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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A heavily rumored bout between Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez has officially been agreed upon by both parties for UFC 146, according to a report from FoxSports.com.
Additionally, the fight has been confirmed as a number one contender fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
"Verbal agreements are in for a No. 1 contender match between former UFC world heavyweight champions Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez at UFC 146, May 26 in Las Vegas," UFC president Dana White said.
It's the third heavyweight bout confirmed for the night's card, joining the UFC Heavyweight Championship between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem in the night's main event, as well as the bout between Roy Nelson and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva that was announced this afternoon.
Velasquez lost the UFC Heavyweight Title to dos Santos in November, losing for the first time in his MMA career in that fight. This will mark his first bout since.
Mir, a former Champion in his own right, has won three straight fights, and four of his last five. Most recently, he survived an early onslaught from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140 before breaking his arm with a vicious kimura submission.
Penick's Analysis: We've known this fight was being targeted for some time, but now it's official on its way to this card. It's a fantastic heavyweight fight, and it works as a title eliminator, even though it would mean just one win needed for Velasquez after a knockout loss to get back to a shot. Still, there aren't a ton of more deserving options if he defeats Mir, and Mir would absolutely deserve a title shot with four straight wins over the men he'd have defeated at that point, so this is a big fight, and this is turning into a very big card.
[Cain Velasquez art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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