UFC 107 postfight: Mir says the pressure is now on Carwin

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12-14-2009 01:55 PM:

Your move Shane Carwin. Frank Mir did what he needed to push himself back into the UFC heavyweight title by finishing Cheick Kongo in less than 80 seconds at UFC 107.

Mir had a rough go of it in his title shot against Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 so that meant the former champ was going to have to prove he could come back with some impressive wins and wait a while as other contenders got their shot at Lesnar. By mauling Cheick Kongo, first outstriking the striker and then putting him to sleep with a guillotine choke, Mir put a little extra pressure on guys like Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. So while everyone waits for Lesnar to return from his bout with an intestinal issue, the jockeying for position on the heavyweight ladder has begun.

"Obviously Carwin had the first opportunity there," said Mir. "It depends on what Carwin does in the meantime. If he goes and has another fight, obviously I have to have another fight also. That makes it dangerous for him though. If he goes out and has a poor performance and I have another performance anywhere near like tonight, that could put me right back up there again."

Mir thinks he's right in the mix with Carwin and Velasquez, but hinted that he believes his win on Saturday may have put him ahead of Velasquez:

"Cain Velasquez is a very impressive fighter but he also just went three rounds with Cheick Kongo, couldn't submit him or knock him out. And I was almost able to knock him out and submitted him," snickered Mir.

A lot could change in the pecking order because Mir said no one is going to wait around if Lesnar is out for an extended period.

UFC president Dana White said they'll know in the next four-to-six weeks if Lesnar is going to be out for just six months or if it may be all of 2010.

Mir jumped from 243 pounds in July to 264.5 for this fight. He cut a few pounds to make the 265 limit. He's hoping by his next fight, that he'll be walking around at a solid 280-285, needing to cut around 15-to-20 to make the limit. It's all in an effort to cut down the power gap Lesnar held in their last fight.



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