Frank Mir: My experience will give me an advantage against Junior dos Santos
Frank Mir is no stranger to high-profile UFC Heavyweight title bouts, with this Saturday’s UFC 146 marking Mir’s chance at a third title run. Throughout the buildup to his title fight with current champion Junior dos Santos, Mir has spoken about the vaunted standup of dos Santos as if it were not a problem in his eyes. Mir has even gone as far as to remark that he hits harder than his opponent. He obviously thinks that if the fight touches the ground, he will gain one of his patented submissions with relative ease. Today, Mir came out with another aspect of fighting that he believes will help him emerge victorious Saturday, speaking about his superior experience as a benefit to him. Mir told The Telegraph that the vast media exposure may be something new and detrimental to Junior dos Santos:
“There’s a lot of fighters that have alluded to after fights that all the interviews and press and obligations of being a champion or being in a main event, it can be very hard to juggle training and keep focused at the same time. They’ve admitted to not handling it as much as they should have then second time round they realised how to do it. I’ve been around this many times before and I know how to compartmentalise all the different areas of what has to be done leading up to the fight. Dos Santos, this is the first run being a champion and I’m sure he’s done more media this fight than he ever has for any other fight in his life. How well is he handling that and how well is he juggling that around? It’s another factor that I feel I have the advantage on that he doesn’t. If he is able to handle it’s because maybe people around him are trying to help him out, I purely understand it from first hand experience.”
With that said, it appears that Mir has a lot of confidence heading into the epic UFC 146 card. He has always been a confident fighter, but this time he has been rated as a substantial underdog. That means nothing to Mir who looks to translate his perceived advantages in striking, grappling, and experience into another UFC title belt. There is no doubt that Junior dos Santos has some of the best striking in MMA, will Mir truly be able to weather the storm and pull off the upset?
Further Reading: Frank Mir: I hit a lot harder than Junior dos Santos
