I've been poked in the eye where my eye was red like that. After a day or two, my eye was fine and I could see 100%. Just sorenes and redness.
Keep making yourselves believe what you want. Keep talking yourselves into believing whatever you need to LOL
You all sounds like a bunch of betters on the same side in a circle trying to convince each other that you guys made the right play.
BOL
Could not agree more. At the end of the day this is a betting forum where there will be different views on this match or this fight. It is good for the forum when there is different views which are backed up with informative facts or views.
Every fight I bet on I always look at both sides for the pros and cons then make a decision to play it or move on.
So here are my pro's and cons
Better striking - people point to Mirko slowing down but I would not want to let him tee of on me. Mir has made great strides in this part of the game as shown by his fights against Kongo and Nog but this is Mirko's world
Great Takedown defense - Very few have taken Mirko down. Big Nog, Gabriel Gonzales and Saku have. Mir does not have to worry about the takedown
Good submission defense - Only Nog has submitted him, not counting JDS. Alot of this is to do with his takedown defense. Mir does not have to worry about the submission apart from maybe a guillotine as he goes in.
Age - Roughly 5 years older than Mir. His style has taken a toll on his body. 38 MMA fights, 23 K1 fights and 40 odd amateur boxing fights. Mir has less mileage on his body though for years he did not take care of it. His leg injury was a blig blow to overcome though I now believe he is in the best shape of his life.
Retirement - talk of retirement is never good. Sometimes an opponent's mouth can fuel the rage. I think Mirko will be ready.
USA - this will be only Mirko's 3rd fight in the US. All but 1 of Mir's have been in his home country. Will the travel be a factor. I don't think so
Weight - This is a problem for Mir. Bulk up and be huge or go for movement. The Lesnar fight taught him he was to small to compete at the top of the heavyweight division. So for Carwin he added muscle which did not work out as he expected. Now he is trimming down again. How will this affect him. On the ground the weight advantage is a huge plus as Mirko will have problems sweeping and cage walking. Mir talked off late as looking at 205 but decided against it. He is not a great clinch fighter so this will be an area for him to excel in.
Last Fight - Big loss for Mir both in terms of a title run and his confidence. For so long he pointed to size being the issue but it was the natural strength and size of Carwin and Lesnar that he does not process. For all the bad talk about the Barry fight Mirko did win. He suffered an injury to his eye but thought though it and got stronger and more comfortable as the fight went on. We can point to Barry's "deer in the headlights" moment but this win could have given Mirko something back that he has previously lost.
Past opponents who mirror the other - Looking back at Mirko's record the two closest to Mir would be Nog and Barnett though Barnett has better takedowns. Granted Mir can not take the kind of punishment Nog has but both have good stand up and an excellent guard. Mirko had no problems with Barnett but Nog survived a beating to get the win in one of MMA's greatest ever comebacks. For Mir he has taken on and beaten Tim Sylvia, who like Mirko wants a standup war. Mir won but Sylvia is no where near the level of Mirko. Mir has wins over one dimensional fighters in Abbot and Kongo though they do not have the takedown defense of Mirko. These stats are hard to use because MMA has so many ways to win and lose but it is always good to go back and see similarities between the two.
Reach - This goes to Mir but I Mirko has better timing so this is negated.
Injuries - Talk of the eye injury but I don't read to much in to it.
Cardio - this could be a big issue here. Mir fluctuation in weight could hinder him and Mirko looked stronger as the fight went on against Barry
Game-planning - Mirko's game plan has been the same since his first MMA fight. Mir has been known to make bad decisions. See the Carwin fight. He stayed up against the cage thinking his new found strength would help him. He was wrong
Cage - Mir has the advantage as he is the better cage fighter but Mirko has implemented cage training these past few years
Conclusion - From the above it can be argued a case for either fighter. As soon as the fight was announced my intial gut reaction was I like Mirko here. When the line came out I liked it more. The major points I see are can Mir take Mirko down?. If his first attempt fails will he get frustrated and gas quickly. Does he just decide to stand with Mirko. He has the skills but that is Mirko's world
