Mir and ADCC-winning black belt Robert Drysdale
The main event at UFC 146 this Saturday is going to be pure excitement. Coming off a bone-snapping win over Rodrigo Minotauro, Frank Mir will try to snatch the heavyweight belt from his victim’s student, Junior Cigano.
It will be no easy task; however, Mir wields a weapon many consider to be Cigano’s greatest weakness: Jiu-Jitsu. It’s worth pointing out how the only loss in the champ’s 15-fight career came by way of the gentle art, when Joaquim Mamute caught him in an armbar back in 2007.
And it wasn’t by chance that Frank became the first person ever to tap out Minotauro, back at UFC 140. Truth is, Mino didn’t tap, but he did end up getting his arm split into pieces with a Kimura lock. Mir truly is grounded in the fundamentals of the gentle art. Unlike many of the MMA fighters competing in the United States, he’s done his time in gi-clad combat, as you can see for yourself in the video below:
What’s more, Mir boasts an extensive repertory of positions and finishes, and has coaxed the tapout from nine of his past opponents, among them Brock Lensar and Jiu-Jitsu black belt Roberto Traven, the latter succumbing to an armbar. The fighter demonstrates some of these positions in the video below:
However, one should keep in mind that, although he hasn’t showcased his Jiu-Jitsu skills in the UFC yet, Cigano is a brown belt and has trained with some of the greatest grappling experts around. Besides, despite his boxing skills having been most prominent thus far, he got his start in the martial arts as a ground-fighter.
Anyone want to venture a bet on the fight’s outcome? Don’t miss it.
