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Mir sees little point in fighting Roy Nelson

Frank Mir wanted to fight Shane Carwin © Getty Images

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• Profile: Frank Mir

Frank Mir has confessed he sees little advantage in fighting Roy Nelson, because the bout will move neither man closer to a title shot.

Mir is something of a UFC veteran after 17 fights for the organisation, but at the age of 31 he still has plenty of time to launch another assault on the heavyweight crown.

The submissions specialist is coming off a knockout victory over Mirko Cro Cop and wanted the chance to avenge a loss to Shane Carwin, but instead he will take on Nelson, who lost to Junior Dos Santos last time out.

"Roy is coming off a loss and the way our sport works I want to fight a fight where I have a lot to gain," Mir told MMA 30. "A win for either of us doesn't move us towards a title shot. I was looking for a fight with Carwin, he has only lost in a title fight.

"Me and Roy are about the same level right now so I don't think it does anything for either one of us to have a victory.

"Nelson is most dangerous if you move back. He is very good at moving forward... one thing I am going to do is move in, just kind of crash into him. I am a bigger, stronger, faster guy. I am not going to move backwards."

Mir also offered his insight into the future of Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, predicting he would struggle against the UFC's top stars.

"With all the guys with the wrestling ability [in the UFC] I don't think Overeem will do as well as a lot of the fans would like him to do. He is a great fighter, he has some submissions off his back, he has a good guillotine - although I've only seen that at light-heavyweight.

"He's been fighting in boxing rings and now going to fight in a cage… you have some guys like [Cain] Velasquez or [Shane] Carwin or Brock [Lesnar], they are going to change levels and push you against a cage and rip you down. Overeem is going to have to deal with the cage now and when you're a striker, it's an issue."

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