Junior Dos Santos vs Frank Mir: Speed Favors Dos Santos in UFC Clash

When he takes on Frank Mir in the heavyweight title clash this weekend, Junior Dos Santos has no fear that he might lose his belt. The way he sees it, it's simple: He has speed and Mir doesn't. Or not enough, at least, to take him down.

The two will square off in the main event of UFC 146 on Saturday night. While Mir may have some momentum after defeating Mirko Cro Cop, Roy Nelson and Minotauro Nogueira, it doesn't matter. Dos Santos doesn't believe his opponent has ever had to contend with a fighter with so much quickness.

Dos Santos told ESPN.com: "He doesn't have enough speed [to use his Jiu-Jitsu], I'm faster than him and I can punch him before he gets close enough to me."

For him, it really is that simple.

Dos Santos, however, is straddling a line between confidence and cockiness, and it's one he must be careful not to overstep. The last thing he wants to do is underestimate his opponent—who famously broke the arm of Dos Santos' teammate and hero, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in December—and then end up losing his belt.

But Dos Santos refuses to even acknowledge that as a remote possibility. He told ESPN.com: 

"

I will dominate the fight, I will put my strategy into the fight and it's going to be my fight, not his. I'll push him more and more until he gets tired, and then I'll knock him out. I know he's tough but I don't care, I will win this fight and keep the belt for a long time. Nobody's taking this belt. 

"

However, Dos Santos' opponent is no slouch. Mir has been just as confident heading into this matchup, and he's been able to register a shock win before, like he did against Kongo at UFC 107.

Perhaps Dos Santos isn't exhibiting cockiness so much as he's exhibiting aggression over the fact that Mir thinks he can win and the fact that Mir decimated his teammate back in December. With that much adrenaline and fury circulating, it will be hard for him to even see a loss as a possibility.

And if his adrenaline fails, he always has his quickness to fall back on.