By MATT BOONE
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer
As we reported earlier, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is out of the scheduled rematch with Frank Mir at UFC 119, according to a report on FightersOnlyMagazine.co.uk.
The report claims Nogueira is out with an undisclosed injury, one severe enough that surgery is a likely outcome. The report has since been picked up by the MMAJunkie.com website, which claims they were told first-hand that Nogueira is suffering from a reoccuring hip injury.
Slated to replace Nogueira, according to a new report on the Fighters Only Magazine website, is UFC heavyweight contender and MMA legend Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic.
CroCop (27-7-2) has compiled a 3-1 UFC record since returning to the company in June of 2009 from a break he took in late 2007 to fine-tune his skills on smaller MMA events. The legendary striker returned at UFC 99, taking out Mostapha Al-Turk with punches in the first round.
CroCop would drop his next bout, a submission loss to current number one UFC heavyweight title contender Junior Dos Santos in the third round of their fight at UFC 103 in September 2009.
Filipovic followed the loss up with back-to-back wins, taking out Anthony Perosh at UFC 110 in February with a technical knockout after two rounds in the octagon. He would follow that up with what was his last performance to date, an impressive submission victory in the third round of his fight with rising prospect Patrick Barry at UFC 115 back in June.
Mir (13-5) is coming into the fight with a .500 batting average since his first meeting with Brock Lesnar in Lesnar's UFC debut at UFC 81 in February of 2008, going 2-2 in four trips to the octagon.
Mir defeated his originally scheduled opponent for UFC 119, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in very impressive fashion with a TKO at 1:54 of the second round of their fight at UFC 92 in December of 2008.
He would go on to lose his next fight, a rematch against the man he beat back at UFC 81, current UFC heavyweight champion. The loss came at UFC 100, the most lucrative PPV in UFC history, by way of a one-sided thrashing that ended at the 1:48 mark of the second round of their second meeting inside the cage.
Mir would pick up the other aforementioned victory by submitting Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 in December of 2009 before getting destroyed in his last trip to the octagon at UFC 111 earlier this March, losing to Shane Carwin by knockout in the first round.
UFC 119 emanates from the Canseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana and airs live on pay-per view on September 25, 2010. Other featured bouts at UFC 119 include Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader, Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle and Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham.
What are your thoughts on Mir vs. CroCop? Better than Mir-Nogueira II, worse, don't care either way? Share your thoughts with thousands of die-hard fans in the MMANEWS.COM Forums.
