Mark Twain once said: "To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence."
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Frank Mir may very well have an equal portion of both, and he's never been shy about exposing his wealth of either.
Mir will take on an opponent who is perhaps his toughest match up ever when he squares off against UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 26, 2012.
During an interview with Fox Sports, Mir talked about his chances in his upcoming title bout. Whether you call it ignorance or confidence, one thing is for sure: Mir believes he has what it takes to not only contend with "Cigano," but to decisively defeat him:
"Obviously, I predict that I win by submission. Early first round. I have to have in his mind that there's a certain threat of a danger, that if I can grab you and put on a submission, if you don't tap, that might work to my advantage and he taps quick."
The champion recently turned some heads when he questioned Mir's manhood and his ability to push through bad spots in a fight. Mir responded to those allegations:
"I think what he's saying is he's seen moments where I didn't fight as hard as I could have, and maybe I didn't fight back. But of course, in my opinion, I would disagree. I could point out, you know, the first Brock Lesnar fight."
It's somewhat of a consensus opinion that if the fight goes to the mat, Mir will be favored. Conversely, most fans and experts alike would expect for "JDS" to hold the advantage in the stand up game.
Mir believes he has a winning gameplan, but he also knows that can all go out the window (or cage door) when the leather starts to fly:
"Basically, you have to go and fight him. The fact that I'm a south paw, the way I'm gonna ty and maneuver and work -- I have ideas to try and nullify his jab. We can all gameplan and work out all these different contingency plans, but lose the fight night when we start throwing down leather. We'll see what happens."
It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting match up. Be sure and check in with MMAmania.com early and often on Sat., May 26, for LIVE coverage of UFC 146 here.
Here's the entire video of the interview with dos Santos and Mir, via FoxSports.com:
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