and training. The last fight against Brock looked like a sixth grader fighting an adult. No amount of training or prep would have changed that fight. Mir realizes he needs to literally transform himself into a new fighter.

[pantomime horse]

Bulking up can help a fighter. With that said, it won't help one's chin. He'll still have to work quickly against Carwin who has the power to put him down and out.

Frank will win fights with technique. If the bulk helps anything it will likely be his confidence. He can add weight, but I don't see it helping him if he gets in a grappling match with Lesnar.

[QOTSA420]

Smart move by Mir. He will obviously not over power Brock or Carwin, but he will not be able to be thrown around either. I just hope he does not sacrifice too much speed though, because that would be a crucial asset to lose.

[goodtimes]

Originally Posted by Xanatos

ya, but I'm certain the smaller Mir would have done the same job against Kongo

Mir dropped Kongo with one punch, so I think he may have a lot more power with the extra muscle.

[mattc25]

....in my opinion Mir's short exchange with Kongo his hands looked pretty crisp and quick for his size. I think Mir will win this fight with a proper game plan to nullify Carwins power.

[bluerinosg]

I CANNOT wait to see this fight. It couldn't come any sooner.

[MMAV]

Mir has really good boxing but i dont think itll compare to Carwins pure power. Mir will definitly have to take this to the ground and submit him.

[lwbrewer]

Mir tried conditioning for the Brock II fight and found out all's it did for him was he wasn't out of breath when he got pounded out. All of Mir's efforts are directed at beating Brock, Carwin just happens to be in the path. Diffenetly don't want to miss this fight to see how Mir does & how good Carwin realy is. Hopefully it lasts more than a round to give us a better prespective of the two.