UFC 146: Junior Dos Santos vs. Frank Mir Head-to-Toe Breakdown

At UFC 146, the heavyweight title will be on the line in the main event of the evening, as the current champion, Junior "Cigano" dos Santos, will face off against the former champion, Frank Mir.

Dos Santos is known as one of the most dangerous strikers in the heavyweight division, and Mir is known as one of the best submission artists in the division.

This will be one of the more interesting fights for dos Santos, as he has never fought someone with the submission capabilities of Frank Mir.

Let's take a look at who has the edge in this head-to-toe breakdown of the heavyweight title fight.

Striking

Is this a shock to anyone?

Dos Santos has—arguably—the best striking in the heavyweight division, and the only man who can hold a candle to him is Alistair Overeem.

Mir has formidable hands, but they're not on dos Santos' level.

Edge: Junior dos Santos

Wrestling

Frank Mir has solid takedowns, and he can get the fight to the ground when he wants to.

However, Junior dos Santos has fantastic takedown defense, and can stay off the ground all he wants to.

For that reason, neither man is able to say they have the edge in wrestling.

Edge: Push

Submissions

I believe the picture to the left says it all, but if not, let me say it some more.

It can be argued that Frank Mir is "the best heavyweight submission specialist of all time," after having submitted Minotauro Nogueira at UFC 140.

In addition to Nogueira, Mir has submitted Cheick Kongo, Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia and more.

No doubt who has the edge here.

Edge: Frank Mir

Strength and Conditioning

Neither fighter should have a serious issue with cardio or conditioning, as they always come in to fights in fantastic shape.

The most tired dos Santos has ever looked was at the end of his fights with Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson, where he slowed down a bit at the end of beating them up for fifteen minutes.

Then, as top-level heavyweights, strength is not an issue, and there is no clear difference between the two.

Edge: Push

Experience

Dos Santos may be the champion, but Frank Mir definitely has the edge in experience.

Mir is the former heavyweight champion, the former interim heavyweight champion, has fought for the title—or interim title—a total of four times, has 21 pro fights and 19 of them have been in the UFC.

Dos Santos has 15 pro fights, eight of which have been in the Octagon.

Mir has an obvious experience advantage.

Edge: Frank Mir

Variables

Junior dos Santos: For dos Santos, there isn't really a whole lot of surprises that are going to be coming his way or from him. Everybody knows he's going to be looking to throw hands and avoid the ground game with Mir. The only thing that could potentially affect him is looking for revenge against the man who broke the arm of his mentor, Minotauro Nogueira.

Frank Mir: This fight is going to be all about how quickly Mir can prepare for a dangerous boxer, and how good his takedowns really are. If he can get the fight to the ground, we may finally see what dos Santos can do off his back, if not, it's going to be a quick night for Mir. The other variable for Mir is going to be his chin. He has shown that he doesn't exactly have a granite chin, and if he gets tagged by dos Santos, it could be all over very fast.

Prediction

When all is said and done, expect dos Santos to be celebrating a first round knockout victory.

Mir has been a slow starter in past fights, as he was finished quickly by Shane Carwin, was almost finished by Minotauro Nogueira, almost finished by Brock Lesnar in their first fight and beaten by Brandon Vera in just over a minute.

If he does that again, dos Santos will capitalize, and it will be another quick main event for Junior dos Santos.

Prediction: Junior dos Santos by first round knockout.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on twitter @TimMcTiernan.