UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos (14-1) will be putting his perfect 8-0 Octagon record on the line when he faces challenger Frank Mir (16-5, 14-5 UFC) in just over two weeks at UFC 146.

Dos Santos was originally scheduled to defend his belt against former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem, but when Overeem tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in a random drug test in April, Mir was selected as a late replacement.

Much has been made in the buildup to the fight of Mir's recent victory over dos Santos's training partner and mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a fight which saw Mir break Nogueira's arm, but dos Santos told USA Today that result is not influencing his preparation.

"His last fight and the way that he beat Minotauro, it doesn't really affect me," dos Santos stated. "We're fighters. We're there to fight. 

Part of the beauty of our sport, part of the beauty of MMA, is that you never know how a fight is going to go. You never know how it's going to end. With that fight, Mir saw his chance and he took advantage of it. He did what a good fighter does.

For us who know Minotauro, it was really sad to see that. It was sad for his Brazilian fans, especially for those of us who know him personally and are with him in training settings. It was sad for us to see him lose that way. But that has absolutely no bearing on my fight against Frank Mir.

I fight because I am a fighter. What I'm there to defend is my belt, is my title. I fight because of my own determination, my desire to win. I'm there for me. I'm there for my family.

People want to talk about the storyline of revenge or things like that. That's a non-issue for me. That's not why I'm there."

Although he is not letting any thoughts of revenge cloud his mind in the buildup to the fight, dos Santos does believe that Mir's skill with jiu-jitsu is something special, even in a sport which features many masters of the art.

"Mir does set himself apart," dos Santos said. "He is a very explosive fighter. When he attacks, he attacks to submit. He's not somebody that you can play around with. He's a guy that you have to take extremely serious all the time.

He's extremely dangerous in his submissions. I'm preparing to face him in that way, to just take this fight extremely seriously, knowing how dangerous he is on the ground."

Still, despite the praise which dos Santos is quick to give Mir for his submission skills, he feels there are weaknesses in his opponent's striking and mental game that can be exploited.

"Mir's boxing is reasonable," dos Santos explained. "It's OK. 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...