Why I don't want to see Lesnar/Mir III.

With former UFC champ Brock Lesnar due to face former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem in just over two weeks, the rumour mill is working overtime with news of potential cancellations on either side. There has been speculation that Overeem might not pass the required drug tests to fight in the UFC, with one of his drug tests not having been accepted because it was taken by his personal doctor and shipped to Germany from the Netherlands.

Alistair Overeem - Middleweight

Alistair Overeem - 100 pounds or so later

Considering that the current 260 pounder fought in the Pride middleweight division as recently as 2005, it seems reasonable to expect him to be tested more than other athletes in the run up to UFC 141 on December 30th in Las Vegas. This was brought up in the post-fight press conference for UFC 140 last weekend, and heavyweight notable Frank Mir instantly offered to take Overeem's place should he not be allowed to compete.

While Mir deserves a big fight after his great performance at UFC 140, Lesnar is not the opponent that I would like to see him face. Lesnar has been competing in MMA since 2007, and due to illnesses and a couple of serious surgeries, he has still only fought 7 times, with a professional record of 5-2. One of these wins and one loss were both against Mir, the loss in 2008 and win in 2009. For a fighter of Lesnar's potential and high profile going for only his eighth bout, the idea that three of these would be against the same opponent is really not an appealing one.

When you add this to the fact that Mir only managed to beat Lesnar because Lesnar's lack of experience let him get caught in a kneebar while giving Mir an over enthusiastic beatdown, there is little reason for him to be granted another shot. I was all for Mir/Lesnar two, and Lesnar showed that he had grown since they first met in his second ever fight, by giving Mir a more drawn out, painful looking beating the second time they faced each other. As far as i'm concerned, this is the end of it.

I respect the tenacity of Mir, in being so eager to jump in the Octagon with Lesnar again, but I think they both need some new opponents, and with so many available there seems no reason to throw these two together once again. Lesnar is trying to get back into the title scene, and Mir is coming off a big win, so in my opinion he should next be put up against dethroned champ Cain Velasquez, or given a chance to avenge his 2010 loss against former title contender Shane Carwin. Either way, these two squaring off is old news, and should not be bothered with until Mir gives us reason to believe he won't end up getting his face smashed up at the hands of Lesnar for a third time.