By Ben Fowlkes
- Senior Writer
Follow , and
Like MMA Fighting on Facebook.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira may be coming off the most devastating loss of his career after UFC heavyweight contender
Cain Velasquez scored a first-round knockout over him at
UFC 110, but the former champ isn't ready to hang up the gloves just yet.
In a recent interview with
Tatame, Nogueira weighed in on his future with the UFC and said he's eager to get another crack at fellow former heavyweight champ
Frank Mir, who defeated him via a decisive second-round TKO at
UFC 92.
"I'd love a rematch against Mir, it is a fight I would like to do again," said Nogueira. "It would be a good fight, he is a high level athlete. I want it, for sure."
When you consider where both men are in their fighting careers, it's a bout that actually makes a lot of sense.
With Mir coming off a knockout loss to
Shane Carwin and Nogueira struggling to stay relevant in the UFC's heavyweight class, a second fight between the two might go a long way toward determining which of the former champs has the brighter future.
It wasn't all that long ago that Nogueira was known as the man who simply couldn't be knocked out, no matter how much punishment he absorbed. But beginning with the loss to Mir, which many in the MMA world blamed on a staph infection that had plagued the Brazilian prior to the bout, Nogueira has recently looked far more mortal in the cage.
Since neither man is anywhere close to challenging for the title again, what better way to let them each try and prove that they're still top ten heavyweights than by matching them up together one more time?
Nogueira obviously wants a chance to avenge the loss. Something tells me Mir probably wouldn't mind an opportunity to show all the naysayers that his first win over "Minotauro" wasn't simply the result of catching him on a bad night.
Read More: ufc 110, ufc 92, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (MMA), Cain Velasquez (MMA), Frank Mir (MMA), Shane Carwin (MMA)
Follow , and
Like MMA Fighting on Facebook.
Do you like this story?
0 comments
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
Scoreboard data copyright © 2012 by STATS LLC. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC is strictly prohibited.
