Frank Mir

By Michael Hatamoto

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will meet Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem at UFC 167 in November, in what is a ‘must-win’ fight for both fighters.

Mir is a former heavyweight champion, but is riding a three-fight losing streak to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, and Josh Barnett – and hasn’t won a fight since destroying Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm with a kimura technical submission in December 2011.

Meanwhile, Overeem also will enter the fight with a two-fight losing streak, after being finished by Travis Browne and Antonio Silva, both by knockout. The Dutch kickboxing specialist beat Fabricio Werdum and Brock Lesnar, showing great promise towards being a possible contender in the division, but has not had good success in 2013.

If you asked me a couple of years ago, I would have ventured to guess Mir would win this fight. I believe Mir, working with Greg Jackson’s camp, still hasn’t shown his true potential in the cage – and Overeem has too much power to let Mir hang around for a long time.

However, if Mir can survive the early onslaught, there is a likelihood Overeem could fatigue and get tired, which could be big trouble later in the fight.

It’s a shame Overeem hasn’t had great success in the UFC, because he has been a former K-1 champion, Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, and former DREAM interim heavyweight champion throughout his career heading into the UFC.

Both fighters better enter the octagon needing a victory, and if should be an interesting battle to watch for MMA fans.