UFC 140 Results: 5 Questions We Still Have About Frank Mir

Frank Mir's UFC 140 victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira could prove to be a pivotal victory in his latest quest to recapture the UFC heavyweight championship that he owned all the way back in 2004.

Mir has been in this situation before. At UFC 92 Mir and Nogueira squared off for the interim heavyweight championship. Mir won in impressive fashion and set himself up for a shot at the belt with Brock Lesnar. Lesnar was able to stop Mir in impressive fashion on his way to defending the UFC heavyweight belt and sending Mir out of title contention.

Mir's impressive come-from-behind submission victory over "Big Nog" at UFC 140, coupled with back-to-back wins over Mirko Filipovic and Roy Nelson have Mir in a position to contend for the title once again.

While Mir's run has been impressive, questions still remain as to whether he can make a legitimate run at the title. Mir will have to answer these questions in his upcoming fights if he wants to once again wear UFC gold around his waist.

Does He Have the Chin?

Brock Lesnar, Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin. These are the type of fighters Mir will need to beat to reclaim the heavyweight title.

What do they all have in common?

Power. Lots of power. Any of these guys can put their opponent out with just one strike, or a well-timed flurry.

While everyone will remember Mir's impressive submission, he is the only person to submit Nogueira in 42 professional fights, it is hard to forget that Nogueira had Mir on the ropes just moments before. In fact, had the ref stopped the fight, it wouldn't have been too controversial.

If Nogueira was able to put Mir down, it remains questionable what any of the top heavyweights could do if they are able to get their shots in standing—let alone what would happen if champion Junior dos Santos got his hands on him.

If Mir is to solidify himself as a contender he'll need to show that he can survive exchanges against the better strikers in the division.

Mir's striking has shown improvement, but can his chin allow him to hang with the best in the division?

Can He Improve His Striking?

There's no question after UFC 140 that Frank Mir has the best Jiu-Jitsu in the heavyweight division. His Jiu-Jitsu has always been top notch and his Kimura that he sank in against Nogueira proved just how proficient he is on the ground.

Unfortunately for Mir, every fight starts standing up.

Mir's striking has always been criticized, and with good reason. Mir's excellent ground game has always been able to carry him but more than ever fighters must be well rounded to compete on the biggest stage.

Mir had shown some improvement in his striking in his bout with Roy Nelson, but in his wins over Mirko Cro Cop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira his striking simply looked bad. Although he was able to score a TKO victory over Cro Cop, before the knee that ended the fight Mir basically held Cro Cop against the cage.

In Mir's losses his striking skills have been exposed, Mir holds such an impressive advantage on the ground that he doesn't necessarily have to become a knockout artist to be successful, he just needs to improve to the point he can set up takedowns.

Can Mir improve his striking to compete with the elite fighters in the division?

How Impressive Are His Last Three Wins?

After Mir's lopsided loss to Shane Carwin for the interim heavyweight championship at UFC 111, many wondered aloud if Mir would ever be a contender for the UFC belt again. Since that loss, he is on a three-fight win streak. How much we can gather from that win streak remains to be seen.

Clearly going on a three fight win streak in the UFC is a challenge regardless of who the opponents are as there are no easy fights in the UFC, but Mir is definitely in line for a step up in competition.

In his return fight from the Carwin loss, Mir headlined UFC 119 against Mirko Cro Cop. In one of the most unwatchable fights in UFC history Mir was able to drop Cro Cop with a knee. This was the first fight in a three fight skid for Cro Cop that saw him go out like a heavyweight version of Chuck Liddell.

Then came a victory over Roy Nelson. Mir was able to thoroughly handle "Big Country" in their bout but it has become clear that Nelson is a gatekeeper in the heavyweight division and is a few wins away from being mentioned as a contender himself.

After his UFC 140 victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, it is unclear if "Big Nog" will ever fight again. In the post fight presser, Dana White hinted that Nogueira may take a while to recover from his broken arm and may be better off retiring than trying to make another comeback.

With two of his three victories coming against two seemingly retired fighters and a gatekeeper, are his wins enough to warrant him the title of contender yet?

How Will He Handle Larger Opponents?

With Mir's impressive submission victory, many are quick to point out that Mir's size and strength advantage certainly played a factor in his ability to submit the smaller Nogueria. While this is partially true (Mir's near perfect technique had a little to do with it too), Mir has struggled with larger opponents, namely Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

In his most recent victories, Mir has held the size advantage and presumably the strength advantage too. While his win over Nogueira was impressive, it will be interesting to see how he handles a larger and stronger opponent. Especially with a rematch against Carwin or Lesnar possible.

Mir has struggled with larger fighters and has tried to combat that by putting on weight in the past. While the move brought mixed results, it appears Mir is now more comfortable with his weight and weighed in at a solid 260 for UFC 140.

Will Mir be able to put his struggles against larger opponents behind him?

Can He Capitilize on the Momentum?

In every fighter's career, there comes a point where its do-or-die. They either make one last run at the title or they fall out of relevance (except Randy Couture, he just keeps coming back).

While Mir is only 32, this may be his last run. Another loss could send him down the ranks to gatekeeper.

Mir is 0-2 in his last two attempts at the title (for the interim title against Shane Carwin and the official title against Brock Lesnar) and he must get over that slump if given the opportunity.

Mir knows a thing or two about making a comeback, but this time its different. The heavyweight division continues to evolve and suddenly he could find himself out of relevancy with only a loss or two.

As the UFC continues to add more talent to the division the ladder will become harder and harder to climb. The time is now if Mir truly feels he has a run at the title left in him.

Will Mir capitalize on his momentum?