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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A planned heavyweight bout between Brendan Schaub and Frank Mir in March will no longer be taking place, according to a report from Joe Ferraro at Sportsnet.ca, and instead Schaub will meet UFC 124 co-headliner Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve at one of the UFC's events in March or April.
Struve comes into the fight off of a first round TKO victory over Sean McCorkle at UFC 124 in Montreal. The win was his second in a row, and fifth in the UFC.
Schaub has won three in a row since being knocked out by Roy Nelson in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter season ten. His most recent appearance saw him send Gabriel Gonzaga out of the UFC when he picked up a unanimous decision victory.
There's no word as to why Mir was pulled from the fight.
Penick's Analysis: Well, let the speculation begin once again. Mir's name was thrown out along with Brock Lesnar as potential coaches for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, but then news came that Mir and Schaub would face off. If Mir was pulled from this fight for something other than an injury, it's likely that the third bout with Lesnar is on regardless of whether they coach against each other on TUF first. But if the UFC is going the route of putting them on TUF, their rubber match could be unbelievably massive, and the 13th season of the Ultimate Fighter will rival season ten in terms of ratings. It's still too early to tell, but it's certainly a possibility again. As for this fight, Schaub and Struve are both still up and coming talent, so it's a good match up from that perspective. A win propels either to the next step, and both fighters have the ability to finish this fight.
UPDATE: Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com reports the fight will take place on one of the four cards currently scheduled for March and April of 2011, but the date for the fight has not yet been locked down.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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