Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Title

[jmt225]

Well, that's the rumor right now. It looks like the fight will be taking place at UFC 111.

I have mixed feelings about this. I badly want to see Lesnar vs. Mir 3, but at the same time... I don't want Mir to be Lesnar's first opponent when he returns, which he will be if Mir wins the Interim Title. If Mir beats Lesnar, I don't want Lesnar to have any "ring rust" or "not being 100%" excuses. So, what I'm hoping for, personally, is that Lesnar comes back and DESTROYS somebody in his first fight, and then he can fight Mir for the Heavyweight Title. I still have hope in that happening, but it won't be likely if Mir becomes Interim Champion.

Nevertheless, interesting match-up. With Mir's improvement in his boxing, there's no doubt he'll stand and bang with Carwin in this, so it should end up being a very exciting fight, for 1 Round anyway. If both come out swinging, one of them is getting knocked out within the first 2 minutes, no doubt. Who? Your guess is as good as mine, but if I were Mir... I'd play it smart, stick and move, wear Carwin out, and then take it to the ground and submit his ass. There's no doubt Mir is a way superior fighter to Carwin, but still... for him to win this, he has to use his head, not his fist.

 

[Stuntz]

After Mir's knockout at 107 and seeing he is bulking up (pretty quick i might add) this will be interesting and cant wait. As far as Lesnar goes hope he gets healthy and can fight again I love to watch him pummel his opponents. Lesnar/Mir 3 will be an out right slugfest, and I agree Lesnar should have a warmup with someone first. Maybe Kimbo, lol. Any way I guess this will do for the Interim.

 

[INDYjon22]

Very interesting news JMT. I have some very mixed feelings about this as well. Personally I feel like an interim title is the last thing the UFC ever needs for any weight class, but I understand that their back is against the wall here. With Lesnar being champion and being injured they have to do this to continue drawing numbers for pay per views.

However, I do not feel as though this is the correct match up to determine an interim champion. In my opinion, it should be Shane Carwin fighting Cain Velasquez. The fight was once upon a time scheduled but Carwin talked shit about Lesnar and got moved up to be next for the belt. I have no problem with Carwin being in a title match. I also would much rather see Velasquez. The dude has been one of the very best Heavyweight since day one. I really was excited to see him fight Big Nog just to see if he was legit or not. But with this news of an interim champion I would much rather see a fight between young guys who have never held the belt then seeing someone who has held the belt getting another shot. It would be nice to see a young guy win the belt and see if they can run with it, especially since it is only an interim belt.

Mir looked great in his last fight but I don't believe he deserves a title fight already, especially against someone who I am damn near 100% positive he will destroy. I would much rather see Mir and Big Nog go at it once again and see the young guys fight for the belt and then maybe have winners of both fights fight one another. Like JMT said, I don't want to see Mir be Lesnar's first fight upon return. Both men have to be at their best, with no ring rust and no doubt that one was not all there for the fight. I want to see a definitive winner to this rivalry and that cannot be accomplished if Mir is Lesnar's first opponent back.

So I understand what the UFC is doing here but I do not fully agree with it. I realize Nog and Velasquez are scheduled to fight soon which throws a wrench in my idea for a young guys fight but it would still be a refreshing thing to see in a Heavyweights division that is crowded with former champions.

 

[Fizzy]

I really wanted to see Nog/Mir again because that'd be amazing. This is ok I guess. Carwin should be in the fight no doubt, but Mir? I'll admit I was unbelievably impressed with his win at 107, but he should not be in the title fight again. I agree with Indy that it should have been Cane vs Shane. Oh well it won't be horrible. Mir should win if he comes as he did in his last fight then he should make quick work of Carwin. Either way we'll end up seeing Mir vs Lesnar 3 sooner or later which in the end is all I want.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

this should be an interesting fight. I can see it going both ways. I doubt it would go 5 rounds but who knows. anything's possible in MMA I guess. but Shane's on a role and so is Mir. and guess who the winner gets to face afterwords? yup you probably guessed it. BROCK LESNAR!


My prediction:

Mir making Shane tap in round 3.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I honestly believe that dana should have this fight. It would be an amazing fight between two good fighters. Mir just proved that he can knock out someone that fights with really heavy hands, and right now it sounds like carwin is one of the top knockout specialist's in the ufc heavyweight devision. Frank to me could probibaly win the match due to his brutal striking and great ground game. But don't forget people Brock's ground game is what helped him win his match aganst Mir and Shane has trained with Brock alot in the past. To me it would come down to who's basically smarter in the match and who can just gut it out. I'd give it to Mir. But it would prove that Shane needs to stay here in the ufc.

And whoever said put Kimbo up aganst Brock is a fool. Brock lesnar would DESTROY that fucking bearded idoit of a streetfighter. I might not like Brock but Brock to me has better hands than him and kimbo's ground game is on par with a paraplegic's and thats why he beat Huston Alexander. Don't get me wrong Hustons' a big boy. But from what I've seen he has a glass jaw and a worse ground game than kimbo and he's afraid to lose. Brock would literaly tear Kimbo limb from limb. The only reason why people would buy it is to see the names. Kimbo is a draw for Dana and he knows that now. More people tuned in to see Kimbo's fight than to see the finals.

 

[Stuntz]

And whoever said put Kimbo up aganst Brock is a fool. Brock lesnar would DESTROY that fucking bearded idoit of a streetfighter. I might not like Brock but Brock to me has better hands than him and kimbo's ground game is on par with a paraplegic's and thats why he beat Huston Alexander. Don't get me wrong Hustons' a big boy. But from what I've seen he has a glass jaw and a worse ground game than kimbo and he's afraid to lose. Brock would literaly tear Kimbo limb from limb. The only reason why people would buy it is to see the names. Kimbo is a draw for Dana and he knows that now. More people tuned in to see Kimbo's fight than to see the finals.

I was the one that said to put Kimbo in the octagon with Lesnar friend, and I am no fool. I said it with sarcasm and because i wanna see Kimbo get his ass beat hard. He has never had his ass beat into the ground yet. So next time read into what a person sez before calling them a fool. In response to your last sentence, your are correct more people want to see KImbo in the octogon than anything else that was goin on. Yet another reason I think Lesnar v Kimbo would be good. Nothing but a money maker. That is it. Everyone in this forum knows without a shadow of a doubt Lesnar would walk all over Slice, and if anyone disagrees your an idiot.

 

[Fizzy]

Honestly by the way you type, i'd think you were a fool. Sez? Really? If Lesnar comes back everyone wants to see him get a fight under his belt before fighting Mir. If Lesnar would destroy Slice, then that's not much of a warm up fight. Give him someone who's at least near his level so he can actually have competition instead of a free walk.

 

[jmt225]

Honestly by the way you type, i'd think you were a fool. Sez? Really? If Lesnar comes back everyone wants to see him get a fight under his belt before fighting Mir. If Lesnar would destroy Slice, then that's not much of a warm up fight. Give him someone who's at least near his level so he can actually have competition instead of a free walk.

Well, if Kimbo's keeps on winning... lol.

Besides, Kimbo should be moving down to 205, so this wouldn't work just because of that.

Personally, I say feed Lesnar Roy Nelson. That fight's easily a HUGE draw. People want to see Nelson get destroyed anyway, and if the fat bastard continues winning like he probably will against lesser talent, then when Lesnar comes back, Nelson will be a PERFECT 1st opponent, in my opinion. Not only is it a guaranteed win (Nelson cannot fight off his back with that belly of his; it would be impossible), but I think by that time Nelson would have earned himself a little respect from the UFC audience, so it's not like Lesnar would be defeating some scrub.

 

[Fizzy]

I really hope he does move to 205 because hes just not good enough to compete with the likes of Big Nog, Mir, Lesnar and such. Not saying he'll do good at 205, but he'll have a strength advantage over nearly everybody, and will have more of a chance making a splash there then at heavyweight.

Btw Lesnar looked good by the pictures on the front page. Thank god..

 

[gd]

This seems like a good move. They had to do something, couldn't go a whole year without a Heavyweight Title Match. I definetly want to see Lesnar/Mir 3 as there is a ton of animosity between those 2, and if Mir wins and Lesnar crushes someone in a warm up type fight, that'd be pretty awesome.

Honestly, I haven't seen any Shane Carwin, but Mir seems really motivated and looked good recently.

 

[Rizza]

Cool, I am really glad they are doing this, I was gettting pretty anxious about knowing what the deal is with the HW belt so this is really good to know. I suppose Lesnar wont be back for a while then huh? That sucks I was looking way forward to his next fight. Its been half a year or so since he has been in the octagon so I bet he is out for the full year. Man, that has to suck for UFC. To have your biggest draw, who is also your champion be out for a year. It kinda seems that it can't get any worse from here for the HW division, with the seems-to-be curse that has shrouded it.

As for the fight itself, I just hope Mir loses, I know Lesnar vs Mir III would be awesome, but If Mirs ego gets any bigger from another win his head will explode, no shit, and after he shut me up from preaching the Kongo, I just can't ever root for this man again. I mean, I really didn't like the guy at first but now I am just getting ridiculous. Other then that I would also love to see Shane Carwin prove that he is a real contender and not a bunch of hype. Now, I wasn't really a fan of Carwins at first, and I am still really not, but reading his interviews and things like that he seems to be very humble, very respectful guy, which I am a fan of. As much as I hate the man, Frank Mir will win this, he is too good of a fighter to lose to a unproven can crusher. I know Carwin KO'ed Gonzaga, but I think Gonzaga totally sucks ass, so that really doesn't say much to me. All in all, I am rooting for Carwin, but I am fully expecting Mir to win, I willl be absolutely shocked and filled with joy if Mir loses that fight.

 

[INDYjon22]

Like I said in my previous post, I have some real big mixed feelings on this proposed fight. But from the perspective of an mma fan this fight will be great. I would never take anything away from either man and both deserve their time to shine. I'd rather see Velasquez fight Carwin but this is still fine.

That being said, I don't think this fight will be close at all. People are going to hype it up as the puncher against the submission guy but in reality its the big bad puncher against the most well rounded heavyweight in the UFC. I have grown old of Mir and his ego like the rest of you but there is no denying that he is the most well rounded man in the division. He has great striking, solid wrestling defense, one of the best ground games. Point is I see him ending this fight in the first ground via choke out of some kind.

Carwin is relatively untested besides his fight with Gonzaga, which was impressive, but to put him in the ring against a guy like Mir is just screaming squash. He had a punchers chance against Lesnar since they both focused on the same things primarily but Mir is to dangerous from all perspectives. I see this fight setting up Mir/Lesnar III, and possible providing a squash of Brock in his future return.