Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: I’d Love to Rematch Frank Mir at UFC 107
A rumored heavyweight matchup between Frank Mir and Cheick Kongo slated for UFC 107 could be scrapped, at least if Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira gets his way, as the former interim title-holder, who bested Randy Couture at last weekend’s UFC 102 event, is calling for a rematch with Mir at the December 12 event in Memphis, Tennessee.
“If I was making excuses, I would have been making excuses right after the fight. I’m not making excuses, I’m giving you a reason,” Nogueira recently told MMA Weekly. “If Mir feels it’s an excuse, then lets get in the Octagon and see whether it’s an excuse or a reason in December and settle it. I’d love to fight Frank Mir at UFC 107.”
Nogueira previously had his sights set on a title shot against Brock Lesnar, but Mir has been vocal in accusing Nogueira and others of making excuses for Nogueira’s December 2008 loss to Mir rather than giving Mir credit for the victory.
A Nougiera-Mir rematch could bolster the UFC 107 lineup, which lost a matchup between TUF 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans on Friday after Jackson accepted a role in the upcoming “A-Team” movie that will postpone the fight until early-2010.
The pay-per-view event is headlined by lightweight champ BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, but has not yet been officially announced, providing the UFC an opportunity to book the rematch between Nogueira and Mir.
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 107 news and UFC 107 rumors.
Pictured: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
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Please…please…please I beg the UFC to do this… Mir’s ticked at Rogan and everyone else for bringing up Nogs issues. Nog wants to prove it’s a fluke… this fight would be a war.
Mir beat him the first time & I think he can do it again! Either way it’s gonna be a SLOBBERKNOCKER!!
if they fight 10 times Nog wins 80% of the time I see Nog winning this one and hopefully gettin a title shot!!
I agree. I couldn’t believe Nog lost to Mir in that first fight. Nog does everything Mir does only better, he just didn’t show up for that fight.
This is one of the few MMA issues where I see both sides.
I was a bit surprised how little credit Frank Mir, a former UFC HW champion and Interim HW champion received when he beat BigNog.
I realize that Mir is an aquired taste in terms of personality, while BigNog comes off as the consummate sportsman, which he is, but still, Mir beat Nog pretty definitively.
Also, of course not Nog himself, because he has WAY too much class, but some of his more rabid supporters were carrying on at length about how BigNog was just recovering from radiation poisoning or the after-effects of some Hogwarts potion gone awry or some such just days before and after the Mir fight.
Its been said here at the frenZy many times before that when sh!t happens, you can either pull out of the fight, or man up and tough it out, which is what BigNog did, and in the process earned not just a loss to a great HW in Frank Mir, but the respect of new fans, like myself, and the good will of the promotion.
Which is something that a guy like Rich Franklin can attest to being a good thing to have.
So while I’m politely calling for Frank Mir to finally get his respect, seeing as how in 2 of his last 3 fights he submitted current champion Brock Lesnar and T/KO’ed former champion BigNog, I’m also LOUDLY calling for the UFC to PLEASE wave off that nothing happening Mir-Kongo fight, in which Kongo would most assuredly get hooked and submitted by Mir, and instead sign a Mir-BogNog rematch for 107, with the winner getting a title shot.
I think if Nog wins title shot if Mir wins he fights Velasques for the number 1 contendership
Not that I disagree with your thinking, ufcmanz, but I believe that Cain Velasquez has already qualified for a title shot, as Dana White said he gets the winner at UFC 106: Lesnar-Carwin, When Cavemen Collide…
if you think nog was 100% your crazy. mir is one of the most overrated fighters in the ufc, and he in for a beating like randy got. btw kongo is weak on the ground, but i think mir will have trouble with him.
You might want to try doing some research on what Frank Mir has accomplished in this sport at and by the age of 30 before posting something as off-point as “Mir is one of the most overrated fighters in the UFC”, primarily because one of the people who disagree with your take on Mir is BogNog himself, and said as much both before and after his fight with Mir.
As for BigNog giving Couture a “beating”, which implies it was some sort of one-sided affair, nothing could be further from the truth. Both men gave and took hella punishment, and on that particular night BigNog earned a well-deserved decision, but it was Couture who left the Octagon in remarkably solid shape and with the lion’s share of the praise and applause.
And I should know, because I was there.
And regarding a hypothetical fight between Mir and Kongo, I’m sure the majority of MMA fans feel that Kongo is at this stage of his career still too one-dimensional to hang with a fighter at Mir’s level. Other than the standard striker’s chance, exactly how do you see “Mir having trouble with [Kongo]?”
Mir wins this fight relatively easily, and moreso most MMA people know it, which is why almost everyone is calling for that fight to be waved off in favor of a MUCH better fight between 2 top 5 UFC HWs in Mir and BigNog.
This isn’t any sort of personal attack, by the way, but just my efforts to keep things here at the frenZy grounded and relatively factual, particularly when they involve fighters at the level of BigNog, Couture, and Mir…
jcohl did you watch the fight? omg, and Couture proved he has alot of heart, but he was out classed in every way. oh ok nog would disagree with me. just like gsp would agree with me that fedor is the best p4p. since when do you ever use the opinon of great fighters. you will never see mir with a belt around his waist again. the hw division is finaly starting to get good and hes out of his league. Kongo has only been finshed once in his career and i just think hes a tough fight for anyone.
Mir is not one of the most overrated fighters in the UFC… he’s not one of the elite heavyweights in the UFC but he isn’t overrated. He’d take out 90% of the Hwts in the UFC. Only way he struggles with Kongo is if he tries to stand and bang. Kongo has improved a lot but Mir’s BJJ is incredible, and to be honest he has underrated wrestling IMO. Kongo’s takedown defense would have to improve greatly in order to avoid being run over.
Jcohl- I will say it wasn’t a blow out but watching it on PPV there was no doubt who was in control of the fight. Couture had his moments and fought the good fight but Nog was in control the majority of the fight with a few brief exceptions. It was by no means a blowout though.
@ chrisl – I can completely understand how the fight looks different to the people who were there, and maybe caught up in all of the ambient emotion and energy and noise, and the home audience, who had the luxury of watching in a more detatched, objective environment.
And again, let me be clear, Couturian I may be, but in no way shape or form was I trying to disregard BigNog’s amazing performance.
THE MAN CLEARLY WON THE FIGHT, which was evident even from the 100 level seats of the Rose Garden…
I wasn’t saying you were disputing that haha. I was trying to point out that from home with all the angles we were given, that even when Couture appeared to be in a dominant position he was mostly being controlled by Nog’s BJJ. I will say I made a $100 extra on that fight by calling whenever Nog was about to sweep or lock in a sub. The video angles make it really easy to judge a fight from home because you can see all the little set-ups and traps being set.
I love seeing events live for the excitement but I’ll still look for a recording of the fight after to truly analyze what I saw. Then again I’m a film room analyst… haha
90% i dont think so. im not saying mir sucks, but hes just not this ledgend that ufc fans make him out to be. i mean when most people talk about mir they say “yeah he’s awesome he broke tim sylvia’s arm” wow. he didnt look to good against Brandon Vera. well maybe im wrong he did beat tank abbott.
Flatlandtom- You do raise a good point there about Mir’s legend. However, this is another case of a fighters early career raising his profile now. It’s important to remember that he did break his femur in two places and blew out 3 ligaments in his knee in his motorcycle crash. I have argued against him in the past BUT it doesn’t take away from the fact that in 2006 he fought 3x in his first 9 months back from that injury. As far as I am concerned he’s a new fighter (and not taking away anything from Vera) and better fighter now than he was in ‘06.
Also his striking is improved and continues to improve each fight.
Also to be fair he also submitted Roberto Traven… Who is Traven you ask? Only an Abu Dhabi and 2x World BJJ champion(also runs Unit 2 here in Atlanta, guy is incredible in BJJ) who was 6-1 at the time. To submit him is impressive to say the least.
wow is awesome.
If you ask me Nog should get the winner of Valasquez/Rothwell for the number #1 contender spot to fight the winner of Brock/Carwin. That’s how I’d like to see it unfold personally. =) I’d also love to see Nog get a rematch with Mir.
I see what you thinking, but what if Rothwell beats Cain? There is no way Nog should have to fight Rothwell in order to get a shot at Brock/Carwin.
We all Know that Nog wasn’t 100% for the Mir fight with reportedly an infection he suffered and had to be hospitalized prior to the bout. After seeing his REAL performance against Randy I would love to see a rematch instead of a 20 second sub of Kongo.
i think we can all agree to that. after seeing the nog-mir fight, it was clear that nog wasnt himself. he had zero defense and had attempted no game plane, was absolutely passive.
i am pretty sure that the second time around he’d give mir a run for his money. i’m not sure who’d win, but it would clarify the issue who is better.
i want to see brock fight someone of his own weight and size.
is dan severn still alive???
LETS SEE DAN SEVERN VS. DA VANILLA GORILLA
Severn is both lighter and I believe shorter than Lesnar, and older than Randy Couture.
If you’re wanting to see Lesnar in the cage against someone his own size, just wait until November and order UFC 106: When Cavemen Collide on PPV, or better yet, try and make your way to the Las Vegas, as there is nothing quite like the aura and energy of a live UFC event.
Nogs performance against Randy proved hes still got it. I couldnt believe he lost to Mir in the fashin that he did. I 100% buy his story of being hurt going into that fight because he didnt look at all like he had in his previous dozens of fights.
This is Nog’s OPINION on what he wants to do. But when Anderson Silva gives his opinion everyone got Pi$$ed off.
Why so srious!?!?!?!?
BTW jcohl… i like the Harry Potter references… Funny Sh?t
apparently if you read most comments it’s because Soares said it and not Anderson himself…just saying…
sempeckx2,
There is a big difference between the two, Nog is talking about avenging a loss in which titles changed hands when he was injured….Silva’s opinion is that he feels he shouldn’t have to defend the title just yet and the two most deserving Nate and Hendo should fight first, In my opinion these are two completely different scenarios.
Reportedly:
Anderson Silva will be out the remainder of 2009 with elbow surgery.
Sorry to be off topic guys.
if he needs surgery then I will lighten up on the critism that stinks I thought he was just takin the break
Imo I don’t think Nog would get a title shot if he beat Mir. Cuz I don’t think Mir would get that same oppertunity consindering Lesnar just handed him his a$$, unless of course Carwin wins. Just my opinion.
this would be grreat if he showed up the way he showed up against couture i hope mir still wins.
I watched the Nog Mir fight a few more times and I think nog got shorted. He had no trouble getting up after the refs stopped it, did not look hurt, and before the refs stopped it he was starting to bring up his hands and defend just like randy did vs him a few nights ago. Some refs just give too much credit to these little no power rabbit punches.
Nog looks like a whole different person in the two fights – vs mir he looked a lot heavier and out of shape and he barely threw a punch, vs randy he was a lot more trim, quicker, and aggressive. The way nog started vs mir I have no doubt that mir would have one no matter what but the way nog looks now I’m not so sure – I bet a fifty on nog over randy and right now I’d do the same vs frank (although I here he is getting in better shape too) — on the 1st nog mir fight I wouldn’t and didn’t bet anything.
then maybe you should watch it again because nog was clearly hurt and stumbling around after dean stepped in.
Im thinking 107 could look pretty sharp if they went with the Penn/Sanchez headliner, preceded by the Mir/Nog rematch hell these guys got a ligitimate beef now so let them scrap it out again.
Then have Kongo fight that guy who looks like hes built like he-man oh ya duffee. He said he wants to eat, that would be a full steak dinner for a guy in his 7th fight.
For me that would be a sick card.
I concur, my friend….I concur.
Sometimes it just ends up that way, that two guys who fought recently need to battle again to determine true #1 contendership. I don’t necessarily agree with the way the UFC is doing this, because I beleive Carwin and Velasquez needed to happen, but if it’s how it plays out, I could absolutely see Nog taking it. I could also see Mir doing it again. Sometimes it’s just how it works, and that’s why I love the fight game. Anything can (and usually does) happen.
To me, however, this does not show who the true #1 contender is. I believe we need to allow more time to show who the contender is.
Carwin/Mir
Carwin/Nog
Velasquez/Nog
Velasquez/Mir
THEN the title of #1 contender can be given, in my humble opinion.
If they fight again I would have to favor Nog. I didnt think there was anyway Mir could beat Nog in their first fight and he did but he didn’t show up the same as he did against Randy. I would like to see this fight just to shut Mir up for once.
According to Yahoo’s UFC coverage, Nog spent seven days in the hospital with a staff infection just prior to the fight (and that would leave anyone weak and slow,) and then injured his knee right after that. The fight was important to the UFC so he didn’t back out, but just about anyone else probably would have. HD was obviously nowhere near his usual self.
Props to him for still fighting but I wish he would have backed out. Then we could be seeing Nog vs Brock.
i’m happy that the heavyweight division is finally something to be interested in. It sucked ass for quite a few years