BRISBANE, Australia – Frank Mir and Mark Hunt will both look to once again make themselves relevant in the UFC Heavyweight Division Saturday night from Australia as they headline the UFC Fight Night card.
Frank Mir, is a former two time heavyweight champion and someone many consider a first ballot MMA Hall of Famer when his career is done. At 18-10 and 16-10 in the UFC, he has fought almost every big name to ever enter the cage in the Heavyweight Division. While a chance at another title seems like a long shot, each win staves off retirement for the former champ.
He went almost three years without a victory, going 0-4 between May 2012 and February 2015 until finally breaking the losing streak with a first round knockout victory of Antonio Silva at UFC Fight Night. Mir stayed hot with another first round knockout victory, this time over Todd Duffee at UFC Fight Night in July of 2015 before cooling off with a lackluster loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 191 in September, 2015. One more loss tonight, could spell the end for Mir.
Mark Hunt has one of the worst records of someone to headline a card at 11-10-1. His lone career highlight was an interim title match versus current UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdumn which he promptly lost by second round knockout following a flying knee.
Mark Hunt is one of the most confusing fighters in the division as he is far from the typical Heavyweight, standing at only 5 foot 10 inches but weighing 264 pounds. He holds victories over some of the biggest names in the sport, including Dan Bobish, Antonio Silva (twice) Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Filipovic, Ben Rothwell, Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson. He also holds one of the few knockout wins over Nelson.
As impressive as those wins were for Hunt, there is no hiding some of his career lows, including a record six straight losses. The main concern is what some call a glass chin as he has a tendency to get knocked out. He has been knocked out by Melvin Manhoef, Junior Dos Santos, Fabricio Werdumn and Stipe Miocic.
Even more concerning for Hunt, is his in ability to avoid submissions, with several tap out losses on his record including losses by submission to Hidehiko Yoshida, Josh Barnett, Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Gegard Mousasi and Sean McCorkle all by arm bar. You rarely see a fighter lose twice by the same move, let alone six times such as Hunt has done. If he can’t knock out his opponent early, he stands no chance to win.
On paper, this looks like a massive mismatch for Frank Mir, but then again, that is why you have the fights, it rarely goes exactly like it does on paper. That is what makes MMA so great, and it tonight should be another great example.
Send your questions or comments to the author Vince McKee at VinceTheAuthor on twitter.