Frank Mir Predicts Early Finish Of Mark Hunt

Frank Mir is set to fight Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 85 in a heavyweight bout and recently spoke with FOX Sports about the upcoming fight. Mir explained that his game plan coming into this fight is to take it to the ground and wear him down. While Mir is known for his striking, Mir is best known for his grappling and submissions, which is what he plans to do in this fight.

“The differences that he has over me in striking, I feel like on the ground, grappling wise, the gap is really great,” Mir said. “Obviously if this was a K-1 fight, Mark has been doing it for many more years than I have as far as pure stand up, so you’d have to give him the advantage.

“I think part of my strategy in the fight is that he really has to worry about the takedowns and the only way he’s going to worry about it is if I take him to the ground early in the fight a couple of times. Even if he survives, it’s not a loss because now he can’t put 100 percent of his mind into striking because he knows I can get him down.”

Mir believes that Hunt will survive the first few rounds, but will cave and tap out in their main event fight.

“He might survive the first time, he might even survive the second time. But on a long enough scale, you’re going to get submitted by me,” Mir said.

“He obviously knows I’d like to submit him, and I’m sure Mark wants to stay away from the submissions. So he’s going to try to fight where he’s most comfortable at.”

Mir backtracked and said that while he believes Hunt will last a few rounds with him, he has the mindset of going in and trying to finish the fight quickly.

“I’m really trying to go in there and finish in the first or second round,” Mir said. “I think earlier on when people are drier, it’s easier to get a submission because it’s easier to hold on. By the third and fourth round, people are sweating and submissions start falling off.

UFC Fight Night 85 will take place at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia on Sunday, March 20, in Australia, but airs on Saturday, March 19, in North America. The event will air on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. The prelims start at 6:30 p.m. ET and the main card 10 p.m. ET.