Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir Reportedly In The Works for UFC 107
A heavyweight matchup between Cheick Kongo and Frank Mir is reportedly in the works for UFC 107, which takes place in December in Memphis, Tennessee, according to Sportsnet, citing a source close to Kongo.
Kongo (14-5-1), who trains with the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Michael Bisping at the Wolfslair in the UK, had won three-straight over Dan Evensen, Mostapha Al-Turk, and Antoni Hardonk before suffering a unanimous decision loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 in June.
The former heavyweight champion and recent interim title-holder Mir (12-4) suffered a second-round knockout to Brock Lesnar earlier this month at UFC 100 after previously winning consecutive bouts over Hardonk, Lesnar, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
UFC 107 is headlined by a matchup between light heavyweight contenders and TUF 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.
[Pictured: Cheick Kongo]
Tags: Cheick Kongo, Frank Mir
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Hm, interesting match-up we got here. Striker vs. Grappler. Kongo had good takedown defense against Al-Turk but didn’t have answer for Cain’s takedowns. Mir had much improved striking against Big Nog, thanks to Ken Hahn (who is amazing), but couldn’t stay on his feet long enough to show us anything versus Brock Lesnar. If this goes to the ground, which I think Frank can get him there, this will end via sub and throws Frank back into contedership…but where in that mix would he rank?
i think it will be a boring fight!!!! but i also thought Alves was gunna beat GSP! so i might be wrong?
BOYYY OH BOY WERE YOU WRONG ABOUY THAT!!!
I still dont understand what made you believe that!!!
I tried to tell you as a friend how gravely mistaken you were to thinking such a crazy thoughts and such a outcome!!!
Thaigo Alves????????? Dude!!! You should be ashamed of yourself!!
Pretty solid fight.
Especially after being overwhelmed on the mat by Cain Velasquez (albeit on very short notice), Kongo better discover some sort of a ground game. A shotty ground game against Cain Velasquez and you’re gonna get overwhelmed physically for three rounds. And that’s exactly what happened. But a shotty ground game against an angry Frank Mir and your gonna get submitted in quick fashion.
Mir by submission.
I knew this fight would happen, it makes sense for both guys who are still contenders.
For Cheick Kongo, i feel that it was a good thing that he fought Velasquez because if Kongo wants to be the champ, especially at the highest level, he needs to realize that he has to be more well rounded than he actually is. Velasquez showed him that in a bad way. Frank Mir has great sub skills and a overall good ground game with improved stand-up that i feel can hang with Kongo’s. To be fair Kongo only had about 3 weeks to prepare for the fight with Velasques. If Kongo works specificaly on his takedown defense and ground defense he’ll be able to give Mir a hard time beacuse we all know how much power Kongo carries. In his last fight with Velasquez he showed a true fighters spirit, even though he kept getting takan down, never once did i see him discouraged or never once did he stop fighting or giving up. He can for sure knock Mir out but it will be interesting to see if Mir decides to stand or try to take Kongo down. I have to give the edge to Mir being that he is more well rounded and can hold is own on the stand-up but also can finish Kongo on the ground. This can be a great fight if both guys trade shots all night. I honestly want to see Kongo fight for the title at some point, but he’s going to keep running into guys who have great ground games that will always give him problems, unless he knocks them out right away. I want Knogo to win, but i know that Mir is a smart dude and will mostly look to score a sub and take Kongo down which i feel will happen in this fight. Kongo better hope Mir wants to stand with him or else he better get on his ground game.
Whoever win this fight should get another top contender before getting a title shot. The winner of Carwin-Velasquez will most likely get the next shot, but this fight IMO goes to show that the Heavyweight division in the UFC has gotten more competitive, look foward to an awesome fight.
I like this Analysis Marvel well done. But I had some of my own thoughts on the fight.
The thing with Frank is that he just has so much confidence in himself, plus this new found striking skill set that he acquired. Is making me beleive that he will likely try and stand with Kongo, and for some reason I think he can. Im looking at it like this we all know Mir will win this fight if it hits the ground. So does Frank. So does Kongo. What he wants to do right now is go out there and make a statement. And out striking someone like Kongo would be a huge one. Giving him alot of momentum going into his next fight to ultimately challenge for the title again.
Although I dont think it will be easy I think it can be done. Look at the evolutoin of Franks Stand up. It went from nearly non-exisitent to technical prowess from the time he first fought Brock to when he fought Nog. Then in the second fight with Lesnar he seemed to be the favorite on the feet. Kongo’s strikng game has looked the same since he came to the UFC decent kicks and a great set of straight punches. Its not like we see alot of left hook right uppercut combos from Cheick. Or fancy footwork and headmovement.
I think this will be a great fight with some fireworks for sure, because Mir has the confidence and the skill set IMO to go out there and shock the world by KOing Kongo on the feat. Besides worst comes to worst, and he takes a shot, Kongo then follows him to the ground to finish like he does with everyone, and presto he is now in Mir’s world.
Or I could be wrong and Mir might be thinking he needs a win at all cost and shoots the double leg slaps on the arm bar or kimora. And hes in the middle of the Octagon with Joe talking about how he wants another shot at brock cause there 1-1.
i think that Mir’s standup has improved a lot, but if he stands with Kongo it’s just a matter of time before he gets dropped. Kongo has improved his technique a lot and has a decent clinch with sick knees that Mir won’t be able to take. I agree that Mir is very confident in himself now, especially since he’s gotten in way better shape than before, but don’t forget that his chin isn’t all that good. Vera gave him a high leg kick that Mir actually blocked, but is still rocked him greatly and then got finished on the ground. I feel that Kongo’s punches are way more powerful than that leg kick Vera gave him so if Mir does stand which wouldn’t be so wise, he’ll problably get ko’d. Kongo go beat down by Velasques and showed he can take some hard shots, Mir hasn’t been able to take those big shots like Kongo has. Mir looked great against Noguera, but Noguera doesn’t have good stand-up and against Brock, just to be fair, Brock really only has that straight right punch, his stand-up isn’t so good like his wrestling. I still feel that Mir is the favorite though because he does have a shot at ending the fight either on their feet or on the ground. One thing i noticed though is that Kongo has decent defense, but he hasn’t faced a guy at Mir’s level of JJ. This fight is a toss up for me, i think either guy can win.
You would have to think that at some point Mir will be talking to Rogan about a rubber [title?] re-match, I’m just not sure if it should be after a [presumed] win over Kongo, or maybe he should take some time, refine his game, roll with some really big catch-wrestler types and figure out whats the what, and determine how best to hook and finish a guy with Lesnar’s size and strength.
Also the UFC might want Mir to win 2 before getting back in with Lesnar, seeing as how their second fight ended so definitely.
Definitely Mir should not look past Kongo, or he’ll find himself bloodied against the cage and talking to the nice men from the NSAC.
Again.
If I were Mir, I wouldn’t di<k around with trying to prove any points about my stand-up with a powerful and dangerous guy like Kongo. He should close with him, ground him, hook him, and finish him, if he can. End of story.
jcohl, i totally agree with you that Mir should not risk a stand-up battle with Kongo jsut to prove a point because Kongo is no walk in the park, his stand-up is more than just average, he may not have the best ground game, but he has sick Muay Thai
Aloha B1the*s!!!
Great point fella’s!!
I think your right though if Mir get this thing to the ground he wins!!
If he decides his so called “new and Improved” stand up is enough to deal with Kongo!! It’ll be a short night for Mr Confidence!!
MK4 it was a straight right against Vera that put Mir on ice and had him dizzy then Vera followed with another straight and Knees to seal the deal plus G-n-P to put the cherry on top.
So if Vera straight right was enough to put “MuR” on quer street Like you MK4 said Imagine Kongo’s Straight anything!!!!
Kongo problem has always been his lack of Wrestle’ing ability. His Striking is top Notch and even as CARL pointed out he doesn’t really throw hooks or uppercuts or great footwork. The fact of the matter that his shots are so big and powerful and he is great at his version of striking and Muay Thai and I’m sure he is MAD right now!! Valesquez simply exploited Kongo’s weakness which happened to be Valesquez’es strength and wrestled the h*ll outta him and pounded him on the matt! Mir will not do that. He better have submit and quickly!!
Hey, FYI – it was a 2nd round KO loss to Brock, not 1st..
No worries it will get fixed.
It did.
Awesome scrap, I kind of predicted these two would fight next. Kongo might have a slight edge in the stand up, but not too much as Mir has improved greatly in that area. However, Mir is worlds beyond Kongo on the ground, and I see this fight ending with a first or second round submission for Mir. Should be exciting! 107 is gonna be an awesome card.
If this fight happens and Mir wins, he still needs one or two solid wins before he gets another title shot. If he beats Kongo (I think he will)then I think he should take on the winner of the Cro Cop – dos Santos fight (hopefully Mirko, I’d love to see that fight) and then I think the winner of that fight will take on one of four people (winner of Couture/Nog fights loser of Carwin/Velasquez then winner of that fight goes up against winner of Mir/Cro Cop) and finally a title shot for the winner. And of course, Mir and Cro Cop could be replaced in that last fight with Kongo or dos Santos, respectively. Sorry if that was hard to follow haha.
Kongo would get beaten down as he has no ground game. Kongo has a better chance of beating Lesnar or Carwin than Mir. Styles makes fights.
2nd round TKO for Lesnar to be exact.
This fight has the potential to go be great. The fight starts standing, and you know Kongo’s been working on his takedown defence. Mir isn’t exactly known for his wrestling, so I don’t see Mir risking an elbow or knee to the face for the early takedown. Mark my words, Mir will try to stand with Kongo, will get knocked down, and that’s when Mir’s fight will start. Mir’s a back fighter, so if Kongo goes to the ground he might be in trouble. Keep the fight standing and Kongo gets the easy TKO or UD.
Hold on, i thought mir lost in the second round, not the first..
Dude if kongo hasn’t worked his grappling/wrestling game then mir will take him down and do him like he did antoni hardonk. Kongo can totally t/ko mir if he’s able to keep the fight standing. This is a good match for both hw’s considering they’re both coming off of losses to the champ and potential #1 contender. I like that this fight is @ ufc 107, it gives both fighters plenty of time to prepare and gives mir plenty of time to heal from the brock beatdown.
So far this is shaping up to be a decent card.
I can’t wait to see rampage whoop on “sugar”!
This fight makes sense, but it doesn’t really do Cheick Kongo any favors matching him with yet another ground guy.
Unfortunately Kongo trains at the Wolfslair, and they don’t really seem to have much emphasis on wrestling or BJJ near as I can tell from their fighters. Bisping looks horrible against opponents with ground skill [Evans, Hamill, Hendo], Kongo looked clueless against Vasquez [partially excusable due to the timeframe] and Rampage came to the camp with his wrestling skillset.
And while it’s true that no one would mistake Frank Mir for Randy Couture or Hendo, it does bear posting that BJJ does in fact incorporate some judo-type throws and takedowns into its philosophy aside from just “pulling guard” that Mir should be fmailiar with.
As for the fight itself, if Mir decides to keep this thing on his feet against Kongo he’ll definitely lose, and probably get T/KO’ed. Again.
I would suggest that Mir keep it standing only long enough to hit a back leg trip or some other throw or takedown, and then work for a submission.
I know Kongo is strong, but when you’ve broken the arm of a man the size of Tim Sylvia, and kneebarred Brock Lesnar, Kongo can’t be that much more challanging and difficult to hook and finish…
mir by flying armbar midway through the first. kongo has no takedown defense, and it seems like he wouldnt have any sub defense as well. mir is top 5 in the ufc in bjj/subs imo and he will walk through kongo without breaking a sweat if hes smart. he shouldnt stand and bang with kongo because kongo can “cro-cop” him, so i would take him down if i were mir.
Thats if Mir can take him down,which he won’t. Mir is not an explosive wrestler w/ awesome takedowns like Velasquez is. He’s a BJJ guy. And thats a pretty bold statement,”he will walk through Kongo without breaking a sweat.” Thats just funny. There is no HW in the world that could just walk through Kongo.
zp580 – I hate to say this, and please don’t think this is me blasting you, but I have to give the devil his due…Brock Lesnar would walk thru Kongo in less than 2 rounds.
With his wrestling Kongo would find himself on his back getting g-n-p’ed like he owed Lesnar money. With Lesnar’s newfound catch-wrestling techniques and Neanderthalic strength, he’d ragdoll Kongo like he ragdolled Mir.
If you’re a Kongo supporter thats cool and all, but believe me, Lesnar would most definitely walk through Kongo, and maybe even quicker then he did Mir, because he wouldn’t have to worry about getting hooked in a submission in the process.
Aplogies if thats hard to hear, or read as the case may be.
Jeez jcohl quit blasting the new guys.
A word to everyone if Jcohl is giving Lesnar any sort of props or kind words you know he means them. You were probably gritting your teeth and uttering blasphemy the whole time you were typing that post.
Its ok I have to remember that Karo is still signed with the UFC sometimes, so I feel your pain.
2nd round KO loss to Lesnar, not first. (as was stated in the article)
Kongo all the way!!!! Ya Mir has a better ground game, but I don’t see him pickin up Kongo and slammin him like Cain did. Mir isn’t a wrestler, he’s a BJJ guy. As far as the hands, yes Mir has improved stand up, but his hands are not as quick and powerful as Kongo’s. Kongo has quicker striking and longer arms.
Kongo via TKO in the 2nd.
report report…….affliction trilogy just got canceled
wow i saw that coming a mile away dude!
i see mir subing kongo i think with mir’s improved standup i bet he could standup and trade with kongo.
Is being part of the Wolfslaire something to be proud of? I thought the only good fighter coming out of that gym was Rampage and he didn’t “come out of that gym” really he “went to that gym”…
Who all comes out of that gym that is high profile pro/amateur MMA? I’m curious.. I don’t follow the gyms overseas all that much
Bisping and Paul Kelly would be the biggest names other than Rampage and Kongo. Personally, I think that if Kongo wants to be champ one day, then he should travel around the US and train with some wrestlers and improve his all around game. Wolfslair is limited in what it offers him.
Good point actually guys..
That being said it would be wise of Rampage to either bring in some great wrestlers or have his training camp here in the U.S. and train with some top level MMA Wrestlers for Evans like he did when he fought Matt Lindland…
But for some reason I don’t see Rampage taking this fight very serious. Or as serious as he should but that is just my Opinion.
Kelly is a wolfslaire product that is interesting he is one of my fav fighters.. always exciting.. but as with most of the people in that camp there is not much in the way of a ground game in his skillset.. seems like that gym in general needs to get some ground technicians on board and they could start producing some extremely well rounded guys.. it dosn’t pay to just work on striking in MMA..
The former heavyweight champion and recent interim title-holder Mir (12-4) suffered a first-round knockout to Brock Lesnar earlier this month at UFC 100 !!!!!!
“first-round knockout ” What? it was in the 2nd
(tko)…
1. You’re the (at least) fourth person to comment on that.
2. It’s fixed now.
Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir
I cant wait to see this fight
Go Mir.
I think Kongo needs to move to a different camp, one that teaches him all aspects of mma. He hasn’t learned anything on the ground since first coming to the ufc. The Cain fight was an embarassment. Mir via sub easy. I don’t think he wants to stand and trade with kongo, improved striking or not.
I’m not sure what it is with some of these fighters not utilising their strengths. Must be something to do with a quest to be well rounded. Sherk, Kos etc need to do what they do best, especially after losing fights trying to be something they aren’t.
Brock vs Kongo, Brock tko via gnp. Thats an easy one.
mir…thats it…, nobody in ufc or i don’t even think in the world can beat mir on standup
the only issue i have is the fact that mir’s stand up is a bit overrated. Nog was coming out of a month-long hospitalization due to a staph infection before the Mir fight, and although his stand up is quite a bit better than it used to be, there is no way he can hang with the pedigree and skill of kongo while standing up. Mir’s only chance is to take the fight to the ground, but seeing as he himself said that he has one of the weakest shots in the heavyweight division, he won’t be getting a leg takedown. that only leaves the clinch. as we saw in the Al-Turk fight, Kongo is ridiculously strong in the clinch, and his elbows and knees are nasty enough to make Mir think twice about stepping into the clinch with Kongo. the way i see it is that if Mir’s stand up is improved enough to hang with Kongo, maybe he can wear him down to get him to the mat, but just based off of what we’ve seen of him so far, i’m not impressed.