Frank Mir Talks Nogueira, Cro Cop, Strategy, and Future in Heavyweight Division

For former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, being one of the most cerebral fighters in the game today means more than coming up with a good game plan. That is why, instead of focusing exclusively on his future opponents’ strengths, Mir has become obsessed with correcting his own weaknesses. As for which weakness he hopes to dissolve when he takes on Pride Openweight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic this Saturday night, Mir plans to inject more urgency and aggression into his already-potent arsenal.

Tapology recently caught up with Mir to get his thoughts on everything from fighting Cro Cop on the feet to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s recent performances and where Mir thinks the Pride superstar has gone wrong. Mir also played the role of match-maker, as he ran down a list of UFC heavyweights he would like to test himself against after dispatching the Croatian legend.

Mir will take on Cro Cop in the main event of UFC 119, which takes place this Saturday night, September 25, from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The main card airs live on Pay Per View.

Tapology: How did you feel when you were notified that Nogueira would be unable to face you?

Mir: I wasn’t too upset about it. I think Nogueira’s a great fighter and a tough guy, but I already have a win over him. Cro Cop is another legend from Pride and I just thought he was a better fight for me overall.

Tapology: You beat Nogueira convincingly two years ago, but do you think—no matter what happens in this fight—that you two will eventually meet again?

Mir: I think it just depends on where our careers go. For Nogueira, I don’t know why there’s a stigma surrounding him that his best days are behind him. I think he has a lot of pressure on him right now, which is why I think he wanted the fight with me so badly, to give a better account of himself than the first time around.

Against Randy he did well, and a lot of casual fans gave him a lot of credit for that, but Randy’s natural weight is 205lbs. He’s a tough guy for anybody to fight because of his ring generalship and his clinch, but due to his size, it’s always going to play against him. It doesn’t really matter in the grappling because of his Greco-Roman background and the scientist that he is, but sometimes it just comes down to pure physics. When you throw a punch, it’s how much mass is behind the punch that really matters.

Randy hit Nogueira just as much as he was hit, but he was the smaller fighter. I think Nogueira has fallen in love with his boxing a little too much. His claim to fame was working in the clinch to get the fight to the ground. All of us want to be well rounded, but you have to stick to your strengths and cover your weaknesses.

Randy hit him a lot, so I was telling people, if I fight him against I’m going to hit him just as much, but the difference is that I’ve got well over 250lbs behind every punch. Velasquez showed Nogueira that he shouldn’t be boxing with the heavyweights right now with the way his head movement is.

Tapology: Moving on, how do you feel about the fight against Cro Cop?

Mir: I’m happy to fight him because it’s another person that I’ve never fought who has been out there for a long time. When he first came over to the UFC I was excited about the prospect of fighting him, but it didn’t look like it was ever going to happen for a while.

Tapology: What do you think about him as a fighter in terms of what he has accomplished as well as in terms of his style?

Mir: I think he’s a good fighter. He’s very calculating and he knows how to assess risk vs. reward. I admire that mindset because I think it’s a good approach to fighting. I think some of his strengths have interfered with his ability to improve. Even the choke that he put on Pat Barry was not really a stellar choke. From what I understand, Barry broke his hand and his foot and wasn’t in the best shape to defend that choke.

Tapology: You have mentioned that you feel you will be better than him in every aspect of the fight. Can you elaborate on that?

Mir: I think I’m a much more complete mixed martial artist than Cro Cop due to my grappling and my striking. I like to exchange hands more than kicks because I think you can fire off more punches in a row than kicks. I see a lot of people getting finished with hands rather than kicks in our sport because kicks are more risky in terms of losing your balance or slipping.

Tapology: Your striking has improved greatly over the last few years, but with that being said, do you plan to stand with Cro Cop and trade with him or are you taking a different approach to the fight?

Mir: I think I can expose his weaknesses. To go out there and try to prove a point that I can out-kickbox him is pointless. Even if I did beat him that way, I’d still say it wasn’t a kickboxing match. In MMA, you’re still worried about the takedown, so it’s not going to be Cro Cop’s kickboxing at his best. Fighters that do well always take their opponents out of their element.

I don’t want to get more knockouts to impress fans. I don’t think that way. I see some guys that stay on the feet when they shouldn’t, but other guys are overzealous to get the fight to the ground. Against Cheick Kongo, obviously my aim was to get the fight to the ground eventually, but I had to wait for the right opportunity to do it so I had to be complete in my other aspects of the game.

There is a certain mystique associated with striking in this sport, but a punch is a punch.

Tapology: A lot of people think that Cro Cop’s best days are behind him. How do you keep those thoughts out of your mind?

Mir: For me to write him off would allow him to become more dangerous. Once a kickboxer gets his rhythm, you’re going to have a fight on your hands because they get comfortable. The one thing I’ve noticed is that guys with lesser ability can give guys with greater ability a lot of trouble by just going hard.

In the Fedor fight, Fedor pushed Cro Cop. Junior dos Santos pushed forward. I’m not going to walk forward into a punch, but I’m going to be aggressive and stay behind my jab. Sometimes I think I hesitate too much, which is part of what happened in the Shane Carwin fight, so I’m working on being more aggressive. If I give him too much time and space, he’s going to come alive again and you’re going to see the Cro Cop of old.

Tapology: Overall, what is it about your skills and mental approach to this fight that will see you come out on top?

Mir: I think that I’ll do well as long as I can close the distance and hit him in the face quickly. That’s going to make it difficult for him, even if I get pushed back at certain times. If you go nose to nose with him, that’s not his best area. He has a good left uppercut that I’ve seen him pull out in fights, and he has a straight left hand and a looping left hand, but he doesn’t really throw a jab. He uses his footwork, but he always moves to his left to set up that kick.

I’ll make it difficult for him to set up because I’ll stay in his face, threaten takedowns, and I can even pull guard much more aggressively now than I used to.

Tapology: With a win over Cro Cop, who would you want next in the heavyweight division?

Mir: Obviously Lesnar is always in the back of my mind, but I know I have some work ahead of me before that happens. A closer rematch would be the Carwin fight, and I wouldn’t want it because of any controversy. I was stupid about being too passive against the cage, I’m always trying to improve, and I’d like a rematch to see if I can overcome my mistakes.

I think a fight against dos Santos would be great. He is very aggressive and comes forward, and they say he’s a great Jiu-Jitsu competitor as well so that intrigues me. We could box with each other then go to the ground and use our Jiu-Jitsu, so it would be an exciting fight.


http://www.tapology.com/2010/09/exclusive-frank-mir-talks-nogueira-cro-cop-strategy-and-future-in-heavyweight-division/

JDS would waste Mir, i'd love to see that fight!

"For Nogueira, I don’t know why there’s a stigma surrounding him that his best days are behind him."

That's funny considering he himself was saying Nogueira was past it before they fought. Changed his tune once he realised he under-mined his own win.

Even if Mir gets past Crocop, someone will find his chin again. You don't make it as a heavyweight if the punches of most light-heavyweights make you wilt.

JDS, Carwin, Cain and Lesnar would all beat Mir badly. He's going to become a gatekeeper.

The_Axe_Emperor wrote:JDS would waste Mir, i'd love to see that fight!

But old "Excuses" Cro-cop won't,and I can't wait to see that fight

Mir can be an arrogant big mouth at times but I think he makes more sensible comments than nonsensical ones and I usually find myself agreeing with him on alot of points he makes.

I think he has tons of abillity and is a very intellegent guy,the biggest problem that I personally think he sometimes suffers from before and during fights,is confidence,and that sometimes effects his ability to translate his gameplans into consistant success.

But in this one against Cro-cop,I see it(or hope ) going the same way as Mir vs Kongo or Mir vs Hardonk,an easy night for Mir.

payneNglory1 wrote:

The_Axe_Emperor wrote:JDS would waste Mir, i'd love to see that fight!

But old "Excuses" Cro-cop won't,and I can't wait to see that fight

Mir can be an arrogant big mouth at times but I think he makes more sensible comments than nonsensical ones and I usually find myself agreeing with him on alot of points he makes.

I think he has tons of abillity and is a very intellegent guy,the biggest problem that I personally think he sometimes suffers from before and during fights,is confidence,and that sometimes effects his ability to translate his gameplans into consistant success.

But in this one against Cro-cop,I see it(or hope ) going the same way as Mir vs Kongo or Mir vs Hardonk,an easy night for Mir.

Maybe CroCop won't beat Mir, and maybe Mir will make CroCop look his age, but Mir's arrogance is not going to win him the fights that really matter to him, e.g. Velasquez, Lesnar, JDS etc.

He's a massively glorified gatekeeper who is extremely overrated and should really keep his mouth shut, unless he wants to anger the giants that can really hurt him, ala Lesnar.



And another thing, he seriously needs to get over his fetish of Brock Lesnar's fists, its starting to become alarming how obsessive he is.

He must really like Brock's strawberries!

I totally agree that he will lose to the top guys at the top of the UFC HW ranks,well I wouldn't back him in any of those fights anyway,but I do think he has the skills to pull off an upset against them,if on song.
I think he is the best of the rest,which IMO alot better than a gatekeeper.

A gatekeeper won't get to fight those top guys and even though I think he will lose to them,I think he will still get the wins that will earn him a shot at them.

He's been the champ,ending Timmehs 16 fight undefeated win streak,he's also been the interim champ,beating Nog and he's the only man so far who has beat Brock,so it's not as if he has nothing to shout about in his career is it.

His "win" against Sylvia was down to a referee making a judgement call. Sylvia could have fought on with his arm broken like that. Others have done it and won fights.

Nog spend near 2 weeks in hospital with a staph infection. If he was at 40% that's about it.

Steve Mazzagatti beat Lesnar, not Mir.

Frank Mir is never going to be UFC champion again. He should therefore leave the UFC if he has any sort of goals to win championships and go fight elsewhere. He wouldn't be one of the 4 in Strikeforce either and since the Strikeforce fighters can fight in Dream I reckon Bellator or Sengoku is his best option. If you're in the fighting game and your ultimate goal is not to be a champion you should retire and become a coach.

A technical submission is recognised as a legit way to win an MMA fight.

Exactly Anfield, Mir has had a huge helping hand in everyone one of his big career wins, the last win he earned entirely on his own merit = Antoni Hardonk




Silly to write Mirko off against Mir. Yes it's a big ask of CroCop to beat Mir, especially injured and on short notice, but its not unthinkable, despite what you seem to think Payne.





EDIT: I completely overlooked Kongo, my bad. But still, that's hardly a much better win than Hardonk.

I completely overlooked Kongo, my bad. But still, that's hardly a much better win than Hardonk

You tell us, you Crocop fan


Cant wait for this weekend mate

redmeanie77 wrote:

I completely overlooked Kongo, my bad. But still, that's hardly a much better win than Hardonk

You tell us, you Crocop fan


Cant wait for this weekend mate

Damnit, i tried to stay neutral but my bias shone through int he end!


Me either mate, you got your humble pie ready?

I still don't really subscribe to this idea of Mir's incredibly improved stand-up. The Kongo win is the only thing that validates that, but when he stands at a distance, Kongo is not this stand-up killer people make him out to be. Guys like Assuerio Silva and Herring were surprisingly competetive when they stood at distance with Kongo. Most of Kongo's most impressive wins come from clinching people up against the fence and hammering them in the clinch, or beasting them to the ground and winning there.

Kongo hits hard but his striking isn't greatly skilled. He's best at landing a jab, then clinching and pushing to the cage, then using knees to the legs and stomach with a lowblow thrown in every 5 or 6 knees, wearing people down and then landing a big shot.

The_Axe_Emperor wrote:Exactly Anfield, Mir has had a huge helping hand in everyone one of his big career wins, the last win he earned entirely on his own merit = Antoni Hardonk




Silly to write Mirko off against Mir. Yes it's a big ask of CroCop to beat Mir, especially injured and on short notice, but its not unthinkable, despite what you seem to think Payne.





EDIT: I completely overlooked Kongo, my bad. But still, that's hardly a much better win than Hardonk.

I'm not writing Cro-cop Off,I just want Mir to win,so I'm just talking with bias,in hope of I'm correct.
If I'm wrong,I'm happy to take it on the chin and handle the shit that comes my way after my critasisms,it's what makes some of the conversations fun.

It would be a boring if we all agreed and wanted all the same fighters to win.

I'm a huge Randy fan,but don't let the Randy haters upset me,when they talk shit about him,it's part of being a fan and the rivalries and smack talk,that goes both ways,should add to the fun,the build up and the post fight conversations.

Mirco in his day was the man,well not the man,but he was in amongst the elite,so it would be crazy to think he can't beat Mir,but for the last few years,for me,Mir has looked the far better fighter and Cro-cop has just constantly left me disapointed,especially after hearing all his "I'm in the best condition,I've had the best training camps,best training partners,Injury free" etc followed by flat performances and the constant excuses that followed them.

So basicly I'm done with Cro-cop and I'm routing for Mir,just like I hoped JDS and Barry would beat him.

JDS did,Barry didn't,I gave Cro-cop his props after the Barry fight,for showing abit of heart,but it didn't change my opinion of him as a fighter now and I'm still routing for him to lose.


So Come on Mir...Straight right...Mirco drops,Guillotine....... Mirco's snoring ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzz

In all honesty, i'd prefer Mirko to look great and lose, as opposed to look bad and win.


If he smashes Mir from pillar to post and then gets caught in a sub, i personally think it'd be great for him because he'd have gave a good account of himself but also, because he lost, he would avoid the monsters of the division, and would be able to go after the Coutures and the Nogs of the division, like he wants.

However if he puts up an utter pish fight and somehow ends up winning, then that will be terrible because i don't think Dana will let him go for the marquee fights, Dana will push him as a titla contender and that is not good for Mirko.

In a way it's a shame CroCop has lost that fire in his belly and is looking for Couture etc, and not the belt, because it just shows that he lacks the motivation needed to be at the top, and tbh that's something clearly Frank Mir has at the minute.



Now look, i know the odds and chances and whatever-else are stacked against Mirko in this fight, and everyone and their mum is writing him off, but if... IF he pulls this fight out the bag, it will be a great day for all us PRIDE nuthuggers.

If he loses however, i will reluctantly admit that his days at the top are clearly over, that Red and Payne were right all along, and that Mirko should hang up his gloves (and his legs) once and for all.

in this fight i think mir has more to lose than crocop does. mir is obsessed with a re-match with brock and wont stop until he gets one. if mir loses this fight it will just push him further away.

crocop on the other hand fights just to compete.

im at a loss as to how people can like Mir more than Crocop.
boggles my mind honestly.

If you were the boss at the UFC, who would you want to win this fight? A win for Crocop puts him back in the mix i suppose he becomes top 10 and may make another charge at the title, while Mir loosing isnt exactly the end of the world, he can recover. So i suppose a win for Crocop is what they want?


A win for Mir, pretty much separated the like of Brock,Carwin, JDS, Cain ,Mir and Nog from the rest of the roster, no one else can be on par with them... (well maybe if Nelson goes on a good run of victories)


Chesty ive always liked Mir, his win over Sylvia coincided with the time i started watching UFC routinely like i do now, and also im a sucker for sob stories and i was heart broken for him after his crash. Ive never really taken to Crocop for some reason... dunno why tbh.


And Payne, 1 important reason to be confident this weekend is that Mir always rebounds well from a loss

meanie im on the fence with this one, i love mir and crocop. i hate seeing either lose unfortunatly for me one has to. crocop is a true pro always an excellent ambassador for the sport.

mir on the other hand i love always been ufc orientated had a huge accident and made his way back into the frame. but is not a top contender i feel he has this brock obsession he needs to get over. iv had a feeling for a while if mir ever faces brock again he may well beat him then were looking at a five fight series.

manschesthair_utd wrote:im at a loss as to how people can like Mir more than Crocop.
boggles my mind honestly.

UFC Fanboys for the most part. Anti-Pride brigade. There's no other reason. Mirko has a much more likeable personality. He is, or at least was, a much better fighter than Mir will ever be and he's so much more entertaining to watch, in and out of the ring.

anfield out of the ring/cage surely mir is more likeable as he talks you never hear cro cop speak.

Go on Youtube and type in CroCop funny. The guys a comic genius. CroCop doesn't run his mouth but when he speaks he always comes across really well. Mir talks nonsense most of the time.

yeah but when cro cop speaks its always down to earth them vids have no funny behind it because on them vids he always wins.