USA TODAY: Former UFC champ Frank Mir books Strikeforce fight vs. Daniel Cormier by John Morgan on Jul 26, 2012 at 6:00 am ET (This story appeared in Thursday's edition of USA TODAY.) Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Frank Mir (16-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC) is temporarily leaving the octagon in favor of a Strikeforce cage. USA TODAY Sports confirmed with UFC and Strikeforce officials that Mir had agreed to meet Strikeforce grand prix winner and former two-time Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier (10-0 MMA, 7-0 SF) at a yet-to-be-announced Strikeforce event expected to take place in late October. It will air on Showtime. "There has been a lot of speculation as to who Cormier would fight next, and this is the fight that makes the most sense," UFC President Dana White said. "The reality is, Cormier is one of the best heavyweights in the world. He just won the grand prix and beat Josh Barnett. He needs to fight opponents of that caliber, and Frank Mir is that guy." Strikeforce was purchased by the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, in March 2011. The companies have since operated independently, and differences between White and Strikeforce's broadcast partners at Showtime have led to a largely frosty relationship. However, this booking represents a temporary change in direction, as the UFC and Strikeforce rosters were previously considered mutually exclusive. After the fight, both Mir and Cormier will compete in the UFC after a decision this past fall for Strikeforce to dissolve its heavyweight division and focus on developing other weight classes. Many of the company's heavyweights moved to the UFC, while Cormier stayed to finish out the heavyweight tournament.
Yeah Cormier has great hands and is a bear to takedown. Frank has nothing for him. That being said, great move by Zuffa and Mir. Zuffa gives Cormier a challenger of a caliber that you won't find on the Strikeforce roster. It will further develop Cormier. Meanwhile, Mir gets a shot at another title.
Cormier will KO Mir pretty easily. JDS will KO Cain again. Cormier will come over to the UFC and fight on the undercard of Overeem vs JDS. Let's say he fights winner of Nelson/Carwin ,beats them and is introduced properly to the UFC crowd and will challenge JDS in the summer of 2013 (If Mayans let us see 2013 of course)
is cormier merely a grand prix champion or is he the actual current SF heavyweight champion? i kinda remember the stipulations being that had overeem lost in the tourney, the winner would've then gotten a shot at him for the belt or something along those lines. it's like crocop winning the final pride openweight grand prix, but fedor was still the champ. my guess is that the heavyweight belt is still vacant since overeem's departure.
I just read that there is no heavyweight division. Never mind a belt. Cormier is only honoring the last fight of the contract. After that the division is dead.
Cormier better hope JDS beats Cain again, or he's going to have to cut to 205. He will beat Mir easy though. Bad style match up for Mir.
