Makes sense: according to Tatame, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are set for a rematch of their December 2008 bout at UFC 119 Sept. 25 in Indiana. Rodrigo’s light-heavyweight twin, Rogerio, will fight Ryan Bader the same night.
Rogerio is a good, definitive fight for Bader, who’s flirting with top-ten entry if he can put together more performances as impressive as the win over Keith Jardine last winter. He’s looking at the best boxer of his career, as well as someone who could make him think twice while he’s on the ground.
But is Mir/Nogueira II really in danger of ending any differently than the first time? Mir has only turned into a better stand-up striker, while Nogueira was flattened against Cain Velasquez in Sydney. His chin is disappearing, and for a career defined by an ability to take punishment until an opening comes up, that’s as bad as a broken arm.