Mir vs. Nogueira II Takes UFC 119 Main Event Slot

Just days after speculation that UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar would defend his belt against Cain Velasquez in the main event of UFC 119 was shot down by UFC president Dana White, the promotion has compiled a heavyweight fight between former champions Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir in a rematch from their UFC 92 showdown.

MMAFighting.com learned of the match up earlier today from White.

After defeating Nogueira for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 92, Mir has gone 1-2, losing to Lesnar in their title unification bout at UFC 100, defeating Cheick Kongo via first round submission at UFC 107, and getting brutally knocked out by Shane Carwin in their interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 111.

Nogueira has not had much better luck as of late. Following the loss to Mir, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace scored a unanimous decision victory over Randy Couture at UFC 102, but followed up the win with a first round knockout loss to fast-rising heavyweight Cain Velasquez at UFC 110.

The rematch has come to fruition after Nogueira consistently requesting another fight with Mir. Nogueira came into the first fight with concerns about his health due to a staph infection, believing that another bout with Mir was justified. Mir stated numerous times that he would be willing to face, and defeat, Nogueira again.

The bout is set for the main event slot of UFC 119, which will take place at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 25. The co-main event of the evening will feature Nogueira’s brother, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who is set to face off against light heavyweight prospect Ryan Bader.

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