This is the week that hardcore MMA fans have been waiting for weeks now. I’m going to wait until Wednesday to preview the lightweight title fight in the five questions preview. For now, the focus is on former champions on losing streaks. Some people may never consider Carlos Condit champion, but he’s earned the right to be called a former champion by beating Nick Diaz. He’s always involved in great fights and constantly evolves as a fighter. For him to earn five straight victories in the welterweight division shows that he’s part of an elite group.

Former Champions in Need of a Victory

He is on a losing streak though, which seems shocking considering his last two fights were memorable fight of the nights. The fight against Johnny Hendricks seemed to raise his stock up even more, after showing how much punishment he can take and how their isn’t any quit in him. His wrestling remains to be his only major flaw. It was one of the main focal points in his camp for his upcoming fight against Martin Kampmann.

Another former champion that struggles with wrestlers happens to be fighting this week as well. Frank Mir is one of the most well rounded heavyweights in the world today. Similar to Condit, he trains at Greg Jackson’s gym and has benefited from him greatly. Unlike Condit, he’s coming off two lackluster performances that have fans wondering if this is the start of his decline.

With the heavyweight division being so loaded in talent, they didn’t give him any favors going up against Josh Barnett. Barnett is a proven wrestler, along with being a proven finisher on the ground whether it’s from punches or a submission. It’s the ultimate test for Mir to prove if he has another run left in him to challenge for the heavyweight title. I’m going to break down both fighters’ upcoming fights exclusively.

Carlos Condit

This is the perfect opportunity for Condit, where he can avenge his loss to Kampmann and face someone who isn’t a wrestler. Kampmann has shown he posses’ great grappling and ground control, but he likes to stand and trade strikes more. While his game plan in this fight will differentiate, he is always confident in his Muay Thai to finish fights.

That will play into Condit’s hands, where everyone knows how dangerous his striking is. He constantly pushes forward and goes from different angles to land his strikes. Unlike Kampmann, he constantly moves and always seems to have another strike coming to frustrate his opponent. Sometimes when you watch him fight, Kampmann goes for the knockout blow too often and doesn’t have another strike coming. He becomes too predictable and stagnant.

That bodes well for Condit, who has proven he can land a high kick or flying knee in an instant. If he makes this fight into a brawl, he’ll come out on top. His pace will be too much too handle, which is why I’m expecting Kampmann to attempt to ground him similar to their first fight. This is where his training with Olympian Jake Herbert and expert wrestling coach Ricky Lundell will be put to the test.

His dedication to wrestling in his training camp was major, since it’s proven to be his downfall in his last two fights. With judges favoring takedowns so much, it becomes even more crucial to defend takedowns. Even though Condit is excellent off his back utilizing sharp elbows and getting the fight back to its feet, it’s clear that he needed to dedicate more time into wrestling.

Kampmann isn’t a pushover and has proven to be one of the top welterweights in the world for years. After a devastating knockout loss to Johnny Hendricks at UFC 154, he knows this is must-win as well if he wants a title shot in the future. The same goes for Condit, who knows two wins could very well earn him another title shot. If he can keep the fight standing, we’ll see Condit show why he’s known as “The Natural Born Killer”. This is a five round fight, which gives him a lot of time to go for the knockout. His wrestling will be tested and we’ll see if he has now become a complete fighter

Frank Mir

It boggles my mind how many people have written Mir off going into this fight. He loses against two of the top three heavyweights in the world, which began talks of possibly declining. I’d expect intelligent MMA fans to wait and see his next fight, before making that assumption. How fitting is that Mir has made a career of proving critics wrong with his title victories over Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira when he was a heavy underdog.

With his move to Greg Jackson’s camp, we’ve seen how improved he’s looked physically and how his cardio improved. Now it was clear that he needed more work on his wrestling, which he’s done with Ricky Lundell. The issue seems to be simply mechanics by not using his knees enough to get off the cage. You would expect his strength to help him with grappling, yet he was constantly pushed and held against the cage against Daniel Cormier.

You would expect Josh Barnett to use that to his advantage. The difference is that Barnett won’t show Mir the respect that Cormier did, when it comes to going to the ground. He isn’t afraid to the ground and he’ll salvage becoming the first person to ever submit Mir. That is what makes this fight so special because other than Fabricio Werdum, nobody is better on the ground in the heavyweight division than these two fighters. Nogueira will always be one of the greatest, but it’s clear that age has caught up to him.

What Mir needs to do is stay persistent with his striking, but don’t become over aggressive. While Barnett doesn’t possess knockout power, he is a nightmare on the ground with the way he quickly can go into side control or full mount. Even though he doesn’t have a problem in going to the ground, Mir needs to avoid being on the bottom otherwise he could very well not get up again until after the bell.

The intriguing storyline that can play into the fight is how confident Barnett is. His competition in the last six years hasn’t featured many top fighters. Despite the lack of competition, he doesn’t see Mir on his level and feels he can bully his way to a victory with his wrestling. They are both equally as strong, while Mir has proven to be the better striker and has caught fighters on the ground before when they recklessly threw punches. Timing could mean everything in a fight and it could be the element that propels Mir to victory, whether it’s standing or on the ground,

Despite the difficult opponents, both fighters should feel confident going into their respective fights. If it wasn’t for his lack of wrestling, Condit could have very well beaten Kampmann the first time around. Now that he’s starting to value it so much in his training camp, I’ll be surprised to see him taken down repeatedly again. Even if he manages to get taken down, he is so talented on the ground that it’s nearly impossible to keep him down.

As for Mir, he has the tougher test and has even more pressure. Josh Barnett is looking to show critics that he’s still a top heavyweight. If he can avoid getting into a grappling match, then I like his chances. If he can continue to use kicks like he has in his past few fights, that can also play a huge role in winning the fight. We’ll see where both fighters stand come next week.

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