Who wins and how? I haven't seen much of Carwin but he clearly has the power to KO Mir and I've always felt Mir was a bit hot and cold. But I'm no MMA expert...
Mir seems to be getting a bit over confident in his striking, could be his downfall. If it goes to the ground Mir is going to grab a limb and snap it. I can see Mir standing until he gets caught then fighting sensible.
Carwin always seemed very stiff and lethargic to me, that being said the man is strong as a ox and he has the power to KO Mir for sure. I see Carwin rocking Mir early only to try to GnP and get caught with a Sub somewhere in the first round.
Carwin could spark him out. But Mir has better skills in pretty much every department. Less power though. I expect Mir to get the submission.
Strike like you said you arent a huge MMA guy so ill tell you Mir is probablly past that hot and cold stage. Mir is more well rounded and conditioned then he was in his earlier years. I dont think Carwin is going to wanna risk going to the ground with Mir even though he has superior wrestling and strong GNP hes going to probablly wanna avoid Frank's guard and Carwin is very confident in his striking. Thing is Carwin is stiff and easy to hit and he really only has a right hand. Frank is a better Muay Thai guy and gives angles and movement so I do think he picks Carwin apart and stops him similar to the Nogueira fight but Carwin has CRAZY power and one glancing blow can end Frank's night just like that. So Mir is my favorite here and think he should destroy Carwin but this really is a case of a guy just needing one punch.
Everyone has less power then Carwin. That dude can just flick out a right hand and nearly kill a guy :yep Frank does hit pretty hard himself though and I think all the clean shots he should land on Carwin will stop him but you aint taking Carwin out with just one though. Gonzaga landed a couple of huge shots on him and it buzzed Carwin but he stuck around.
i find this fight similar to the main event, both GSP and Mir are miles ahead of Hardy and Carwin IMO. but both guys have a big punchers chance for sure. if either fight goes to the ground it will be a bad night for hardy or carwin. carwin just seems to have crazy, crazy power though.
Similar but also different at the same time. Hardy can crack but I think Carwin can hit much much harder if he touches you its bye bye while Hardy goes to decisions alot he doesnt seem like a great finisher yet. If Carwin or Hardy go for takedowns I think that plays out differently to. Carwin has superior wrestling so he should get it and he does have strong GNP which has been a weakness of Mir especially when hes in a guys half guard. Hardy will have hell trying to take GSP just like anyone would its almost impossible.
Agreed he can hit but remember he hurt Swick and Davis several times and they both nearly got their heads knocked off in each next fight. I dont think Hardy hits as hard as Matt Serra does to be honest. Only way Hardy wins is if GSP beats himself and thats by not preparing properly and ive watched UFC Primetime GSP is still the hardest working guy in MMA. Id kill to have the disipline that man has its just incredible.
Mir is on a very interesting path. He has me hooked. Beating Carwin sets up a huge rubber match with Brock.
i agree jimmy. i still think that carwin should be very wary of going to the mat with mir. he just has such power that he needs to try and bang out mir standing. hardy only has one shot at beating gsp, be it a small one.
Thanks for the replies, interesting stuff. I was looking to put some bets on as the UK bookies know **** all about the sport and therefore you get decent odds on most fights. Hardy has virtually no chance IMO, he is not a huge puncher and I know enough about the sport to see the gulf in class between him and GSP. GSP is 6-1 on which is not great, but the others are all really close, Saunders, Alves etc... Alves is 8/13 same as Mir and Saunders is 4/6.
No he doesn't. Carwin is a far superior wrestler and its not close. Remember when Nate Marquadt was supposed to be better than Chael at everything...Chael just manhandled the supposed grappler. Carwin is better standing as well. Mir KO'd Old Nog, so what? Mir isn't a good wrestler or a striker, such an overrated fighter.
