Mir "extremely interested" in fight with "The Spider," open to rematch with Nogueira

SAN ANTONIO Frank Mir (12-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) may be currently planning to fight Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 in December, but the French striker isn't the only opponent on the former UFC champ's mind.

In fact, lessons learned in his UFC 100 loss to Brock Lesnar have led Mir to express his desire to face middleweight champ Anderson Silva in a previously rumored heavyweight superfight.

"I'm extremely interested in the fight," Mir said at Friday's post-WEC 43 weigh-in Q&A session. "I've learned that size helps people win fights. It would be nice to be on the other end of that."

Mir didn't discount the danger that Silva presents to any opponent, but he did consider himself a pretty clear-cut favorite should the bout materialize.

"With Anderson, obviously he's a great striker and he is pound-for-pound one of the best fighters in the world," Mir said. "But with my grappling, it would be a very bad night for him.

"I think there's a reason why he should just do a few exhibitions at light heavyweight and stay a middleweight."

While UFC president Dana White has openly he stated he doesn't want to see Silva move all the way up to heavyweight, Mir could potentially face another Brazilian opponent.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's UFC 102 win over Randy Couture has led many MMA observers to call for a rematch of his December 2008 bout with Mir.

Mir doesn't feel like he needs to prove himself again, but he won't shy away from the bout if the UFC puts it on the table.

"I think Nogueira wants me more than I want him," Mir said. "I don't really feel like I need to fight him. But obviously, if that fight needs to be answered again, I'm more than happy to show Nogueira that he's the same fighter that Randy fought.

"Everybody said, 'Oh, Nogueira is so much sharper now that he fought Randy.' I saw a 46-year-old man punch you in the face as many times as I punched you in the face. The only difference is he didn't knock you down."

Mir said that had he been able to deliver some of the blows that Couture landed in the UFC 102 bout with Nogueira, the Brazilian's night would have ended early.

"That's Randy Couture; he's knocked down one guy his whole career," Mir said. "He's not known as a power puncher.

"[Couture] is a great wrestler. He's a phenomenally tough guy that will just grind you to death. But if he's out-boxing you and hitting you in the face and you're not falling down, well what's going to happen when I weigh 245-250 (pounds) and I hit you with those? I saw it last December. You're going to fall down."

Before Mir can look at either of those options, he must get by Kongo. And while many have praised Mir's improved striking in recent contests, the heavyweight says he probably won't test it out against the former kickboxer.

"Honestly, I want to go out there and get a win," Mir said. "His ground game is definitely his weakest compared to his standup game. So regardless how I feel about my standup or my ground, I want to fight my opponents at their weakness."

And with all of these opponents in Mir's mind, is a rubber match with Lesnar on the horizon?

"Obviously if I go out there and improve on the things I need to improve on, I'll get an opportunity to be locked in a cage with [Lesnar] again," Mir said.
 
John Morgan is the lead staff reporter for MMAjunkie.com.

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