Mir v Nelson UFC 130

Just wanted a few predictions for this fight,

do you think Mir will win this fight?
would Mir be able to beat Brock again if they fought for a third time?
can Mir become world heavyweight champion again?
At 31 or 32 how many years do you think Mir has left competing in the octagon?

I really dont know about Lesnar to be honest - if he will ever fight or win again. His aura has gone now.

AS for Mir - who knows. Everytime he looks done, he comes back looking better. But lets not forget his victory over Brock was lucky. He was being pounded and the ref made a bad call to restart the fight after head punch (that Mir turned into).

If that fight had been stopped with a Brock win, Mir would have been cut by now.

I really hope Mir beats Nelson and gets himself back into title contention again; I think Mir is a very reflective fighter, I think he constantly tries to better himself and I'm sure he'd approach another Brock fight differently. If I heard right, Mir completely changed his diet and has become a vegetarian and has dropped weight, so he obviously wants to be a quick, explosive fighter. Brock is a powerhouse no doubt about it and Frank could easily get sparked out again but knowing how vulnerable Brock is on the defensive might make Mir more aggressive. I also think Mir showed Carwin too much respect when they fought and didn't really pull the trigger, which is why he lost. I'm not saying Mir could beat Carwin but I don't really think Mir got into the fight. I really respect Mir though, he prides himself on his technical skills and being a true martial artist.

I don't know too much about Nelson does he have the skillset and experience to beat Mir?

Despite his physique Nelson is a pretty tough customer. He has ko power, ok stamina though could improve & apparently is a decent BJJ practioner having trained with some top people. I have only seen Mir against Lesnar, both fights but did see something on youtube at a grappling show where Nelson got the better of Mir, check it out if you can find it I will try & post a link. I quite like Nelson seen some interviews with him & he comes across as an ok guy who will fight anybody & he has been matched against tough opposition since winning TUF. I think Dana wanted him out of the way after that but has grown to like him.

Mir vs Nelson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dj5xMeXybs

I don't follow any fighter religiously but I have seen several of Mir's more recent fights and from what I gather his striking has improved alot. Nelson looks like a dangerous opponent though - KO power if the fight keeps on their feet and I wouldn't like to try for a take down and get reversed - Nelson looks to be carrying alot of weight, I wouldn't want him sitting on top of me for a ground and pound assault. Frank is going to need to fight smart with this one. His wrestling was quite poor against CroCop and he admitted after the fight he made mistakes he didn't make in training. I hope Mir has improved his techniques because any mistakes in this fight could cost him dearly with a grappler as good as Nelson.

This fight is interesting - i think it'll turn into a kickboxing match - and i noticed on Paddypower that for it to go to a decision is 3/1 or 4/1 - might have some of that!

Clunge4life wrote:This fight is interesting - i think it'll turn into a kickboxing match - and i noticed on Paddypower that for it to go to a decision is 3/1 or 4/1 - might have some of that!

Unless Nelson has changed his style since TUF, I cant see that happening! Hes the type to lie on top of his opponent and pound them.

This has first round victory all over it for someone (either knockout by Mir or GnP by Nelson)

Can't see Mir knocking out Nelson - he has a solid chin

Victory by suffocation could happen if Nelson takes him down - but he has to take Mir down and i don't see that happening - still think it will be a striking contest between the two - with Mir winning a UD

Dont forget that Mir was the first to knock out Nog - so he has some serious power in his striking (I think he was anyway!)

Mir will need to have good cardio for this fight as he obviously gassed from being in a dominant position in their grappling contest sohotnot gave us a link for. I think Mir will need to be careful in his takedown attempts because if Nelson sprawls or reverses and ends up in the side control or mount I can't see Mir getting back up unless it's in the dying seconds of a round and he's saved by the bell.

I think Mir should start with a high tempo with good head movement using combo shots and hopefully if the fight goes to the ground can get a guillotine or rear naked choke. Mir needs this win if he's going to get back into title contention.

What's Nelson's cardio like? He looks like he'd gass quickly if he can't get the knock out early. or is he deceptively fit?

He is deceptively fit - he has much better cardio than Mir does - but you would'nt think it by looking at them.

Hobo - good shout i forgot about him KO'ing Nog - but Nelson also took Junior Dos Santos' best shots and kept coming forward - should be a great fight anyway and looking forward to it

Clunge4life wrote:He is deceptively fit - he has much better cardio than Mir does - but you would'nt think it by looking at them.

I think this is one of the reasons Dana wasn't to chuffed that he won TUF & that he matched him against tough opposition, hoping he'd be beaten & cut from the UFC, hardly a great poster boy! Seen a few interviews with him on youtube & I've grown to like him, he seems honest & down to earth, apparently he eats 'man food'! I've mostly just seen highlights of his fights but defo the guy cannot be written off due to his appearance & lack of tattoos. Will check out some of Mir's fights, any recommendations?

sohotnot wrote:

Clunge4life wrote:He is deceptively fit - he has much better cardio than Mir does - but you would'nt think it by looking at them.

I think this is one of the reasons Dana wasn't to chuffed that he won TUF & that he matched him against tough opposition, hoping he'd be beaten & cut from the UFC, hardly a great poster boy! Seen a few interviews with him on youtube & I've grown to like him, he seems honest & down to earth, apparently he eats 'man food'! I've mostly just seen highlights of his fights but defo the guy cannot be written off due to his appearance & lack of tattoos. Will check out some of Mir's fights, any recommendations?

Mir v Brock I: Shows Mir can be dangerous from his back
Mir v Nog: Nog was meant to be suffering from a staph infection but still it was a crackin punch
Mir v Sylvia: Breaks Sylvia's arm in a armbar
Mir v Kongo: Dominating performance from Mir as he has Kongo in all sorts of trouble before applying the guilotine.

But did you mean Nelson?

Nelson v Schaub: Unexpected one punch KO from Roy. Proves he has power.
Nelson v Struve: Near enough the same as Schaub but had to land a few more to get the stoppage.
Nelson v Dos Santos: Was never in this fight and takes a beating but lasts the 3 rounds with Dos Santos, first person to take him the distance. Dos Santos has been in with Werdum, Cro-Cop, Gonzaga etc.

@Soldier Of Fortune

Was Mir I was interested in have seen more of Nelson, I remember him winning TUF. Only seen Mir beat Lesnar 1st time round & then a bad quality of the 2nd & I mean bad. Thx for the recommendations know any decent links as so many UFC fights on youtube get taken off.

here's a link to him breaking Sylvia's arm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZacDTXaT1Zc

Thx Talkingpoint will check it later. Have found a site MMA Geek that has loads of fights, watched Mir vs Nog & Dos Santos vs Nelson. Mir looked impressive, good stand up & Nelson took a beating, he had no answer for Dos Santos. Look forward to Mir vs Nelson.

fancy mir for this one, the only way i can see a nelson victory is if mir gets sloppy and gets knocked out. while nelson isnt bad on the ground he isnt as good as mir and if it goes to the ground i would give mir the advantage. i can see a tko for mir as he carries good power and nelson is pretty easy to hit.

dos santos fight showed nelson can take a punch but think mir will be more likely to pounch on him if he goes down because he isnt afriad of nelsons ground game

I want Mir to win as I respect him as a martial artist and hope he can have a rematch with Carwin (not sure if he'd win it but I just want him to have a second chance). Mir has proven he is a determined and disciplined person to be able to prolong his career by constantly improving on his striking as well as being such an accomplished BJJ practitioner. Although I'm sure Nelson is a good fighter I don't think he has the right image to really be an ambassador for the sport. I don't mean that superficially but well a big fat belly and a bad mullet doesn't really do the sport justice imo. Mir is a much better poster boy - athletic build; intelligent and articulate in interviews and on commentary.

talkingpoint wrote:I want Mir to win as I respect him as a martial artist and hope he can have a rematch with Carwin (not sure if he'd win it but I just want him to have a second chance). Mir has proven he is a determined and disciplined person to be able to prolong his career by constantly improving on his striking as well as being such an accomplished BJJ practitioner. Although I'm sure Nelson is a good fighter I don't think he has the right image to really be an ambassador for the sport. I don't mean that superficially but well a big fat belly and a bad mullet doesn't really do the sport justice imo. Mir is a much better poster boy - athletic build; intelligent and articulate in interviews and on commentary.

I doubt anybody would disagree with you there especially Dana White! He was not happy when Nelson won TUF & even said that any good fight Nelson is in is not down to Nelson & his performance! Although I think that has changed now, Dana appears to quite like him. Although I have watched MMA over the years I have never followed any fighters career so its hard for me to have much of an opinon on them or pick winners, so I know very little of Mir but from what I have seen he has good stand up (vs Nog) & I watched him pop Sylva's arm last night! Watched him lose to Lesnar & Carwin as well. Will check out more of his fights. Who do you fancy for Dos Santos vs Carwin now Lesnar has pulled out?

I'm not familiar with Dos Santos but Carwin is an extremely heavy hitter - kudos to Brock for even being able to walk after the barrage of punches he received in the first round of their fight, but Carwin completely gassed, he punched himself out and so I think he has questionable stamina. If Dos Santos can keep him on the back foot long enough to get into the second or third round then I'm sure he'll have a good chance of winning.

carwin carries the more power but dos santos is the better technical striker. like others have said if carwin can get him early thats his best bet, but theres also just as much possibilty of dos santos getting the ko if he lands, be bery suprised if it goes the distance. dos santos 2nd round knockout i'll go for but its a tough one to call

compelling and rich wrote:fancy mir for this one, the only way i can see a nelson victory is if mir gets sloppy and gets knocked out. while nelson isnt bad on the ground he isnt as good as mir and if it goes to the ground i would give mir the advantage. i can see a tko for mir as he carries good power and nelson is pretty easy to hit.

dos santos fight showed nelson can take a punch but think mir will be more likely to pounch on him if he goes down because he isnt afriad of nelsons ground game

Am sure I've read somewhere that Nelson beat Mir is a grappling competition. Will have to do a little research first

Here is the link: http://www.mmamania.com/2011/5/12/2166534/ultimate-submissions-the-grappling-clash-between-frank-mir-and-roy

It was back in 2003 thou

Mir was winning that grappling contest before he gassed; let's hope Mir's cardio has improved.

I've been having a look at Dos Santos on youtube and I'm getting quite excited about his main event with Carwin too; the upper card is very strong.

i see it going to the decision and Mir taking it, Roy will do himself no harm as he can take a dig and doesnt gass out despite his appearance.

where will this leave either fighter in the rankings if they win? If Carwin v Dos Santos is for the number 1 contenders position to fight Cain then will Mir be propelled into title contention afterwards? Or will he have to have another fight to determine whether he is eligible to fight the heavyweight champ?

Mir/Nelson spoilers below.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


Mir got the W by unanimous decision. I watched the fight via stream and Mir dominated each round emphatically. If anyone doubted Mir's motivation fighting a gym buddy then doubt no more as Mir fought intelligently and aggressively, utilising the clinch to prevent the big right hook and laying into Nelson with some vicious knees. He got a great Judo like throw in towards the end of round one but after that he reverted to the traditional wrestling style takedowns, especially after Nelson gassed in the second round. Nelson looked so one dimensional and didn't seem to have any answers to Mir's tactics. I thought Mir employed a good strategy against someone who could be dangerous at distance and from the ground and pound, completely neutralising Nelson's offence.

It was very clear from the fight that Nelson isn't really a natural heavyweight; he was literally exhausted in the second and third round and even though he managed to make it to his feet every time Mir took him to the ground he had no takedown defence and didn't have enough strength to hurt Mir for the KO or TKO. Mir on the other hand, while tired kept the pressure on Nelson and always came forward in the fight. It was a very decisive victory and in my mind proved that Nelson is no where near the level necessary to win the heavyweight title. I would hate to imagine what he would be like against someone like Carwin or Valesquez.

At a minimum Nelson needs to lose the gut and move down to LHW.

He's a good fighter but only his granite chin has prevented him getting KTFO in his last 2 fights.

He needs to think what he really wants as Dana has never been keen on him as he wants his fighters to advertise the UFC as supreme fighters of physical fitness which Nelson doesn't so could imagine him being dropped soon.

Valero's Conscience wrote:At a minimum Nelson needs to lose the gut and move down to LHW.

He's a good fighter but only his granite chin has prevented him getting KTFO in his last 2 fights.

He needs to think what he really wants as Dana has never been keen on him as he wants his fighters to advertise the UFC as supreme fighters of physical fitness which Nelson doesn't so could imagine him being dropped soon.

Definitely. I find Nelson a strange character - he's become a professional fighter; he obviously is a talented mixed martial artist for being a black belt in BJJ and winning TUF but he seems content to get by on a bad gimmick and on the basis of his chin and right hook. It looks like he's got a lot of work to do if he was to lose his gut; that is a big belly to lose, will Dana be that patient with him?

talkingpoint wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:At a minimum Nelson needs to lose the gut and move down to LHW.

He's a good fighter but only his granite chin has prevented him getting KTFO in his last 2 fights.

He needs to think what he really wants as Dana has never been keen on him as he wants his fighters to advertise the UFC as supreme fighters of physical fitness which Nelson doesn't so could imagine him being dropped soon.

Definitely. I find Nelson a strange character - he's become a professional fighter; he obviously is a talented mixed martial artist for being a black belt in BJJ and winning TUF but he seems content to get by on a bad gimmick and on the basis of his chin and right hook. It looks like he's got a lot of work to do if he was to lose his gut; that is a big belly to lose, will Dana be that patient with him?

Tough to say how patient Dana will be, I can imagine he'll get a couple more fights regardless, also I don't know what kind of contract he got for winning TUF?

There's no accurate yard stick as every fighter is treated different, for example, if your a big name you get retained regardless of continued losses such as Tito Oritz who hasn't won in YEARS!

Also if you are a foreign fighter with not many big stars breaking through he keeps you as a draw for that country i.e. Dan Hardy.

If Nelson went down to LHW he could potentially be a real contender as he has a good and accurate punch, probably the best chin in MMA, extinguished BBJ skills and would have better stamina!

There really are nothing but advantages to him by moving down and it's really if he wants to make a sacrifice in his lifestyle to further his career.

Also losing the mullet might help!

Valero's Conscience wrote:

talkingpoint wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:At a minimum Nelson needs to lose the gut and move down to LHW.

He's a good fighter but only his granite chin has prevented him getting KTFO in his last 2 fights.

He needs to think what he really wants as Dana has never been keen on him as he wants his fighters to advertise the UFC as supreme fighters of physical fitness which Nelson doesn't so could imagine him being dropped soon.

Definitely. I find Nelson a strange character - he's become a professional fighter; he obviously is a talented mixed martial artist for being a black belt in BJJ and winning TUF but he seems content to get by on a bad gimmick and on the basis of his chin and right hook. It looks like he's got a lot of work to do if he was to lose his gut; that is a big belly to lose, will Dana be that patient with him?

Tough to say how patient Dana will be, I can imagine he'll get a couple more fights regardless, also I don't know what kind of contract he got for winning TUF?

There's no accurate yard stick as every fighter is treated different, for example, if your a big name you get retained regardless of continued losses such as Tito Oritz who hasn't won in YEARS!

Also if you are a foreign fighter with not many big stars breaking through he keeps you as a draw for that country i.e. Dan Hardy.

If Nelson went down to LHW he could potentially be a real contender as he has a good and accurate punch, probably the best chin in MMA, extinguished BBJ skills and would have better stamina!

There really are nothing but advantages to him by moving down and it's really if he wants to make a sacrifice in his lifestyle to further his career.

Also losing the mullet might help!

I watched the fight earlier (& most of the card) & even though Roy gassed early & is as you say a bit one dimensional I enjoyed the fight. He's rarely in a bad fight win or lose. Full credit to Mir fought a good fight outfought Nelson in every dept & made him look like he was totally in the wrong place but boy can he take a beating! Be interesting to see where Mir's career goes from here as he is a quality fighter.

Agree to some extent about him getting by with a bad gimmick, I'm guilty of falling for it lol!, but the guy can fight & he comes across as an ok guy as well, but Dana was not happy to have to give him the contract in the begining, but he does sell fights, & while people will pay makes sense to keep him at least for a while. As for the contract from winning TUF from what I remember from reading from wiki it aint that great, something like 3 fights or 3 per year for 3 years at a set wage then win bonus & added bonus if you win all of them. Was a little surprised at how low they seemed considering how much money the UFC make with ppv, merchandising & advertising etc. Had read before that fighters can be cut after 3 loses on the trot, dont know if this is 100% though.

With regards to Nelson getting in shape & fighting at LHW I agree, aside from his belly Mir looked like a giant in there & with Nelsons natural power, granite chin, BJJ & the fact as the commentator was saying his never quitting/heart I reckon he'd be a real force to be reckoned with, but its gonna take a lot of dedication, discipline & hard work, as well as him realizing/thinking this.

Lets face its, Roy is never losing 55 pounds or 4 stone.

Its done my head in when the keep on prasing Roys cardio, but he was completely gassed in round 2/

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:Lets face its, Roy is never losing 55 pounds or 4 stone.

Its done my head in when the keep on prasing Roys cardio, but he was completely gassed in round 2/

True, that's what i've heard but he was exhausted in both his last fights.

I guess he wasn't pushed as hard against the second tier fighters but against the top guys he can't keep up with the pace.

tottaly agreed soilder of fortune, he gassed agaisnt jds gassed against mir, before that if he didnt knock you out in the 1st your laughing, apart from if he lies on you like he did in TUF. argued this point a while ago on old 606 you take him past two you beat him. big myth his cardio is