Three years after they first stepped into the Octagon together, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are set to meet again.
Mir vs. Nogueira 2 has been confirmed for UFC 140 on Dec. 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, with Mir finally getting his next opponent and Nogueira making a quick turnaround after his impressive victory over Brendan Schaub in August.
In their first meeting, at UFC 92, Mir pulled off what was then an upset and became the first person ever to finish Nogueira, winning a second-round technical knockout. That fight came at the conclusion of their season coaching against each other on The Ultimate Fighter, gave Mir the UFC’s interim heavyweight title, and set up Mir for his bout with Brock Lesnar at UFC 100.
Mir has gone 3-2 since the first Nogueira fight, losing to Lesnar and Shane Carwin and beating Cheick Kongo, Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson. Nogueira has gone 2-1 since losing to Mir, beating Randy Couture and losing to Cain Velasquez before beating Schaub.
The UFC’s heavyweight division is looking revitalized right now, with Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos and Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem set for November and December. The Mir-Nogueira rematch isn’t quite as big a fight as those two, but it’s another sign that we’re going to see some big heavyweight action in the months ahead.