Brock Lesnar VS Frank Mir 1 & 2

On February second, 2008, Brock Lesnar made his debut in the UFC, against former champion Frank Mir, losing via a kneebar in the first round. Mir, who at the time was looking to get back to his best following a long recovery from a motorcycle crash, was impressive and has since gone on to beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, one of the top ranked fighters in the world. Brock Lesnar on the other hand has also has his successes, dispatching both Heath Herring and Randy Couture with consummate ease.

These results have seemingly transpired to lead Lesnar and Mir to clash again, in a rematch that could go either way. Lesnar having gained skill and experience since his sole loss, and Mir having gotten back to the top of his game. Expected to be fought at UFC 98, the rematch will crown an overall heavyweight champion, with Mir having the interim title and Lesnar currently holding the championship proper.

Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts today, having previously been a champion WWE wrestler. Because of this and his natural athleticism, Lesnar has quickly risen to become one of the best known prospects in the sport. Aside from being an excellent wrestler, Lesnar has also shown he is dangerous on the feet, having knocked out former champion Randy Couture when the two fought in November of 2008.

The sole weaknesses that Brock still has to content with are that he is very inexperienced and lacks a complete ground game. In top position Lesnar looks unstoppable, but we have yet to see what he will do if someone manages to reverse and get him on his back, which is traditionally where wrestlers tend to struggle. The lack of experience in itself isn't a weakness as such, although the fact that all of Lesnar's opponents in the future will have much more experience than him could be a factor over the course of a longer fight.

Now sporting a record of 3-1, with his sole loss being to Frank Mir, and improving with every showing, Brock Lesnar looks set to make the rematch with Mir a lot more competitive. Whether he will have developed enough to be able to defeat the Jiu Jitsu skills of Frank Mir is still in question, although experts are now a lot more divided than they were a few months ago.

Frank Mir was the heavyweight champion at one time, having beaten the likes of Tim Sylvia to get there. Soon after winning the title however, Mir was involved in a serious motorcycle accident, and struggled to find his form after his return. Due in part to his own demons, and also his continuing recovery from the accident Mir went on to lose to both Brandon Vera and Marcio Cruz. Both of which a top fighter would have been expected to beat. More recently however Mir has won three fights in succession, beating Antoni Hardonk, Brock Lesnar and Nogueira, gaining him the interim UFC championship.

Primarily Frank Mir is a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, and has secured most of his wins by submissions. As well as this, Mir has displayed much improved stand up in his last fight, knocking down Nogueira multiple times in their fight. This probably wont be on display in the rematch with Lesnar, but now isn't as much of a weakness as it used to be. Interestingly Frank Mir is known to be best off his back, and Lesnar is best when he is on top of an opponent, meaning both will have the chance to implement their own strategies on the fight.

The main weakness Mir has displayed in the past has been his cardio, mainly due to poor conditioning, although this too seems to have improved as of late. The fact that Mir has only gone to a decision once in his career thus far however means that this could potentially be something of concern going into the Lesnar fight. Lesnar by contrast is known to have excellent conditioning, meaning this could be one of his best chances of beating Mir, particularly over a 5 round fight.

As to the eventual winner, most people tend to slightly favor Mir over Lesnar, although not by very much. The fact is however that Mir might only have secure a single good submission to win, compared to Lesnar probably having to ground and pound Mir for an extended period. The fight will probably not be decided on the feet, although in the exchanges seemingly Mir has the variety and the precision, and Lesnar has the power.