• UFC 111

Carwin wins unless I've improved says Mir

Brock Lesnar dished out a beating to Frank Mir at UFC 100 © UFC

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Frank Mir has admitted he will have a "short night" against Shane Carwin at UFC 111 unless he improves upon his last defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar.

Mir fights Carwin for the interim UFC heavyweight title in New Jersey on Saturday, with the winner going on to face Lesnar for the undisputed crown. ESPN.co.uk understands that bout is pencilled in for July 3 in Las Vegas.

In many ways Carwin represents a good test of how far Mir has come since he lost to Lesnar back in July 2009, when Lesnar dominated him on the mat for a second round stoppage. The undefeated 6ft 2in Carwin has a powerful wrestling base with genuine knockout power in both hands, meaning he possesses the tools to manhandle Mir in the same way Lesnar managed at UFC 100.

Since that defeat, Mir has gone into the gym to add an extra 20 pounds through sheer strength work, and he has also attempted to improve his wrestling against the cage. Come fight night, he will find out if all his hard work has been worth it.

"I did learn my weaknesses [against Lesnar]," Mir admitted. "I realised some mistakes I had been making and I got to watch film. I sat there with other people that I know are better at things than I am and then I got to try to work it in practice.

"Obviously I don't think anybody really enjoys being shoved up against the cage, but obviously there's a lot more technique to it than I displayed at UFC 100. So yes, there's areas I can improve upon.

"And the great thing about it is that if I make the same mistakes against Carwin, it'll be a short night also."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.