UFC 107 Preview: Frank Mir, Cheick Kongo Set for Classic Striker vs. Grappler Showdown

The UFC's heavyweight has been criticized in the past for being rather shallow in terms of talent. In the last few years, there wasn't a huge disparity in the number of fighters in between the champion and the bottom of the division, but the infusion of fighters like Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, Todd Duffee, and Patrick Barry has increased the numbers and legitimate talent in the division. Of those prospects, both Velasquez and Carwin have put themselves into prime positioning to fight for the title while Duffee has exploded onto the scene and Barry continues to have a little hype surrounding him following his destruction of Antoni Hardonk.

One of the more important heavyweight bouts we'll see in the next six months will be the UFC 107 bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist and former UFC Interim Heavyweight champion Frank Mir (12-4, 10-4 UFC) and French Muay Thai/Savate striker Cheick Kongo (14-5-1, 7-3 UFC). Mir is currently trying to make his way back toward the top of the division in hopes of a rubber match with Brock Lesnar after being completely dominated at UFC 100 at his own game. Kongo is looking to rebound from his loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 after nearly punching Velasquez out in each of the three rounds, but subsequently succumbing to Velasquez's wrestling background for much of the round.

There's no mystery how each fighter will approach this fight. Mir isn't going to come out and try to prove that he has K-1 level striking as he's said in past fights. He'll be looking to work his exceptional ground game to transition from submission to submission to catch Kongo's lengthy limbs. Kongo will want to work his reach and power from a distance with the help of his Muay Thai background to punish Mir. It's a simple, straight-forward fight that has a lot of interesting questions that will be answered.

The first of those questions being whether or not Kongo has learned from his previous bout with Cain Velasquez. While Mir doesn't have explosive takedown ability, he does have the ability to gain takedowns through precise timing. Kongo's inability to block takedowns has been the sole reason he isn't an undefeated fighter. His length isn't exactly an asset in Mir's world on the floor, so he'll need to quickly get back to his feet if he finds himself on his back.

The question for Mir is whether or not he'll be able to find a way to take Kongo down before being peppered with range attacks from Kongo. I don't want to hear the arrogant Mir tell me he'll beat up Kongo on the feet. We all know where this fight will go if Mir wants to win. Kongo nearly KO'd Velasquez on three separate occasions, and Mir doesn't have the explosive legs that Velasquez possesses. It might actually be an easier task for Kongo to hit Mir in the chin than Velasquez.

Ultimately, I have to go with Frank Mir in this fight. He seems to be more focused on actually working his ground game than actually trying to prove he can strike with anyone in the division. He also happens to be one of the only heavyweights in the world with such a highly-credentialed grappling game, and he has the ability to latch onto limbs and never let go. That'll come in handy against the taller Kongo, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a heel hook or leg submission in this fight. In any case, I think Mir pulls off the submission victory here.