Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will once again be facing off against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the octagon in December at UFC 140 when the pair meet up for the second time.
And this time, Mir wants Nogueira at 100 percent.
After their first bout in December 2008, the main focus was on Nogueira’s severe case of staph resulting in the second-round TKO. That’s why this time Mir wants no “excuses” and says Nogueira better be at the top of his game.
“[Nogueira] had a few issues before the fight that he felt really hampered his performance,” Mir said during a special UFC 137 Fight Club Q&A. “So I feel that there’s an opportunity for him to basically put up or shut up.
“He can come out and take another opportunity at it. I understand it. All fighters, we have issues going on before fights. It happens. But that’s what rematches are for.”
UFC 140, which features a light heavyweight title fight between current champ Jon Jones and former titleholder Lyoto Machida, takes place Dec. 10 at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.
Mir’s comments were made without malice, but his emotions appeared sincere. He elaborated further on the situation when fans asked his opinion on original UFC 137 headliner Georges St-Pierre withdrawing from the event due to a pair of injuries suffered in training.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Mir said. “If I find out my opponent is severely injured and he’s still going to show up, I don’t want him to. I’d rather him pull out and replace him with somebody else. I don’t want to face the guy injured. I’ve experienced that with the whole Nogueira rhetoric afterward. ‘Well, he had staph and he had this.’ I’ll tell you from the other point of view, it sucks.
“‘Yeah, you beat him, but.’ That sucks. You have to perform, you get a victory, and people are like, ‘Yeah, but the guy had a torn this, he had a broken this.’ It’s like, ‘Then stay home. Put someone else in that’s healthy and hungry. I’d rather fight him.’”
Mir has gone 3-2 since the first meeting with Nogueira, racking up wins over Roy Nelson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Cheick Kongo while dropping title shots against Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar.
Meanwhile, Nogueira is 2-1 since the first meeting, sandwiching a loss to Cain Velasquez between wins over Brendan Schaub and Randy Couture.
Oddsmakers have instilled Mir as a sizable favorite with a little more than a month remaining before the fight. Mir, of course, is confident in his chances at a repeat performance. He simply hopes Nogueira will take care of himself between now and Dec. 10.
“Certain injuries you have to evaluate,” Mir said. “If you have a sore foot or your shin has a bruise on it, you fight. If you have a major injury, you have to pull out. At that point, I think you’re kind of robbing the fans.
“If you walk out there, and you’re so injured you can’t even perform, and you’re just basically out there stumbling around? I wouldn’t want to pay money to a guy who’s 20 percent to go out there perform. What questions does that answer? Then it kind of robs the other guy, too.”