UFC Fight Night 85's Frank Mir: Time proved UFC's heavyweights better than PRIDE

For the fifth time in his past dozen fights former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir is readying for an opponent who made the majority of his career success under the now-defunct PRIDE banner.

Mir (18-10 MMA, 16-10 UFC) faces fellow heavyweight contender Mark Hunt (11-10-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) in the headliner of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 85 card in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on the same channel and UFC Fight Pass at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

For many years there was a debate over how the UFC’s best would fair against the best from the Japan-based PRIDE organization.

Mir is 3-2 all-time against PRIDE veterans. He twice has topped former titleholder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a memorable pair of fights. He also knocked out Mirko Filipovic. He wasn’t as fortunate against Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett, though, who managed to emerge on top against Mir.

Fedor Emelianenko is one PRIDE fighter Mir never encountered.

“I was told constantly if these three guys came over to the UFC, they’re going to clean house. It’s going to be the PRIDE show in the UFC,” Mir told MMAjunkie Radio. “The three big names from the PRIDE heavyweights that I had to hear about in the early 2000s were obviously Fedor (and) Nogueira – and I heard Nogueira directed specifically toward me because I’m the American version and he’s the better version. I’m the cheap version of Nogueira. I’m the knock-off. Then you have Mirko ‘Cro-Cop.’

“Everyone came over but Fedor. Fedor came over to an American show, but just not the UFC. He didn’t fare any better. He lost to (Antonio) ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, who smashed him. I have a win over ‘Bigfoot.’ I think that kind of settles that argument of what he would have done in the heavyweight division here in the UFC.”

Mir said Emelianenko’s stateside struggles under the also now-defunct Strikeforce banner was just a microcosm of how badly things would have gone for him in the UFC. And as far as Nogueira and “Cro-Cop,” Mir said the outcome of those fights should prove his point.

“Mirko ‘Cro-Cop’ and Nogueira, I got to have first-hand direct relations in showing people what would happen if we faced off,” Mir said. “I knocked out Mirko ‘Cro-Cop,’ who has a KO background. I never got the fight to the ground one time and still won it. Then Nogueira, he’s part of my history of what I’ve done well, knocking him out and submitting him.”

Now Mir is tasked with taking out Hunt. “The Super Samoan” is among the most dangerous knockout artists in the sport and is fully capable of causing a rough night for anyone inside the octagon.

Mir said he sees flaws in Hunt’s game, though, and while he’s already sent his opponent a warning to tap out or risk his career if caught in a submission, he believes there’s more than one avenue to victory.

“One of Hunt’s weaknesses is to be able to push the pace,” Mir said. “I feel like he’s too much of a veteran that if I sit out there and I fight at his pace, he’s never going to make a mistake. And if he doesn’t make a mistake I’ll never get him to the ground and put him where I feel I have the best chance of winning.

“MMA’s its own animal, that’s why we train MMA. It’s the same thing with striking. If you said I had to fight Mark Hunt in a K-1 fight, I would say, ‘Wow, that’s rough. That’s not going to be an easy fight.’ That being said, Fabricio Werdum knocked out Mark Hunt.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 85, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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