Minotauro Nogueira and Frank Mir bout gets top billing
UFC has confirmed a between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir which will headline UFC 119 in Indianapolis. Nogueira is all set to prove that Mir’s 2008 victory over him was a ‘fluke’.
To a card that also features Rogerio Nogueira, Mir vs. Nogueira will provide the main event. For the first time, Rogerio Nogueira fights on the same UFC card as his brother. In a co-main event, Rogerio meets Ryan Bader. A win in this bout will propel the winner into the light-heavyweight division’s title picture.
Chris Lytle welterweight clash against the Matt Serra has been confirmed
The bout between Minotauro Nogueira and Frank Mir get top billing. Against the Brazilian, Mir delivered schooling in the art of boxing. To inflict the first knockout of Nogueira’s career, the former champion peppered Nogueira for seven minutes, dropping him three times.
Just 20 days before the fight, Minotauro has later revealed that he had suffered a staph infection because of which he had spent five of those remaining days in hospital. Dana White, UFC president and jiu-jitsu specialist claims that the rematch would be very different. White showed keen interest to give him the chance to prove it.
White said, “Ever since Frank Mir beat Nogueira for the heavyweight title in 2008, Minotauro has asked me for this rematch because he wants to prove that the first fight was a fluke. On September 25, he gets his wish, and I don’t think there’s any fighter more motivated than he is to even the score.
He added, “As for Frank Mir, he wants to get back in the title picture, and if I know him, he was the first man to knock Nogueira out at UFC 92, and now he’ll want to be the first man to make him tap out.”
If the pair enters into a ground battle on September 25, there will be few better match-ups in the sport, although both of the fighters are coming off big losses, Nogueira to Cain Velasquez and Mir to Shane Carwin.
