A UFC heavyweight matchup between former heavyweight champ Frank Mir (14-5) and Roy “Big Country” Nelson (15-5) appears to be in the works for the upcoming UFC 130 event.
News of the bout was first reported by BetUS.com and has since been confirmed by MMAjunkie.com, who noted that Nelson’s current contract issues will not prevent him from fighting.
Mir is 2-1 in his last three bouts and is coming off a victory from his UFC 119 headlining bout with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovi? last September. Mir knocked out the former Pride champ with a knee in the third round. The victory erased a UFC interim heavyweight title loss to Shane Carwin at UFC 111 earlier in the year. So far he’s 12-5 in the UFC and is looking to make another run at the title, with current champ Cain Velasquez out for at least half the year an interim title bout could be in the works.
“Big Country” is coming off his first loss in the UFC since winning season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in December of 2009. The loss was to Junior dos Santos at UFC 117 in a #1 contender match last August. Since that time Nelson had been booked to meet Shane Carwin at UFC 125 but contract issues with a former promotion forced him off that card and have kept him sidelined till now.
UFC 130 will take place on Memorial Day weekend on May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. There is an unsubstantiated report from ESPN that the event will host the title rematch between lightweight title holder Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. The MMA News will keep you updated as soon as we learn more.