In the second of a three-part series of previews leading up to this weekend's UFC 92 event, I will look at the first of two title matches scheduled for the event as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defends his UFC Interim Heavyweight Title against Frank Mir!
UFC Interim Heavyweight Title: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (c) (31-4) vs. Frank Mir (11-3)
Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira is one of the toughest SOBs on the planet as far as being an MMA fighter goes. After all, this was the same man who, as a child, was run over by a truck while he was nine years old, went into a coma for 25 days and managed to survive the horrific accident where decades later, he would turn into one of the most accomplished heavyweight fighters in the sport's history. His durability level is at an all time high as he is one of the only fighters in the world to never be stopped in a fight. He has beaten and loss to a list of who's who in the world of MMA, beginning during his days in WEF and RINGS before making it over to PRIDE and becoming a top star. While in PRIDE, he fought two fights against current UFC fighter Heath Herring and defeated him twice, with their first battle seeing Minotauro become the first of only two fighters to hold the UFC Heavyweight Title! One of Nogueira's most memorable battles was at a one night only joint venture between K-1 and PRIDE. Under the PRIDE banner, the event was known as Shockwave, while under the K-1 banner, the event was known as Dynamite!!. Despite the two events being known to be held every New Year's Eve (with Shockwave's Japanese name being Otoko Matsuri, literally Man Festival), this particular event was held in August in 2002 and it was also held at the Tokyo National Stadium with a record-setting MMA attendance of 91,107 fans. On that hot summer night, Nogueira competed against the controversial Bob Sapp, who represented K-1 in their bout. During the match, Sapp piledrove Nogueira to the mat, which seemed like the match was over there and then. However, Nogueira failed to submit and after a hard fought battle, wore down The Beast and slapped on an armbar during the second round to pick up the huge win and gain even more fans after the fight was over. Nogueira also holds a win over three-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion Semmy Schilt, as well as a win over Dan Henderson, whom he suffered his first MMA loss to back in RINGS. It was then at PRIDE 25 where he made his first defense of his PRIDE Heavyweight Title against one of the greatest fighters of all time, Fedor Emelianenko. It was against Emelianenko where Nogueira suffered his second loss and also the loss of his title. The two men would face each other again two more times, with their second bout ending in a no contest after an accidental headbutt by Nogueira to Emelianenko's head and their third and up till now, final bout at PRIDE Shockwave 2004, where Nogueira once again lost to Fedor via unanimous decision. Throughout his career in PRIDE, Nogueira has also scored wins over some of the top fighters in the world, including Ricco Rodriguez, Mirko Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov, Kiyoshi Tamura, Mark Coleman, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett. After Zuffa bought out PRIDE, the UFC's parent company also purchased several PRIDE contracts and Nogueira was one of the few fighters to make the transition from the PRIDE ring into the Octagon. Nogueira's first match in the UFC was against his old rival, Heath Herring, and despite being taken down with a hard right kick to the head in the first round, Nogueira bounced back from the knockdown to earn a unanimous decision over Herring. Nogueira's second UFC fight saw the tough Brazilian go up against former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 81: Breaking Point where both men fought to determine who would be the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion in light of Randy Couture's shocking departure from the UFC back in 2007. In true Nogueira fashion against bigger fighters, Nogueira was able to stay focused and patient and in the third round, submitted The Maine-iac with a guillotine choke to earn the win and the title.
While not having a decorated career as his opponent, Frank Mir is still one of the more formidable fighters in the UFC's heavyweight division. Growing up in a martial arts family, it only seemed natural for Mir to someday compete as an MMA fighter. Making his debut at HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown with a win against Jerome Smith, Mir immediately gave notice to the UFC that he is one fighter that is worth signing and shortly after another bout at IFC, Mir made his UFC debut by defeating Roberto Travern at UFC 34: High Voltage. He also competed at the famed Royal Albert Hall in London, England for the UFC's very first PPV event in the United Kingdom, UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall, where he suffered a loss to Ian Freeman due to TKO after suffering a cut on his face which prompted the referee to stop the fight and award the bout to Freeman. In 2003, Mir also picked up a win at UFC 41: Onslaught against the infamous Tank Abbot. Things started picking up for Mir in 2004 when at UFC 48: Payback, Mir was able to win the vacant UFC Heavyweight Title by defeating Tim Sylvia 50 seconds in the first round with an armbar! The win also earned him a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt for his performance. Tragedy struck as Mir was involved in an accident where a car struck him while he was riding on his motorcycle. The accident caused Mir to break his femur and tore all his ligaments in his knee. Due to the injury he suffered, Mir was stripped off the title after not being able to defend it after 14 months. Mir would then return from his injury by facing Marcio Cruz at UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3, but was defeated by the newcomer in a major upset. After rocky back and forth years in 2006 and 2007, Mir was finally able to pick up a victory that made headlines back in February 2008. On the same night Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira won the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title by defeating Tim Sylvia, Mir would face the debuting Brock Lesnar in an anticipated bout. Mir was able to expose Lesnar's inexperience in MMA by attempting an armbar, but after managing to escape the armbar, Lesnar found himself locked in a kneebar by Mir, getting the submission victory and putting him high in the rankings amongst the UFC's top heavyweight fighters!
From The Ultimate Fighter 8 to the Octagon!
Prior to their anticipated showdown, both Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir were coaches for their respective teams on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter. Nogueira seemed to have the upper hand as both of his trained fighters were able to pick up UFC contracts at the season finale of the show. This of course would mean that Mir is also on the lookout for revenge aside from wanting the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title bout. Both Nogueira and Mir are accomplished BJJ practitioners, although Nogueira has a lot more technique and a vast knowledge of the art over Mir. Nonetheless, this would make for an interesting battle between these two amazing fighters.
A monster challenge awaits the winner!
While Nogueira and Mir were busy coaching and looking for potential UFC champions, Brock Lesnar was soaking up the spotlight as he pulled off his biggest victory in his young MMA career. The former three-time WWE Champion and IWGP Heavyweight Champion was able to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion after defeating Randy Couture in Couture's return match at UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar. It was Lesnar's third bout in the Octagon and thus, he is now the man to beat in the heavyweight division. The winner of the fight between Nogueira and Mir would then go on to face Lesnar to crown the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion in a future bout in 2009. Despite still being a rookie in the MMA world, Lesnar has ascended quickly up the ranks much like he did when he started out in the WWE, proving that despite the criticism, is as much a natural athlete as most of the top fighters in MMA. That being said, he will be a huge threat to whomever that wins this bout. Nogueira has faced many big men such as Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt and Tim Sylvia and knows how to overcome the odds while Mir has a win over Lesnar in Lesnar's debut and would definitely find a way to beat him again should they ever compete against each other once again.
But the real question is, who will it be? Who will be the number one contender to Lesnar's gold? Will it be the former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Nogueira or will it be the former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mir? Can Nogueira successfully defend his UFC Interim Heavyweight Title or will we see a new UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion crowned?
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