The stage is set this Saturday from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for the co-main event at UFC 111: St. Pierre VS Hardy as Shane Carwin battles Frank Mir for the UFC interim heavyweight title. More importantly, on the line is a shot at Brock Lesnar and you have to know that is the real prize for the winner. Sports betting fans need all the analysis they can get on this match-up as Mir and Carwin are pretty evenly matched.
Both men are just itching to get their shot at the former WWE star who has been away from the octagon for what seems like an eternity due to medical reasons. Carwin was slated to challenge Lesnar for his belt at UFC 106 in November, and then again at UFC 108, but the champ pulled out due to a severe case of diverticulitis, leaving Carwin in limbo for almost a year.
Most MMA fans know the history between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar, but if you’re new to this sport, I’ll give you a little history lesson. These two heavyweights met at UFC 81 and early it was Lesnar dominating the action before Mir, the experienced jiu-jitsu fighter, caught Lesnar’s leg and submitted him via knee-bar. These two met again at UFC 100 and it was an utter destruction of Frank Mir.
But it wasn’t so much the loss that people were talking about after, but how Lesnar humiliated him and wiped it in everyone’s face afterwards. Since the loss, Mir has been a man possessed and is on a crusade to get redemption for what Lesnar did to him.
He has fully dedicated himself to the gym and has packed-on some 20 pounds of muscle to try and match Lesnar’s size. Fans got to see his new frame on display in a fight with Cheick Kongo, as he choked out the French fighter with ease at UFC 107.
Carwin is a man that has always been dedicated to the gym, and is quite the specimen himself. “The Engineer” comes into this fight with a perfect 11-0 record, with all his wins coming via knockout. Fans got to see just how powerful this guy is in his last outing at UFC 96, where Carwin put Gabriel Gonzaga to sleep in the 1st Round after connecting with a short-right hook. When I say short right hook, I mean a punch that most people would toss at their buddy’s shoulder but he has so much power that it knocked Gonzaga out cold.
The problem with Carwin is that he is unpolished and was losing that fight to Gonzaga badly before connecting with the one big shot. Having that power is nice, but you’re not always going to get lucky and Frank Mir isn’t a guy you want to expect to get lucky against.
Mir’s only blemish lately was that loss to Lesnar at UFC 100 last July, and has won four of his last five fights. With that rubber match on the line, I just don’t see how Mir can lose this. At -155, I’ll take Frank Mir and sit and wait for what is going to be the most legendary fight in the UFC history, Mir vs. Lesnar III.
[#1
W145] 
[#3
W145] 
[#2 SW]
[#8 HW]
