UFC 130 Fight Card: Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson Head-to-Toe Breakdown

It's the summer where the often maligned UFC heavyweights get to strut thier stuff as we have back-to-back events where the heavyweights are the co-main and main attraction.

First thing is first, and at UFC 130 on Saturday night, we will see two of the top 10 collide with Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson. In my opinion, these two are top of the food chain, and this is a battle to determine who will be in line for a title shot soon.

This is an intriguing matchup between two savvy, experienced and hungry fighters, and to me, will be the bout that carries the card.

Here is my head-to-toe breakdown of Mir vs. Nelson.

Striking

The striking game is going to play a significant role in this fight as in most fights, and I see the accuracy and slight quickness advantage that Mir has winning the day and setting up all other things.

Big Country has power in his looping shots, but Mir should be quick enough to get off first and not get tagged by Nelson's power. Frank can then set up his own power shots that he has at his ready.

Advantage to Mir

Wrestling and Cage Control

The wrestling breakdown is fairly simple if you trust the stats as Mir again holds a significant advantage in takedown attempts and takedown accuracy according to FightMetric.com.

I think that Big Country can and will wrestle more if he has to, but it will be cage control and wrestling against the cage that will be more of a factor in this one. While Mir may seem to have an advantage, he lost against the cage big time against both Lesnar and Carwin. He may want to keep it away from there.

Nelson loses the straight out wrestling battle but wins on the fence.  

Jiu Jitsu and Grappling

In my perfect world, these two guys will go to the ground early and often in this one, but again, I only see Mir coming out on top if they do.

Frank is a better all-around submission fighter than Roy, and a staggering shot or something of that sort will have to set up any submission that Roy will get.

I have seen the video of the two grappling years ago, and I stress that that was years ago, and it has no meaning in this upcoming REAL fight.

Slight advantage to Mir.

The Physical Edge

The physical edge in this one has to go to Frank Mir based on his makeup and ability, but I'm not so sure the cardio advantage is as wide as it may appear. Roy won't gas; I'm not always so sure about Frank.

Nelson is not as sculpted as Mir, and he carries a lot of weight in his trademark gut, but in the end, the physical edge will be determined in reach and length, and Mir will have a slight edge there.

 Advantage Frank Mir

The Mental Edge

Both fighters have been in big fights before and will not be intimidated by the surroundings going in to the big fight on June 11th.

Both fighters are hungry and know what is at stake here in terms of getting a shot at what they both want for their respective careers—a shot at the title. They are both similar in age so no edge there

At the end of the day, Mir is the bigger dog in this fight, and Nelson will have to be confident enough to raise his game and hang with Frank in the cage from bell to bell.

 Advantage Mir

The Winner Is Frank Mir

I like Roy Nelson, and I think he is a great fighter, but I do not think he is as good in any one category as Frank Mir. Frank is a better striker, wrestler and submission fighter, and I see him having many more ways to end it than Roy come Saturday night.

Roy will have a bombers chance to catch Frank with a shot to the button, but he will have all of his defenses tested, as he did against Cigano, and in the end, for Roy, the result will be the same.

Frank Mir by unanimous decision

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Correspondent for Bleacher Report. (Also a Correspondent for MMACanada.net.) 

Catch me on Twitter at wakafighter