Frank Mir (photo via UFC)

By Joshua Molina

Can Frank Mir pull off the upset?

Unlike every other Strikeforce vs. UFC matchup that has happened, the Strikeforce guy is the big favorite. Nobody gives Mir, the former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion, a chance against Cormier.

That’s a mistake.

Anyone who has submitted Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brock Lesnar certainly has a chance to win.  Mir has big fight experience. He has taken beatings and he’s not afraid to take one again.

Cormier, a former NCAA Division I wrestler, also has powerful hands.  But even though he’s a rising star, he’s not young, by fight standards anyway.

He’s 34, and unless your Herschel Walker, age usually slows even great fighters.

Mir is actually younger, at 33.

Both fighters have a reputation for not training as hard as they could.  But even though Cormier looks a bit thick around the middle, he actually has a lot more stamina than Mir, who always tires in fights.

Still, there’s something about this fight that feels like a surprise may be order. Mir was crushed by Junior Dos Santos. He needs a victory badly. He claims that he’s hungry again now that he’s training with Greg Jackson.

Does Frank Mir have one last miracle in him?  Is Cormier ready for the bright lights of the UFC?

As Uriah Hall, Miesha Tate and Alistair Overeem recently found out, anything can happen.