Head-to-Toe Breakdown: Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir

Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir will fight for the right to contend for the heavyweight title at UFC 146. The two men have taken different paths to this matchup.

Velasquez was the champion until Junior dos Santos floored him in just over a minute into their historic bout. Prior to that, Velasquez had ran through much of the heavyweight division.

Mir has been on a four-fight winning streak that saw him defeat two of MMA's legends in Mirko "Cro Cop" and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira along with heavyweight contenders like Roy Nelson and Cheick Kongo.

Both men bring their own strengths and weaknesses into this title eliminator so the question will be: who can take advantage of the other's weaknesses?

Striking

An area where Cain Velasquez will enjoy a significant advantage is when the fight is on the feet. Velasquez has shown the ability to combine kicks and punches into furious combinations.

He knocked out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in lightning-quick fashion and knocked Brock Lesnar from one side of the Octagon to the other.

Meanwhile, Frank Mir has spent the past few years working on improvements to his striking game. Staph infection aside, Mir outboxed "Big Nog" to win the UFC interim title.

Velasquez has the speed and better techniques but Mir won't be a walking punching bag and will throw back. Velasquez was rocked in his bout against Kongo besides the loss to dos Santos so there are some openings for Mir to try to take advantage of.

Clinch Game

This bout will likely end up in the clinch at some point. Both Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir come from grappling backgrounds so there's bound to be a takedown attempt from the clinch.

The last time we saw Mir against the cage he was in the middle of being badly beaten by Shane Carwin. Mir played defense for far too long against the much more powerful Carwin. If he's learned anything since UFC 111, Mir will work to get his back off the cage quickly.

Velasquez will probably look to use the clinch to either dirty-box or secure a takedown. He has the cardio to wear down Mir and force the jiu-jitsu ace into making a mistake. Velasquez may enjoy some success in the clinch but he will probably look to create some distance between the two and work his superior standup.

Wrestling

Cain Velasquez' wrestling credentials are well-documented. Not only does Velasquez possess explosive takedowns, but he also utilizes some of the best ground and pound in MMA.

Velasquez' great conditioning allows himself to use both volume and power when on top of his opponents.

Frank Mir is no pushover in the wrestling department by any means. A former high school state wrestling champion, Mir knows his way around on the wrestling mats.

With that being said, Mir will likely end up on his back at some point in this fight. Brock Lesnar, who also has quick takedowns, was able to put Mir on his back.

I think Mir will surprise some people by not allowing Velasquez to simply steamroll him to he canvas but there's no doubting Velasquez is the better wrestler.

Submissions

While I'm sure Cain Velasquez trains jiu-jitsu and knows the difference between a wrist lock and a wrist watch, there's about a zero-percent chance Velasquez goes for a submission against Frank Mir.

Mir is a jiu-jitsu wizard who's among not only the best BJJ artists in the UFC, but also in all of MMA. His latest victim was the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140.

Once Velasquez secures a takedown, it will be an interesting game of strategy between him and Mir. Velasquez will look to be aggressive which will either create room for Mir to lock up a submission hold or will overwhelm Mir.

Prediction

When the fight was made official, MMA fans immediately buzzed in for Cain Velasquez. While it's certainly plausible to see why they'd choose Velasquez so quickly, I feel a lot of people are counting Frank Mir out prematurely.

Mir has been in the game for a long time and has faced numerous opponents that seemed unstoppable. In his first bout with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, everyone and their brother lost money when Mir shocked the world.

The jiu-jitsu black-belter has the submission skills and punching power to end the fight at a moment's notice, but will Velasquez overwhelm Mir with superior wrestling and conditioning?

Who ya got B/R MMA?