Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has been forced out of a heavyweight rematch with Frank Mir. To replace him, the UFC has tabbed another Pride FC veteran, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, to fill the void. UFC 119 will happen on Sept. 25 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“Cro Cop” earned a reputation as the second best heavyweight in the world after dominating the competition in Pride. In 2006, he defeated Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett to win Pride’s Open Weight tournament. Since then, he has competed in both the UFC and Dream compiling a 6-3 record with one no contest. “Cro Cop” also holds win over Mark Coleman, Aleksander Emelianenko and Heath Herring.
After giving up the UFC heavyweight title due to injuries from a motorcycle accident, Mir completed the comeback with an interim-title victory over Nogueira at UFC 92. However, he was unable to unify the belt when Brock Lesnar stopped him at UFC 100. Since then, Mir has gone 1-1 with a victory over Cheick Kongo and a knock out loss at the hands of Shane Carwin.
UFC 119 will also feature a light heavyweight match up between Ryan Bader and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Also, former lightweight champion Sean Sherk will make his return against Evan Dunham.