Frank Mir Doesn’t Think Overeem Will Fare Well in the Octagon

Frank Mir thinks Alistair Overeem will suffer a similar fate as Mirko Cro Cop if and when he finally fights for the UFC.

Either Mir doesn’t know anything about Overeem or he’s trying to needle his way into a fight with the heavyweight Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 champion  when he transitions to the Octagon. Whatever his intentions are, it’s likely the only thing Mir will succeed in doing is pissing off “The Reem.”

Here’s what he had to say in a recent interview he did with MMA30′s Dave Farra:

“With all the guys with the wrestling ability I dont think Overeem will do as well as a lot of the fans would like him to do. Obviously the guy’s from from K-1 and I can’t say enough about his stand-up. He’s a great fighter and he has a pretty wicked guillotine — at least he did at light heavyweight he [did],” mir explained. “I haven’t really seen him establish it since he put the weight on. He has some submissions off his back and he moves around, but he’s been fighting in boxing rings and stuff, but going to fight in the cage, which he’s he’s had fights in cages, but you get someone like a Velasquez or Carwin or Brock, they’re going to change levels and push you against a cage and rip you down. So I think Overeem is going to have to deal with the cage now. When youre a striker, it’s an issue.”

Now we could have just dismissed this as being another retarded statement from Mir. like his recent assertion that Roy Nelson is a less skilled version of his training partner Mike Whitehead, but we figured that would be too easy, so here are a few reasons why Mir’s comments on Overeem are BS:

Considering the fact that his ratio of submission to KO wins is 19-14, it might be a bit deceiving writing off “The Demolition Man” as being simply a striker. While it’s true that he is perhaps best known for the K-1-level striking he honed training at Golden Glory, Alistair has repeately pointed out over the years that he focuses as much time in the gym on his grappling and wrestling as he does his stand-up training. Although he never wrestled in college and doesn’t have the credentials of Velasquez and Lesnar, shooting for a takedown exposes a fighter to being kneed, kicked or punched in the face, so there’s a pretty good chance neither fighter would attempt a takedown against Overeem for fear of getting caught with a big shot or stuck in his vice-like clinch.

As far as Mir hypothesizing that fighting in an Octagon will be a problem for Alistair, all of his Strikeforce and several of his DREAM fights have been contested in a cage. Besides that, a cage actually works in the favor of a submission artist against a wrestler more so than a ring as it provides leverage and a solid surface to push off and sweep or roll out from under an opponent. It also acts as a wall to allow a fighter to walk back to his feet when taken down against the fence.

It seems like Mir is just grasping at straws for the tired argument that UFC champions are better than Strikforce champions. Thankfully, now we’re finally going to find out which side is right.