Mir Earned Title Shot, Now He Just Needs One to Open Up

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Certainly Frank Mir’s lopsided beating of Roy Nelson on Saturday night at UFC 130 did something to clear up the heavyweight title picture, right? Well, sure. It eliminated, possibly for good, any chance Nelson had of receiving a title shot as not only was he shut out for the second time in a row but here his “I can look and fight like an overweight barroom brawler” gimmick got exposed. We all wanted to believe Joe Rogan, pre-fight, when he was hyping Nelson’s cardio but come round 2 he was bent over in half in the center of the cage unable to even complete a rudimentary leg kick. So it was fun while it lasted but truth be told he is probably about one fight away from getting his walking papers as he did his best tonight to prove UFC president Dana White right for his reluctance to bring him into the company in the first place. He was slow, out of shape, and most damaging of all. . .boring. That leaves Mir and his position has a lot more potential but is a lot less concrete.

Looking ahead we know that Cain Velasquez, current heavyweight champ and resident of the DL, is scheduled back this fall. Rumor has his coming back from shoulder surgery to defend his title at the October 6th show in Houston, more than likely against the winner of the UFC 131 main event between Shane Carwin and Junior Dos Santos. The winner of that could possibly look forward to a meeting with the returning, healthy (?) Brock Lesnar, which would lead into a fight with the winner of the Strikeforce Grand Prix. Add in up and coming stars such as Travis Browne and Brendan Schaub and it just looks like poor Frank Mir is out in the cold. Of course his saving grace is the fact that he is an MMA star and other MMA stars never stay healthy. So let’s say the winner of Carwin/Dos Santos ends up with a medical suspension. . .in that case I would envision Mir stepping in to take on Velasquez in Houston. And if that’s not the case then maybe his shot would come at a later date because as much hate as there is out there for him he’s still a marketable commodity who sells PPVs.

Of course the most important piece of that puzzle to MMA fans and UFC board members is Mr. Lesnar and his recent set back with diverticulitis. Dana White was all too happy to go on TV tonight and proclaim Lesnar ready for an early 2012 return but some might say that that is wishful thinking. Of course they would love him back then and they would probably figure that taking his illness into consideration it would be wise to hotshot him directly into a title shot. We could complain about it but really why bother. The man has done so much to build the sport that the least they could do to give back is award him a shot at the gold that he may or may not deserve. Without him the division suffers, no doubt about it, but with the up and coming talent that they have along with the eventual swallowing of the Strikeforce division it will persist for better or for worse. No true MMA fan would complain if they had to sit through Cain Velasquez vs. Alistair Overeem as opposed to Velasquez vs. Lesnar II. We should all hope for a speedy and healthy return for Lesnar and Velasquez and understand that right now in the UFC heavyweight division, as the old saying goes, the only thing that’s for sure is that nothing is for sure.