Joined: Apr 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,227 Location: Orlando, Florida
Mir Answers Silva's Challenge! « Thread Started on Aug 29, 2009, 3:08pm »
The Spider now says he would like to move up to heavyweight and fight a Frank Mir. Mir who has been champ several times was a surprising decision to many.
Mir thinks its because Anderson wants a standup fight. He thinks Anderson doesnt respect his takedown ability due to his not having a wrestling background.
Personally, I think the Spider has proven his ability as a standup fighter with his recent fights as a light heavyweight. I think he now wants to take on Mir because of Mir's Jiu Jitsu ability. I think Anderson wants something different and wants Mir. If Mir cant take Silva down, then watch the Spider take Mir down. Silva wants to beat mir at Jiu Jitsu and not with strikes. Its another challenge the Spider has set for himself.
Here is the interview from sherdog of Mir:
Jake Rossen has a fantastic little interview over at Sherdog with Frank Mir regarding the potential of a bout with Anderson Silva.
Sherdog.com: What was your reaction to the news that Anderson Silva was singling you out?
Frank Mir: It would be a pleasure. It would be like saying you get to go in there and hit Tom Brady. Certain people in our sport have certain abilities, and he’s obviously going to be a legend. He’s never sparred with me, so the only way I can get to work with him is to beat him down in a fight. I look at it as a huge honor.
Sherdog.com: Why do you think they floated your name specifically?
Mir: I think he feels that out of all the heavyweights, I’d be the least likely to shoot on him before anybody else. Stylistically, it’s to his advantage. If he’s going to fight a heavyweight, standing up and trying to pick him apart is probably his best avenue for victory. Which heavyweight is less likely to take him down? I probably have one of the weaker shots in the heavyweight division. Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin — all those guys wrestled in college at high levels. I only wrestled for two years in high school. If you’re going to stop someone’s shot, it’s probably easier to stop mine. I’ve also shown in my last couple of fights that I like to stand up.
Sherdog.com: So you’d stand with him?
Mir: Yeah, as long as I could. If he rings my bell, I’m going to go ahead and try to take him down. But why would I want to take him down right off the bat? I want to move around with the guy. Some of the things he did, I don’t even believe. When I watched the Forrest [Griffin] fight, it looked like I was watching a movie. Some people see that and they’re afraid of it. When I saw Mike Tyson fight when I was a kid and everyone was terrified, I was a 12-year-old going, “Wow, what would it feel like to fight him? How great would that be?”
I’m curious. I want to see what it feels like. I want to test myself against them.
I’ve been very vocal in my desire to see Anderson Silva move to the heavyweight division. As Frank pointed out, Silva walks around at 220 pounds, so he would be the same size as Randy Couture going into any fight in that division. He has the striking abilities and the power to knock out anyone in the division, which would make for some very interesting fights. And there’s no real potential for Silva at light heavyweight because he’s not going to fight the champion. Yeah, there are some superfights available in the division, but at heavyweight you’d have a guy who is making the jump from middleweight chasing the heavyweight belt and the monster who currently holds it. It would be very, very interesting and certainly would fulfill the challenge that Silva so desperately seeks.
Re: Mir Answers Silva's Challenge! « Reply #1 on Oct 20, 2009, 10:40pm »
I think a Mir/Silva fight would be interesting, though I would prefer to see Silva hang out at light-heavy for awhile. I know he claims he won't fight Machida, but there's still a lot of good fights for him at 205 before a title shot should even be presented. I think there are enough guys at 205 that will be willing to give him a real fight, although I have to admit I thought Forrest was one of them and that didn't turn out so well (didn't think Griffin would win, but I didn't expect...that). Rua, Vanderleigh, Jackson, Evans, and personally I'd love to see him beat the living piss out of Tito, though I think Tito would duck that fight if at all possible. His wanting to fight Mir is, I think, just a way for him to test himself against a much bigger guy and a guy with a world-class ground game without risking losing too much face. Should he lose to Mir, I don't think it tarnishes his mystique or standing all that much because of those very same reasons. Personally, I feel moving to heavyweight permanently would be a big mistake. Though he could come into a fight at 220 without a problem, he's not built like a heavyweight, and there are some real monsters out there right now. By fight time, he could easily be giving up 50 - 60 pounds to guys like Lesnar, Carwin, or any of the other current crop of giants. That's a hell of a lot of size to give up, particularly against a high-caliber wrestler who knows how to use his weight to his advantage. I would love to see Anderson split Brock open a la James Irvin, but he'd be in deep trouble if Brock scored a takedown. There's no way he'd escape it.
Joined: Apr 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,227 Location: Orlando, Florida
Re: Mir Answers Silva's Challenge! « Reply #2 on Oct 21, 2009, 6:12pm »
Not so sure this would be an interesting fight. Silva hasnt shown the desire of late to take a battle to the mat. Mir only tries to get the fight off the feet.
Mir versus Silva would be interesting in jiu jitsu but Mir just doesnt have the striking skill to hang with Silva. Silva's recent fights have changed my mind in this possibility. Silva is good enough in takedown defense to avoid the ground if he desires. But as a jiu jitsu battle it could be fun.
That said, I think a Evans-Silva fight would be interesting. Evans has the wrestling skill to avoid takedowns and might even have the striking skill to hang with Silva.
Other than that a GSP-Silva fight would be a BLOCKBUSTER and might set PPV records!
SFC
« Last Edit: Oct 21, 2009, 6:13pm by stfsergeanted »
Re: Mir Answers Silva's Challenge! « Reply #3 on Oct 24, 2009, 2:21am »
I wouldn't mind seeing Silva/Evans. I have to disagree with you about Evans' stand-up being good enough to hang with Silva though. I think Anderson would completely pick him apart if it stayed standing. I know a lot of people are clamoring for a Silva/GSP fight, but I don't know that it would be that good. I don't think GSP would even consider trying to stand with him, and he'd end up shooting for take-downs the whole fight. Even if he lands them, I don't know how successful he would be on the ground. His BJJ is solid but not great, and I think Silva is too strong and agile for GSP to land any meaningful ground and pound. I think it could be three rounds of GSP shooting and Silva sprawling. Assuming he loses tonight, I could see a potential Silva/Rua fight in the near future. Rua may not be what he once was (or was thought to be at least), but I don't think Silva could plow through him as easily as he has most of his opponents who've tried to stand with him. If Rua somehow managed to win tonight, I think they'd give anderson a title shot immediately. If he took the belt from Rua, that would force a fight with Machida if he wanted his title back.
Joined: Apr 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,227 Location: Orlando, Florida
Re: Mir Answers Silva's Challenge! « Reply #4 on Oct 24, 2009, 3:15pm »
Interesting...silva has said he would never fight his friend Machida. Not sure if I want them to. To me if they came in without any passion, we would be seeing a Venus versus Serena Williams tennis championship "battle".
I agree with your analysis of those potential fights against Silva but I think that only shows how dominating Silva's run has been. The guy simply has no weakness.
Interesting...silva has said he would never fight his friend Machida. Not sure if I want them to. To me if they came in without any passion, we would be seeing a Venus versus Serena Williams tennis championship "battle".
I agree with your analysis of those potential fights against Silva but I think that only shows how dominating Silva's run has been. The guy simply has no weakness.
SFC
I wouldn't think it would matter if they were true competitors.
Re: Mir Answers Silva's Challenge! « Reply #6 on Oct 25, 2009, 12:43am »
The one thing I'm curious about is his chin. No one has really gotten to him in recent years, so we don't know how he'll react when he eventually gets caught with a few good shots.
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