• UFC 146

'Average' Mir better than me? In his dreams - Dos Santos

Junior Dos Santos expects to outclass Frank Mir on his feet © Getty Images

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UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos is well renowned for his respectful manner, but he has uncharacteristically spoken out against forthcoming rival Frank Mir, claiming he "talks too much" and "lacks courage".

Dos Santos puts his heavyweight belt on the line at UFC 146, taking on the man who recently broke the arm of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who is the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu mentor of the champion.

For that very reason alone Dos Santos is not Mir's biggest fan, and he questions both the American's boxing and courage when under pressure. Mir has previously dropped the likes of Cheick Kongo with his power left hand, but Dos Santos is not impressed.

"Mir's boxing is reasonable. It's OK," the champ told USA Today. "He takes advantage sometimes, just from the fact that he's left-handed, but he's really just pretty average with his boxing.

"Any heavyweight hits hard. All heavyweights hit hard. But compared to other heavyweights, compared to me, compared to my boxing - I'm faster than him, I hit harder than him, and I'm better technically.

"I think when Mir's in a good spot in the fight - when he's in a good moment and in a good position - he's very dangerous. But Mir doesn't really know how to get through rough spots in a bout.

"When he gets in those rough spots, his courage goes out the window; his aggression goes out the window.

"What happened against Nogueira in his last fight was really an anomaly, because Mir got caught standing up. He got caught. He was ready to go down, ready to go out, and he was able to get through that and come back. That never happens in Mir's fights.

"Usually when Mir gets into a little bit of trouble during a fight, he can't come back from it."

Mir has suggested that Dos Santos has to finish the fight early on May 26, claiming the Brazilian will be in trouble the longer the fight goes. Again, Dos Santos was surprisingly vocal in his response.

"Absolutely I disagree with that. Frank Mir is dangerous. He's a fighter that needs to be taken seriously. But he's also a fighter that talks too much. His style of promoting fights is to just talk a lot.

"He previously said that he was faster than me. That's only in his dreams. Of course, he isn't faster than me. I'm faster. For sure I hit harder. And if the fight goes to rounds three or four or five, for sure I take the advantage."

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