ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

Talent-wise, heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier is second to none. He can compete with and defeat any man willing to step inside the cage with him.

Cormier is that good. He hits hard, has quick hands, is physically powerful, can take it on the chin and to the body, possesses solid defense -- standing or on the ground -- and his wrestling is better any other mixed martial artist in the division.

He is arguably the fighter best suited to dethrone UFC heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez, who happens to be his close friend and training partner.

But despite his successful Octagon debut Saturday night in San Jose, Calif. -- a unanimous decision over two-time UFC champ Frank Mir -- it would be in Cormier’s best interest if UFC delayed offering him a title shot.

Cormier, 12-0 as a pro, is not yet ready to fight for the UFC crown. And he would agree with this assessment.

“I’m not happy with my performance,” Cormier said. “Even if [UFC officials] say I’m going to fight Cain Velasquez next, I don’t think this performance warranted a title shot.”

Cormier has been fighting professionally for less than four years. And with so few high-profile bouts under his belt, it is not far-fetched to classify him a newcomer among the elite.

Each training camp has been a crash course, every fight the equivalent of a cram session. But fortunately, the highly intelligent 34-year-old is a very fast learner.

Cormier has a tremendous ability to absorb information, quickly apply what he has learned and make adjustments on the fly. So in the days leading to his UFC debut with Mir, he was confident of remaining unbeaten.

Then Cormier arrived at HP Pavilion, heard the music blaring throughout the arena, fans screaming at the top of their lungs and realized he had arrived; he’d made it to the big time. And Cormier lost his nerves.

It’s the one thing that hours upon hours of training with some of the best fighters in MMA couldn’t prepare him for. Facing Mir, one of the top heavyweights, on MMA’s biggest stage, under its brightest lights was a bit much for the 2012 Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner to handle.

“I was nervous and I can’t explain why,” Cormier said. “It must’ve been this big-fight feel. Before I walked into the cage I felt nervous.

“I always laughed when [UFC president] Dana [White] said there’s jitters that come along with this. I was like, ‘My career prepared me for this.’ But man, I was nervous today. I was so nervous.

“More than anything I got tired. I’ve never felt tired in a fight. I think it was my nerves.”

“

I always laughed when [UFC president] Dana [White] said there's jitters that come along with this. I was like, 'My career prepared me for this.' But man, I was nervous today. I was so nervous.

” -- Daniel Cormier

Competing in UFC for the first time proved to be Cormier’s latest MMA learning experience. He gets a passing grade for weathering the nervous storm, surviving his latest cram session.

Defeating Mir, who appeared to be in the best shape of his career Saturday night, is a major accomplishment for the man who entered the bout with only 11 pro fights. Mir was determined not to drop two fights in a row, something he had never done in UFC.

So give Cormier credit, he was facing the best that Mir had to offer and he won. It wasn’t a memorable performance -- too much holding against the cage, not enough striking and nothing by way of ground attack. It was a win for Cormier -- methodical, but a good one nonetheless.

Though his cardio came into question for the first time -- nervousness did have much to do with it -- this win cements Cormier as one of the two or three best heavyweights in MMA. But UFC officials should not offer him a title shot, not yet.

Cormier needs one or two more fights inside the Octagon. He needs to know, not believe, that on fight night he will leave the arena victorious. Every step must be taken to never allow his nerves to betray him again.

A fully developed Cormier, physically and psychologically, could become a great UFC champion. And that would serve the promotion well.

So give Cormier one or two more appearances in the Octagon. Let him put on the type of high-octane performance inside the UFC cage that fans were used to seeing from him during his days with Strikeforce.

Allow Cormier to get his nerves completely under control. Then offer him a heavyweight title shot. He will not disappoint.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cover your ears, Johny Hendricks.

UFC president Dana White told reporters on Thursday he’ll talk to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre soon. The two haven’t spoken since St-Pierre recorded his eighth consecutive title defense over Nick Diaz at UFC 158 last month.

Expectations have been that St-Pierre (24-4) would face Hendricks (15-1) later this year, but White said that bout would go on hold should St-Pierre express interest in a long-anticipated, lucrative superfight with middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

“I am literally going to call Georges St-Pierre today and see what he wants to do,” White said.

“If Georges says to me, ‘I want to fight Anderson Silva,’ you think I’m going to go, ‘No, you’re not. You’re fighting Johny Hendricks’?”

Silva (33-4) is scheduled to defend his 185-pound title against Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July. In yet another superfight wrinkle, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 next week in Newark.

White said he’s interested in any fight that involves two of the three champions, saying if both St-Pierre and Jones wanted Silva, “that’s a good problem to have.”

Hendricks would be the clear loser if St-Pierre opts to fight Silva next. The former collegiate wrestler is on a six-fight win streak and was already leapfrogged earlier this year by Diaz, who was coming off a drug suspension.

White said St-Pierre would not vacate the 170-pound title if he took the Silva fight, meaning Hendricks would have to wait or accept another fight.

“If [St-Pierre] lost, he could still go back down and fight Hendricks for the title.”

Mitrione fined, suspended -- but forgiven

UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione has been fined an undisclosed amount and remains suspended for comments made last week regarding transgender fighter Fallon Fox.

The UFC quickly suspended Mitrione following an appearance on “The MMA Hour,” where he referred to Fox as a “freak.” Fox is scheduled for her third pro fight in May.

Mitrione (6-2), who defeated Philip De Fries via first-round knockout earlier this month, spoke with UFC president Dana White following the incident and took responsibility for his actions -- but there is no timetable for his return.

“It’s up to us,” White said regarding Mitrione’s suspension. “I’m not mad at Mitrione. He did something stupid. He knows he didn’t handle it the right way.

“I’m sure he wants to know [when he’ll fight again]. We’ll let him know when we decide. He was fined, too. Enough to make him call me three times.”

• A Brazilian fan attacked UFC light heavyweight Chael Sonnen during an event last weekend in Las Vegas, according to White.

Sonnen, who challenges Jon Jones for the 205-pound title next week at UFC 159, was in Las Vegas to attend "The Ultimate Fighter" finale at Mandalay Bay Events Center. According to White, he was involved in a minor scuffle during the show.

“I don’t know if any of you guys saw this, but he was there shaking hands with fans and one guy says, ‘Chael! Chael!” White said. “Chael goes over there and the guy started swinging at him, trying to punch him. The guy goes, ‘I’m from Brazil!'”

Sonnen (27-12-1) was involved in a heated rivalry with Brazilian middleweight champ Anderson Silva from 2010 to 2012. He went 0-2 in two fights against him.

• Whether his teammate claims the UFC lightweight title on Saturday or not, Nate Diaz says he’s moving back to 170 pounds.

Diaz (16-8) meets lightweight Josh Thomson on Saturday. His teammate, Gilbert Melendez, will look to dethrone champion Ben Henderson in the night’s main event.

Regardless of the outcome of either fight, Diaz says he intends to move back to welterweight, where he compiled a 2-2 record from 2010 to 2011.

“I already fought everybody at lightweight,” Diaz said. “I don’t think there is anything for me in the lightweight division. I already beat everybody or fought everybody. The only person who beat me was Ben. What, I’m going to sit around and fight all the same guys again? That’s boring. There’s no motivation in that.”

• Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier still wants to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones -- just maybe not as soon as he once thought.

Cormier (11-1) faces arguably the biggest challenge of his career on Saturday as he takes on former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the night’s co-main event.

The former U.S. Olympic wrestler has been quietly shedding weight for a potential trip to the 205-pound division. Cormier’s teammate, Cain Velasquez, currently holds the UFC heavyweight title.

Cormier has publicly expressed interest in fighting Jones previously, but now says he’d probably want a test fight at 205 pounds first. The 34-year-old experienced kidney failure while cutting weight in 2008 but is confident he can make 205.

“At first, I was so emotionally tied to [fighting Jones],” Cormier said. “I’ve thought about it, and I wouldn’t be opposed to fighting one time down there just to see how my body reacts to the weight cut. It would be very difficult to fight him in my first fight, a five-round fight.

“What if I get in a fight and I can’t do anything but wrestle because my arms are tired and my body isn’t responding to the weight cut? I don’t want that guy to be Jon Jones. Seriously, can you imagine standing in with him and not feeling your best?”

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- On camera and off. In the gym before, during and after workouts. One-on-one or in a group. Unbeaten heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier is the furthest thing from shy.

Expressing supreme confidence in his ability to remain undefeated on Saturday against former heavyweight champion Frank Mir at the HP Pavilion, Cormier, 34, believes that "when it comes to heart and drive I beat [Mir] every time."

"When I sit back and I honestly think about the fight I have a lot of advantages, and if I use them I should be OK," Cormier said prior to a recent training session at the American Kickboxing Academy. "He's a good heavyweight but when you really think about it there's a difference between a lifetime athlete and a guy that started doing something a little bit older. I think it's going to show in the fight.

"I've been competing my entire life. It's what I do. That's what I plan to do on April 20th. And if he's ready to raise himself to that competitive level then I'm going to have a tough fight on my hands. But if he isn't, then I'm just gonna run right over him."

Cormier makes his Octagon debut three and a half years after transitioning from amateur wrestler to professional mixed martial artist, and while it conflicts with his general disposition, the Strikeforce Grand Prix champion admitted that even he's surprised by how quickly he picked stuff up.

"I didn't anticipate having these kind of fights as soon as I did," Cormier said.

Stopping Antonio Silva and dominating a five-round decision against Josh Barnett sent a clear message that Cormier, squat and quick, is a name was worth remembering. Expectations set in, especially after Barnett, and he was matched with Mir for a bout late last year on one of the last Strikeforce cards. When Mir was injured, the fight was postponed and Cormier went from facing a highly dangerous and respected former champion to facing Dion Staring.

The contrast messed with Cormier, especially on fight night.

Competing in hostile environments around the world since he was a teenager didn't help make the situation any more comfortable for Cormier. Fighting Staring, an opponent nobody thought could win, prompted Cormier's impermeable confidence to spring a leak. Everything was about him and his future and not the competition, and that was different and uneasy.

"I think the most pressure situation I had was the last one because I knew that if I won that fight I was in for some really big fights," Cormier said. "I don't know what would have happened if Dion Staring would have beaten me, and that's what scares you: the unknown.

"There was a lot of pressure to just go out there and beat him up. That's not how it works. We're all professional fighters."

Yet if things line up the way Cormier expects them to, he sees himself running through Mir en route to the top of the heavyweight division, which is currently ruled by his friend and training partner Cain Velasquez. As a result there have been calls for Cormier to drop to 205. Mir suggested that he'll be the guy who proves Cormier's less-than-prototypical heavyweight frame will cost him at the highest level -- though results against Silva and Barnett suggest the opposite.

As far as light heavyweight goes, Cormier is willing to fight there despite a history of health issues related to weight cutting -- including kidney failure -- because, he said, regardless of whom he fights, including Jon Jones, he'll hold a significant edge.

History. His, to be specific.

He trusts his competitive experience and his natural ability will carry the day against all comers. It sounds cocky, but it's not. Cormier's confidence is infectious and heavily influenced by his drive and determination to be good at whatever it is he chooses to do.

The package, as Cormier described it, is the antidote of fear rather than the disease of arrogance.

"I'm determined to be the best that I can be, whether that be UFC champion or No. 1 contender or maybe I never fight for a belt," he said. "But if that's the best I can do as Daniel Cormier, then that's the best I can do. I'll be able to go on to the next phase of my life and be OK. I have a desire to be good at everything I do and I work my tail off to accomplish it.

"I'm fighting the best guys in the world now, you never know what's going to happen, but for me personally on April 20 I anticipate winning that fight in a manner that's going to make my teammates and coaches proud of what I did."

As a matter of fact, mixed martial arts is an exercise in proving what you're made of.

Cormier's success hasn't required that he show the world any special mettle yet, however "I know if I need to I'll be willing to."

UFC on Fuel TV 8 takes place from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan this Saturday, the sixth time the UFC has traveled to the “Land of the Rising Sun.” The main event sees Wanderlei Silva battle Brian Stann at light heavyweight while Stefan Struve takes on Mark Hunt in a heavyweight bout. Here are the numbers you need to know for Saturday’s fights:

6: Fights Silva has had against an American fighter since his return to the UFC in 2007. He is 1-5 in those bouts, losing his past four (Rich Franklin twice, Chris Leben and Quinton Jackson). “The All-American” has fought just one Brazilian fighter in his career, defeating Jorge Santiago at UFC 130.

Wanderlei Silva, UFC Career vs. American Fighters:
UFC 147 Rich Franklin L, UD
UFC 132 Chris Leben L, KO
UFC 99 Rich Franklin L, UD
UFC 92 Quinton Jackson L, KO
UFC 84 Keith Jardine W, KO
UFC 79 Chuck Liddell L, UD

6: Times Silva has been defeated by KO or TKO in his 48-fight career. Four of those knockouts have come inside the UFC Octagon, while the other two were his last two PRIDE fights against Dan Henderson and Mirko Filipovic. The "Cro-Cop" fight was the last time Silva fought in Japan, which served as the home for PRIDE organization. Stann has nine KO/TKO wins in 17 career fights.

75: Percent of wins by "The Axe Murderer" that have come by KO or TKO (24 of 32). When Silva defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 110 by unanimous decision, it marked his first win not by KO or TKO since November 2003 at PRIDE: Final Conflict.

3: The combined takedowns by both fighters in their UFC careers (Silva 2, Stann 1). Each fighter attempts less than one takedown and one submission attempt per 15 minutes. In other words, it would be shocking to see this fight go to the ground unless one of the fighters gets knocked down.

2010: The last time former WEC light heavyweight champion Stann fought at 205 pounds, where he is 8-3 in his career. Stann will be dropping back to middleweight after this fight with Silva, where he holds a 4-2 record.

9: The reach advantage for 7-footer Stefan Struve in his co-main event bout against 5-foot-10 Mark Hunt. Struve’s reach is 83 inches while Hunt has a 74-inch reach. The 83-inch reach for Struve is second behind Jon Jones (84.5 inches) for longest reach in the UFC.

9: Wins for Struve inside the UFC Octagon, tied with Junior dos Santos, Gabriel Gonzaga and heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez for third among active heavyweights. With a win, he would join Frank Mir, Cheick Kongo, Andrei Arlovski and Randy Couture as the only UFC fighters with double-digit wins in the division.

Most UFC Wins, Active Heavyweight Fighters:
Frank Mir 14
Cheick Kongo 11
Cain Velasquez 9
Junior dos Santos 9
Gabriel Gonzaga 9
Stefan Struve 9*
*Four-fight win streak

3.9: Submissions attempted per 15 minutes for "The Skyscraper," fifth highest in UFC history and first among heavyweights. "The Super Samoan" has six submission defeats in seven career losses, all arm-related (three by armbar, two by kimura, one by keylock). Of Struve’s 16 submission victories, only three are by armbar (13 submissions by choke).

2: The main and co-main events are the only fights on the card not to feature a fighter from Japan or South Korea. There are nine Asia versus The World contests on the card. Japan is represented by Takanori Gomi, Yushin Okami, Mizuto Hirota, Riki Fukuda, Takeya Mizugaki, and Kazuki Tokudome. The South Koreans are represented in three matchups by Dong Hyun Kim, Kyung Ho Kang and Hyun Gyu Lim.

LAS VEGAS -- A new face will appear in Frank Mir’s corner when he takes on Daniel Cormier at a UFC on Fox event in April -- Greg Jackson.

Mir, 33, plans to join Jackson in Albuquerque, N.M., for an eight-week camp beginning later this month. It’s the first time the Las Vegas native will train for a fight outside his hometown.

Following a second-round TKO loss to Junior dos Santos for the UFC title in May, Mir says he felt a need to modify his standard routine.

“I’ve always felt I have great trainers so there was no reason to leave, but my wife and I were talking about how I needed to change things up,” Mir told ESPN.com. “One of the things was maybe I should get out of town and get more focused.

“I’ve always been impressed with Greg Jackson’s game planning. I figured, before I retire, I want to be a part of that and see what makes this guy so successful.”

“

I've always been impressed with Greg Jackson's game planning. I figured, before I retire, I want to be a part of that and see what makes this guy so successful.

” -- Frank Mir, on moving to Albuquerque to train with Jackson

During the eight weeks, Mir (16-6) plans to fly home every weekend to see his family. He says the longest he’s ever gone without seeing his three children is four days. An eight-week absence was out of the question.

Five days out of the week, though, his career will receive his full attention. That hasn’t been the case, really, since he started a family. Recently, the two-time UFC heavyweight champion skipped a workout to sign his daughter up for softball. That kind of thing won’t happen in Albuquerque.

“I ended up working out in the garage with dumbbells,” Mir said. “I still got something in, but was it the same quality as if I went to the gym? No.”

Mir’s longtime head trainer Jimmy Gifford will join Jackson in the corner. Gifford says he is excited to see Mir willing to make changes this late in his career.

“Too many coaches want to make it about them. It’s about the fighter,” Gifford said. “Anything that makes my guy better, I’m fine with. This guy has been at the top of his game for years. For him to still search out ways to get better is great.”

Having Cormier as an opponent has appeared to motivate Mir. A former Olympic wrestler, Cormier (11-0) carries lots of momentum into his UFC debut.

After scoring a second-round TKO victory in his final Strikeforce appearance, Cormier publicly called for an April bout against Mir. Gifford texted his fighter that night to see if he was watching, and Mir responded, “I’ll sign his cast after the fight.”

“Level of competition is important,” Mir said. “He’s done most of his damage in Strikeforce. Not to downplay Strikeforce, but it’s not the UFC.

“I think it’s going to be another one of those things where people are destined to be disappointed. After our fight, he’s already said he’s going to 205 pounds. That doesn’t sound like a confident guy who wants to stay at heavyweight.”

It has to be fight week for highly ranked heavyweight Daniel Cormier, because no one will find a man more excited these days than him.

Nothing gets Cormier's juices flowing like a fight. He loves competition -- the tougher the opposition, the better.

Cormier faces a relative unknown in Dion Staring on Saturday night in Oklahoma City in what will be Strikeforce's final event. While a fight with Staring wouldn't normally push Cormier's excitement to peak levels, the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner hasn't been in the cage since May, when he claimed the tournament title with a lopsided unanimous decision over Josh Barnett.

An involuntary eight-month layoff is a long time for Cormier, so he is ready for the opportunity to again put his fists into another man's face.

"I'm a competitor. I love competition," the 10-0 Cormier told ESPN.com. "I want to get the rush of the emotions of going out there and fighting or wrestling. I want the rush of competition.

"It's the best gift that anyone can give me -- the ability to compete on a consistent basis. That's all I want."

It's also the reason Cormier can't wait for Saturday's bout. No disrespect to Staring -- he's the guy who said "yes" when Zuffa LLC officials offered him the fight.

Staring (28-7) isn't as high-profile as Cormier's original opponent, former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, but he always comes to fight.

What Staring might lack in physical skill and level of competition he makes up for with determination and aggression and will come to fight. Cormier is looking forward to facing an opponent who doesn't back down.

While Cormier is giving Staring the high-profile-opponent treatment, he is extremely confident of victory. When the horn sounds to start the three-round bout, Cormier intends to put a vicious beating on Staring.

Cormier will attack the heavy-handed Staring as if he is trying to derail the personal goals Cormier has mapped out for his not-too-distant future. After helping to pull the curtain down on Strikeforce, Cormier will turn his full attention to becoming a UFC champion.

He’s a fight, maybe two at most, from landing a title shot; Cormier knows that much. What he can't say definitively is who will be opposite him in the Octagon on championship night, other than it won't be current UFC heavyweight titleholder and training partner Cain Velasquez, who enlists Cormier as his wrestling coach.

UFC can't put enough money on the table to persuade these two to square off in the cage. That just isn't going to happen.

But Cormier has a Plan B in place when UFC calls with a title-shot offer. He will drop to 205 to fight light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

While it's a tentative plan, here’s how Plan B works: Cormier dismantles Staring -- as most expect he will -- before taking on Mir. Being that Cormier would like to fight every three or four months, the bout with Mir could take place sometime in April, with a source telling ESPN.com the fight could likely find its way to San Jose, Calif.

Regardless of when or where the fight happens, a victory over Mir would put Cormier smack dab in the center of the heavyweight title picture. That's when Cormier will need to finalize his career path.

With former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and top UFC contender Alistair Overeem recently cleared to resume his fighting career, a win Feb. 2 over Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is sure to earn him a title bout with Velasquez.

Cormier will be watching that bout closely with his next move hinging on the outcome.

"That's when I have to make my decision," Cormier said. "I have to sit there and watch Overeem fight Cain and hope with everything in my body that Cain can beat him. I'm hoping that Cain can keep his belt and I move down to 205 by the end of the year. I would love to just go fight for that [light heavyweight] belt."

Cormier has already begun weighing in lighter for his heavyweight bouts. He checked in for his fight against Barnett in May at a lean 238 pounds.

He says the weight cut for that fight wasn't difficult and that he'll continue preparing himself for a possible high-profile showdown with Jones. Expect him to tip the scale under 240 pounds for Saturday's fight against Staring before weighing even less if an April tilt with Mir materializes.

By the time he potentially meets Jones later this year, an excited Cormier said he expects to be faster, more agile and just as strong.

"[Cutting to 205 pounds] would be tough," Cormier said, "but I would cut a lot of weight for wrestling. I would weigh in at 5 p.m. and wrestle at 9 a.m. If I weigh in at 4 p.m. [for MMA] and have more than 30 hours to recover and get my body back to feeling good, I should be OK. Thirty hours is a really long time.

"If anything, it's going to help me athletically. As I lose weight, I get faster. I can only imagine that I will be faster as I keep going down. But with that being said, even if I was to go down there and get a championship fight, it's an uphill battle. It's not like I'm going down there to fight somebody easier than the champion in the heavier division. Jon Jones is a tough hill to climb. It will be a very tough fight, but I will be up for it."

Nothing gets Cormier more excited than thoughts of becoming a UFC champion. The final few steps toward achieving that goal start Saturday night in Oklahoma City.

It took some time and liquidation, but the UFC’s heavyweight division is finally made up of beasts. It’s to the point that there’s a legitimate top pairing (Cain Velasquez versus Junior dos Santos) with a behemoth flexing in the wings (Alistair Overeem). The latter is worth his weight in asterisks alone.

Just those three names would have seemed like unfathomable depth back in Tim Sylvia’s day. Now there’s Daniel Cormier, who is still behind a partition for one more fight in Strikeforce, and Shane Carwin and Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve. There’s old warhorse Frank Mir hovering around, and young guns like Stipe Miocic. There’s Antonio Silva, and -- perhaps waiting by the phone right now as you read this, maybe wondering why the UFC hasn’t come calling -- there’s Josh Barnett.

At long last it’s a real division.

So why do we want to see Brock Lesnar against Fedor Emelianenko, two thirty-something past glories who’ve had their myths leaked out of them in recent years?

In short ... because we do. Because we did. Because it should have happened already. Because there was optimism that it could happen now. Because it never did. And because it never did, it won’t leave the imagination alone.

It was Dana White himself who fueled the flames of the matchup long after people had stopped thinking (and caring) about it. He went on the Underground forum and posed the question: “Is this the fight you guys want to see?”

The hard-cores raised their hands. The casuals? We know they’ll pay to see any “name.” So the antennae went up, and people began wondering if White was in the process of luring both backwoodsmen from their fishing holes.

A couple of months later, with the speculation simmering on a low blue flame that the fight could happen, White quashed the whole thing on Wednesday on the Dave and Mahoney Radio Show.

“There are so many new up-and-coming guys right now, which is very exciting,” he said. “’Bigfoot’ Silva looked good in his last fight so yes, the heavyweight division looks awesome. [Lesnar]'s done. He called me a couple of days ago. He’s never coming back. He just said he can wrestle, but he can't fight. He was contemplating coming back [but he's not]. Neither is Fedor. They're both retired."

“

[Brock Lesnar] was contemplating coming back [but he's not]. Neither is Fedor. They're both retired.

” -- UFC president Dana White, on the retired Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko

So much for thawing out the Cold War.

When White reflirted with the idea of Lesnar/Emelianenko, the fight still looked like the biggest non-title fight in UFC history. That was the lure. Fedor, the terse Stary Oskol man, so private and reclined in his foundation that we never really knew him in the tabloid sense. Lesnar, the Alexandrian wrestler, who doesn’t necessarily like media or traveling or the fight game circus, yet who likes money enough to build up his tolerances.

One who packs a devastating punch; the other who doesn’t take punches well. One who hauls rocks and lumber in training, the other who enacts the running the bulls when the bell rings. Lesnar, the pro wrestler who’s impossible to separate the fictional parts from; Fedor the sportsman who is soberingly nonfiction.

Both guys have dropped from the ranks. Fedor was caught up to by fighters who punished his aggression; Lesnar by evolved fighters who punished his aggression, as well as diverticulitis. Yet the idea of pitting them was completely riveting. It was Fedor, who many would argue is the G.O.A.T., against Lesnar, who looks like he crawled out of Frank Frazetta’s imagination.

Coming out of retirement to fight each other.

It wasn’t just a megaclash between former champions, it was a megaclash between two of the more transcendent figures in the game.

And for that reason, it’s a little sad to hear it’s never (likely) going to happen. But it’s good to know it didn’t need to happen, too -- that there’s enough going on in the UFC’s heavyweight division to make the fight seem like gravy.

That’s how far we’ve come in the short time since Emelianenko and Lesnar were most relevant. So far that the idea of two or the world’s most glorified heavyweights never trading punches leaves us only with the slightest pang.

The injury that forced Frank Mir out of their much-anticipated Nov. 3 showdown was a big blow to Daniel Cormier’s career plans.

Mir was just the kind of fighter Cormier had in mind for his final Strikeforce appearance: a marquee name, two-time former champion and an impressive UFC resume.

Cormier isn’t shy about expressing his desire to become a UFC champion and a victory over Mir would have provided the appropriate notch in his belt to strengthen his case.

But with Mir unable to perform, Cormier’s chances of landing another heavyweight with such high Octagon credentials is slim. And it is forcing Cormier to reexamine his expectations.

“I kind of look at the big picture on a lot of things; so looking at the big picture and what that fight could have done for me in terms of visibility, the advancement of my career, it was disappointing,” Cormier told ESPN.com. “But I have to be focused on whoever they put out in front of me.

“Frank Mir was perfect. He made perfect sense. He’d just gotten off a title shot. He’s a big name; he’s always in title contention. It just made sense.

“I’ve heard that Fabricio Werdum stepped up and said that he would fight; Pat Barry said he wanted the fight, even Roy Nelson. There are guys who want to fight, it’s a big fight. But it’s also a matter of how big a fight they want to get in terms of title-shot implications.

“Certain people, if it is Fabricio, it almost becomes a top-contender fight in Strikeforce rather than in the UFC.”

And that’s a major issue for Cormier. He has only 10 professional fights under his belt, with just four going into the second round or beyond.

There is no wear and tear on Cormier’s muscular frame. But he is 33 years old and time is of the essence.

Cormier is in his physical prime and must move quickly to capitalize on this short-lived time period.

He is currently ranked fourth among heavyweights by ESPN.com. This suggests Cormier is one or two wins from being offered a UFC title shot.

It’s the reason he was so gung ho about registering an impressive win over Mir. Now he’s likely back to his pre-Josh Barnett days.

Beating Werdum won’t hurt, but is likely to keep Cormier behind Alistair Overeem in the heavyweight pecking order. A win over Barry definitely doesn’t move the rankings needle.

“I still want to fight tough guys,” Cormier said. “The best guy they can actually get for me would be great. It’s a matter of who they can get that makes sense.


“I’ve dealt with disappointment before on a way bigger scale than this. I’ve learned to deal with it, it still [stinks]. I will get by; I’ll focus on the guy in front of me. You have to be a professional and I am.

“I just have to be my best on fight night.”

While some of the excitement over facing Mir has diminished, Cormier remains committed to fighting on Nov. 3 in Oklahoma City.

Whoever Strikeforce selects as the Mir replacement Cormier will be fully prepared to battle. He will not take any shortcuts during training.

“I want to be 235 again like when I fought Josh Barnett,” Cormier said. “I felt fast, I felt good, my cardio felt good.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to fight heavier than that again. That’s where I want to stay as long as I’m at heavyweight.”

Cormier realizes there is no guarantee that UFC officials will offer him a heavyweight title shot. But getting the title-shot offer might not be the only hurdle Cormier will have to overcome.

He’d have to think long and hard if his friend and teammate Cain Velasquez reclaims the heavyweight crown in December from Junior dos Santos.

There is a strong possibility that Cormier will decide not to face Velasquez, even if the title was dangled in front of him.

Fortunately, Cormier has options. And having options is the perfect cure to regaining that feeling of excitement.

“If the right fight (at light heavyweight) presents itself I will definitely consider it,” Cormier said. “After this fight (on Nov. 3) it’s over. I get to go to the UFC and take my place among the rest of the heavyweights because they’re no more (in Strikeforce).

“It’s exciting. It’s exciting to finish that part of my journey. That part of my career is over. Strikeforce is over after this fight. Now I can move on to the bigger things and the big things in UFC.”

And by ‘bigger things’ he means becoming a UFC champion at heavyweight or, if necessary, light heavyweight.

Frank Mir is out of his cross-promotional fight with Daniel Cormier, which falls right in with the injury vortex of 2012.

Incredulous? We shot right past incredulous in April or May. In September, we are numb to injury dropouts (or at least should be).

The sad truth is that the UFC as an entity, for all its swagger coming into the year with broadcast deals and global inundation, is limping along. And the Joe Silva/Sean Shelby matchmaking duo have become expert revisionists, a distinction they'd rather not have.

But this one hurt in different ways. It was a barrier-buster UFC/Strikeforce event that felt a little like back when Chuck Liddell made his cameo in Pride. Mir as interloper. Cormier as wrecking ball. One a game ex-champ, the other a foreboding wind that raises arm hair.

Yet all that's just the hype play. The bigger storyline that went away: Finally an intriguing fight in Strikeforce not involving Ronda Rousey. That felt good to think about, at least while it lasted.

Cormier, who wrestled at Oklahoma State, wants to stay on the card since it's a return to his collegiate roots. In the dearth of viable heavyweight opponents -- particularly in Strikeforce, which just underwent an "everything must go" clearance sale on big men -- who will Zuffa stick in there to face Cormier? Anybody?

Surely we're not back to Tim Sylvia. He was the guy -- the original guy -- then he wasn't. And that was telling.

Booking Sylvia meant simply passing the time. When Mir was introduced as the guy to cross the line, we knew Zuffa meant business. We weren't doing retreads against Cormier; we were doing true life impositions.

Mir's knee shut business down. And with no other viable top ten opponent available -- yet Cormier still ready/willing to fight on Nov. 3 -- why not ring up Fabricio Werdum? He's in Colombia right now doing ambassador work for the UFC, trying to get events into theaters.

Right now he's a pitchman in Bogota. In other words, he’s idle.

Better yet, he's willing.

Werdum's been looking for a bump-up in competition since beating Mike Russow at UFC 147. Why are we collectively sleeping on Werdum?

Over his last six fights, he's won five times. Of those five casualties, most are onto bigger and better things while Werdum bides his time, just as quiet as humanly possible for somebody right in the thick of things.

There's Roy Nelson, who got hammered for three brutal rounds by Werdum at UFC 143, coaching opposite Shane Carwin for the new season of the "Ultimate Fighter". There's Antonio Silva, who is a main event in Minneapolis in October. Werdum defeated him, too. It was a stevedore's effort, but he nicked up "Bigfoot" pretty good.

There's Fedor Emelianenko, whose myth hissed out of him like a punctured tire when Werdum duped him to the ground in San Jose. Werdum pulls one of the greatest upsets in MMA history, and yet it's Fedor being linked to rumors of a Lesnar superclash (even if it's mostly fantasy).

It's arguable that Werdum's lone loss in the last three years -- against Overeem in the Strikeforce grand prix quarterfinals -- was actually a victory. He outstruck Overeem on the feet, but made the mistake of pleading with Overeem for a ground game which sat bunk with the judges. Had he just continued to nickel and dime on the feet with the trust in his hands he had with Nelson, maybe Cormier -- who replaced Overeem -- never finds his way to the tournament.

And in all of this, the heavyweight division's most accomplished jiu-jitsu player has shown he's developed some formidable hands. Silva, Overeem, Nelson and Russow (whom he TKO'd) have been alerted. If Mir could crossover with no better options, then surely Werdum can, too.

Werdum told ESPN.com that he's ready for that Cormier fight, if it's offered to him. He's made it public with other outlets, as well. The Zuffa brass appreciates enthusiasm of this kind. They have traditionally rewarded guys who step up when needed.

And isn't Werdum the meanest kind of volunteer? Cormier, with all the tailwind and hype, would find himself in a fight that he could feasibly lose. What more could you ask of the matchmaking in this latest predicament?

This is one sport where public outcry reaches important ears.

After promising a title shot to the winner of Saturday night’s Brandon Vera/Mauricio Rua bout on a media call, Dana White has had a change of heart. The news of Rua or Vera getting another crack at Jon Jones hit like a thud. As such, UFC on FOX 4 becomes a four-man affair, as Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader have been added to this penultimate drama. Whoever wins in the most devastating fashion gets the winner of Jones and Dan Henderson.

The fans have spoken. Bigger possibility now comes into play on Saturday night. With bigger possibility, bigger drama.

But this is one of those cases where you wonder if the outcry was fully understood. Back at UFC 103, when the UFC announced a main event rematch between Rich Franklin and Henderson, the “why bother” undertow was so strong that it was immediately shut down. You remember what happened next. Henderson hit a contract snag and defected to Strikeforce, and Franklin got knocked out by Vitor Belfort instead.

It all panned out OK for everybody.

It will pan out OK this time, too; but right now, it’s confusing. It’s White’s prerogative to switch gears as he sees fit, and he’s not afraid to do just that, especially if it calms down outraged fans. Tim Sylvia was pretty close to fighting Daniel Cormier before the roof collapsed in on him. Enter Frank Mir, and everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Mir having no chance is far better than Sylvia having no chance.

Why? Essentially because Mir deserves to be there more. These are the types of alignments we make through initial gut reactions.

But that was last week. This week, whimsy is shaking down the light heavyweight division. The thing is, a lot of people’s fates are attached to the whims. There are the four guys in question, but also Alexander Gustafsson, and even Glover Teixeira, who are hovering around. Not to mention all the out of division foes Jones’ name gets linked to. Are we sorting out merit, or convenience? It’s always a fine line.

I wrote a blog yesterday after it was announced that the Rua/Vera winner would get a title shot, which is down the scroll just below. The gist is, if Jones beats Henderson, neither Rua nor (especially) Vera makes for a compelling rematch. Unfortunately, that problem still exists with the introduction of Bader and Machida. Jones has distanced himself from all of Saturday night’s company. He defeated both Bader and Machida so thoroughly the first time -- the same as with Rua and Vera -- that the drama of a playback just isn’t there.

However, small-view drama that can sort itself out on Saturday night is. And this seems to be what we’re keying in on.

The problem is, we don’t know if Jones will win on Sept. 1. Most only suspect he’ll beat the 41-year old Henderson. Since the promises are being made ahead of the order, it’s difficult to say if any of this makes sense. If Henderson upsets Jones, any of the UFC on FOX guys look like a solid matchup. Since that fight comes a month after this impromptu contender’s tournament, though, we go off of potential disappointments.

And the potential disappointment in this case is that one of these four guys will end up facing Jones in a fight that won’t be altogether riveting, just as Jones enters the most riveting juncture of his career.

White changes his mind quite a bit. Oftentimes it’s because the fans voiced their opinion and, as he’s proved to be many times, he’s a man of the people. By opening up Machida and Bader to the mix, he’s done that again. Now there’s a showcase vibe for Saturday night, and there’s every incentive for each fighter to come out with guns blazing to put the other away.

Whoever does it gets the title shot, whether it makes sense or not. That is, unless, you know, White changes his mind -- which has every chance of being the case.

On Wednesday two Strikeforce title fights were revealed.

Gilbert Melendez defends against Pat Healy on Sept. 29. Daniel Cormier gets Frank Mir (you read that right) not long after.

The first contest signifies everything wrong about how Strikeforce fighters can be handled by Zuffa and Showtime. The second, almost the exact opposite, brings to light the partnership's vast potential.

While it's tremendous that Cormier has an opportunity in his first defense to fight an established former UFC champion, an ideal stepping stone into the Octagon, it's no less maddening to witness Melendez squander his best years against mostly durable, unspectacular opponents.

We know Cormier's next bout will be his last for Strikeforce. The promotion’s heavyweight division on Showtime is shuttered regardless of what happens when Cormier (10-0) tangles with Mir. We also know Melendez remains one of Strikeforce's lone promotable commodities, having signed a lucrative extension just prior to Zuffa taking control of Scott Coker's company.

Yet the vast difference in upward mobility between Cormier and Melendez is mind boggling, and it's apparently due to parameters established by Showtime and Zuffa.

"My career has played out where I've advanced at every step, from one guy to the next to the next,” Cormier told ESPN.com. “I wasn't sure if there were too many guys outside of UFC who fit that. Frank Mir does that and even more.”

That’s terrific. Take nothing away from Cormier. He deserves a chance like this. But contrasted against Melendez’s experience, where it seems as if he’s bound to purgatory, it doesn’t sit so well.

Melendez is ranked in the top five of ESPN.com’s lightweight rankings, yet isn’t free to challenge himself on a regular basis against the toughest men at 155 pounds?

Cormier doesn’t deserve to advance his career more than Melendez. The opposite is probably true. Melendez has been in the game five years longer. He’s been a champion longer. He’s accomplished more. Yet he can’t. He’s stuck. He’s stuck while the possibility of so much more dangles in front of him.

Take Healy. The 29-year-old veteran may have done enough to earn a title shot in Strikeforce, but he’s not a contender that will inspire fans to want to watch. He won’t do a thing to elevate Melendez. He wouldn’t sniff a title fight in the UFC. And thus far, lightweights assigned to the UFC have no interest in moving to Strikeforce to meet Melendez on Showtime.

Where is the lightweight Frank Mir? It’s way past time to get something like that done for Melendez, the network to which he’s bound, and fans dying to see him tested.

Much was made in media reports recently about Showtime's control over the talent that fights on Strikeforce cards. Essentially if a fighter is signed to Strikeforce, he or she is prohibited from moving to the UFC in the vast majority of instances until their contract is over.

Now, you can't blame Showtime for wanting to maintain some semblance of control over the fighters whose fights it airs.

When Zuffa first purchased Strikeforce it almost immediately began plucking away talent, much to Showtime's chagrin, who had some leverage to play with. Nick Diaz, perhaps the network's most consistent name and talent, renegotiated a flexible deal that allowed him to box for a chance to fight Georges St. Pierre. Alistair Overeem had just one contest left on his contract, yet he was lined up for two more because of his participation in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, so Zuffa "cut" him while retaining exclusive rights of negotiation and he ended up in the UFC.

Showtime was left with little more than a degrading fighter roster.

The network was forced to protect itself. It couldn't be in the business of building up talent, only to see fighters yanked away to UFC when they matured enough to deliver a return on investment. Showtime stepped into MMA because of the belief the sport could help build its subscriber base. If the reason people signed up -- the fighters they loved to watch -- were no longer there, then what was the point?

Unfortunately, the melding of boxing and MMA business models essentially meant that fighters had little say over how their careers would transpire.

If a boxer doesn’t want to appear on Showtime, he (or she) can negotiate a deal with HBO. Not so in MMA.

So, we’re left with Cormier as an aberration, and Melendez as the rule. That needs to change for the betterment of everyone involved.

It’s pretty out of character for the UFC’s happy-go-lucky heavyweight champion to start making demands.

I guess when even Junior dos Santos stops smiling, you know you've got a problem.

To date, dos Santos’ public image has been built on his blistering boxing skills and the childlike sense of wonder that seems to have stuck with the 27-year-old Brazilian nicknamed “Cigano” (or “gypsy,” in his native Portuguese) through nine straight wins inside the Octagon.

As a child, when other kids in his neighborhood were turning to gangs and drugs, dos Santos sold ice cream on the street to earn extra money for his family, we were told in the first “UFC Primetime” TV special to spotlight him. When he learned how many millions of people in his home country reportedly watched him knock out Cain Velasquez to win the UFC title last November, dos Santos’ responded like a grade schooler whose winning science project had just landed him in the local paper.

“Whoa,” he exclaimed. “I’m famous!”

If dos Santos didn’t seem like his optimistic, lighthearted self this week while suggesting to ESPN Brazil that MMA needs ongoing and widespread blood testing to stamp out the scourge of performance enhancing drugs, you couldn’t blame him.

Dos Santos has unwittingly been cast into the middle of two of the UFC’s most recent drug scandals. His proposed title defense against Alistair Overeem fell apart in April when a surprise drug test caught Overeem with off-the-charts levels of testosterone. Instead, dos Santos fought and easily defeated Frank Mir at UFC 146, only to later learn that Mir too was taking testosterone, after receiving a therapeutic use exemption for hormone replacement therapy from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

It bears mention that two fights before that, dos Santos defeated Shane Carwin, who in 2010 saw his name included on a list released by federal prosecutors of athletes who allegedly patronized an online pharmacy indicted for selling mail order steroids.

If you were Junior dos Santos, you might feel like the only clean fighter in the heavyweight division right now.

This week he took action, implying he won't sign to face Overeem in the future unless the former Strikeforce champion agrees to increased screening, including blood tests leading up to the fight.

"I think we both need to do that,” dos Santos said. “I want a clean fight and he needs to prove he is not under any kind of substances ... When you have a fight with two 'clean' fighters, you will know after the fight who is the real champion. A guy who uses doping is a fake fighter."

Good for dos Santos for taking this step. No, better yet, great for him.

Fighters are putting their lives on the line each time they step into the Octagon to square off with the world’s best trained and most successful unarmed combatants. Dos Santos routinely faces the biggest and strongest of those opponents, and he has a right to know beyond a reasonable doubt that the men he’s fighting with his bare (or barely covered) hands aren’t souped-up on chemical enhancements.

For the rest of us, PEDs in MMA may be be a complicated issue fraught with moral and ethical conundrums, but for JDS it’s a cut and dried personal safety issue. If he doesn’t feel the current testing is adequate, then he’s well within his bounds to call for more. He is, after all, the industry’s salable product. Without him, there is no show.

Frankly, more high-profile fighters ought to follow dos Santos’ lead and go on record with similar requests. It’d be great, in fact, to see a significant collection of the sport’s top stars all sign up for testing through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, and say they weren’t going to fight anybody who didn’t.

Short of comprehensive, company-wide testing from the UFC itself, it might be the best (read: only?) way to truly clean up this sport.

Quick: What’s 1-2-0-1 since 2009, recently fired yet brought back via a strange case of inhuman urine, that beats up the occasional “Fireman?”

That would be Brandon Vera, a fighter who had such a big buzz on his name back as a heavyweight that he finds himself headlining cards almost in spite of himself.

Vera is one of the fight game’s great enigmas -- he’s cut from a particular kind of fabric that, no matter how much you squint, never fully materializes. Yet his promise was so sincere back when he was beating Frank Mir in 2006 that he still has a sort of ever-lasting curiosity. There’s this hunch about him that just around the next corner is the “real” Brandon Vera, the one that annihilated Justin Eilers and Assuerio Silva en-route to Mir.

This curiosity landed him into big headlining spots against Randy Couture at UFC 105, and then against Jon Jones. And it’s landed him a main event against Mauricio Rua on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles. The UFC had a very small list of available guys that it could grab to stand in against “Shogun” at UFC on FOX 4 after Thiago Silva went down with an injury. Vera -- on fumes and swears -- was available.

Isn’t it funny how things play out? Vera was slotted to rematch Silva a couple of months ago, but wasn’t quite healthy enough to make it happen. So Silva was given Rua. Now with Silva out, Vera is inserted.

But even with the improbable circumstances that led to Vera getting a headlining fight on broadcast television, there’s a sneaking suspicion that there is a vintage form waiting to resurface. Vera himself has alluded to his old self leading up to plenty of fights over the last half decade. He was talking about it as far back as 2008 when he had lost two in a row and Reese Andy along with a new weight class looked like the road map. Vera won unspectacularly in his light heavyweight debut, and has been turning over rocks ever since looking for the “Truth.”

At this point the truth looks more like the helix.

Since Vera beat Mir in 2006, he has won four fights. There was Andy, then Mike Patt, whom he kicked the legs out of. There was Krzysztof Soszynski, arguably his best win in six years, and then Eliot Marshall in his last fight. Andy, Patt and Marshall are no longer in the UFC. Soszysnki is a doctor’s note away from retirement. Vera’s losses to Couture and Keith Jardine were close. Otherwise, the Vera we’ve seen hasn’t been the Vera of all those early notions.

At 34 years old, potential is a funny thing to try and will back into existence.

But if there’s ever been a platform to come soaring back to life, this is it. A win on national broadcast television over a former champion would play wonders for a late run back towards that early thing. The guy still shows up with bad intentions every time he steps in the cage. His legs and knees still induce winces for guys like Patt and Couture. A win against “Shogun” keeps the Vera story alive. It’s a fantastic opportunity for him.

And if Vera leads the fight game in anything for the last five or six years, it’s in opportunities.

Should he squander this one though, it’s safe to say the old Brandon Vera -- the one we thought we knew -- isn’t coming back.

Frank Mir was 22 years old when he made his Octagon debut at UFC 34.

It was Mir’s third pro MMA fight, and in it the fresh-faced Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt took just a minute, five seconds to tap out (and injure, from the look of it) two-time BJJ world champion and former Abu Dhabi open weight titlist Roberto Traven with an armbar.

A sign of things to come? Yeah, you could say that.

One glance at the UFC 34 card and it’s impossible not to feel the passage of time.

In the evening's dueling main events, Randy Couture defeated Pedro Rizzo to retain the heavyweight title, and Carlos Newton lost his welterweight crown to Matt Hughes. Counting Mir, five future UFC champions fought that night, including BJ Penn, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez and Evan Tanner. Also on hand were Matt Lindland, Phil Baroni and -- just in case you want to feel really old -- Pete Williams.

The show took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which lends an undeniably circular vibe to any discussion of what happened to Mir on Saturday night at UFC 146.

What happened, of course, was that we likely witnessed the end of Mir’s career as a top contender to the UFC heavyweight title.

Obviously, nothing is certain. In the shallow heavyweight division, fortunes can turn on a dime, but on the heels of his fifth fight for some version of UFC gold, it’s tough to imagine the now 33-year-old Mir putting together the kind of prolonged run it would take to earn him a sixth.

Not after he was so thoroughly outgunned by Junior dos Santos this weekend, at least. Not after the champ so effortlessly shook off his takedown attempts and repeatedly punished him to the body and head before ultimately leaving him sprawled out on the canvas midway through the second, just to one side of the Octagon’s shiny new MetroPCS logo.

Like we said, the passage of time.

Mir will no doubt fight another day. Not doing so would show a sort of self-awareness and good sense we seldom see in professional athletes, so we must assume he'll go on to have at least a handful of future fights in the UFC. Early this week, the Internet is atwitter with rumors that his most recent and most bitter nemesis, Brock Lesnar, might return; and right now, there could probably be no better development for Mir’s continued relevance.

Even if Mir never fights again, though, he’ll leave a near unparalleled legacy in the 265-pound division. His 16 wins in the Octagon are the most all time by a heavyweight. He twice held the UFC title (though once it was an interim belt) and his highlight wins over Tim Sylvia, Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira rank among the most memorable submissions in the company’s history.

Perhaps most impressively, Mir battled his way back from a 2004 motorcycle accident that short-circuited his first title reign and threatened to end his fighting career entirely. After shattering his femur and tearing all of the ligaments in one knee, Mir returned to go 8-5 during the next six years, arguably besting anything he’d done in the cage prior to the accident.

If it is not the most remarkable comeback story in UFC history, I’m not sure what is.

Now, Mir faces the unenviable task that eventually befalls all athletes: transitioning to the twilight of his career. How he does it will be entirely up to him. Will he serve as a measuring stick for the UFC’s suddenly healthy crop of up-and-comers; fighters like Stefan Struve, Stipe Miocic and Shane del Rosario? Or will he go a route similar to the one taken by Hughes and Couture, crafting his own conclusion by picking his spots in high-profile, big-money bouts?

Aside from Lesnar, the perfect next foe for Mir is probably Barnett, considering their comparable ages, styles and positions in the sport. To make that happen, however, either Barnett would have to be granted his long-awaited return to the UFC or Mir would have to unexpectedly show up in Strikeforce. Not sure either seems overwhelmingly likely.

In any case, Mir spent years in the rarefied air of the heavyweight division’s elite. When the time comes, he should be a shoo-in for the UFC Hall of Fame. Now though, he’ll have to pass the torch -- unceremoniously, as is typical in this sport -- to new standard-bearers like dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and (soon, we hope) Daniel Cormier.

Never was that more apparent than between rounds on Saturday night.

During the final minute of the first, dos Santos had hurt Mir badly, forcing him to stumble sideways, throw a sloppy counterpunch that missed by a mile and shoot for a doomed takedown attempt. In all likelihood, he was saved by the bell. As he sat on his stool receiving orders from his cornermen, the ringside doctor leaned in and asked one of those questions no fighter (no person, really) ever wants to hear.

“Do you know where you are, sir?”

Mir fired off an immediate response: “Mandalay Bay, Vegas, May 26.”

He didn’t sound at all confused. In fact, he sounded completely sure of himself; this declaration issued with the same swagger and unwavering certainty we’ve come to expect from him over the years. The only problem was -- as was instantly pointed out by the UFC broadcast team -- he wasn’t at Mandalay Bay at all.

Mir was back at the MGM Grand.

He was back where it all started, and time was passing.

Frank Mir insists only "stupid" people would argue against the fact that he is the best heavyweight in UFC history, and he mocked Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's claim that the American's ground game is "simple". More »