Mir vs Schaub in the works for Early 2011

by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on Dec 13, 2010 at 1:05 pm ET
www.mmajunkie.com

A heavyweight bout between former champ Frank Mir (14-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) and "The Ultimate Fighter 10" runner-up Brendan Schaub (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is expected to take place in early 2011.

Sources close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) verbal agreements are in place for the fight.

The bout could take place at UFC on Versus 3 on March 3 or UFC 129 on March 19, though neither show has been officially announced.

Schaub vs. Mir likely will be a featured main-card fight on whatever card it ends up being a part of.

Mir is coming off an impressive third-round knockout of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in the headliner of September's UFC 119 event. In the four fights prior, he alternated between wins and losses. A TKO victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (for the interim belt) was followed by a TKO loss to Brock Lesnar (a title-unification bout). He responded with a submission win over Cheick Kongo but then suffered a quick KO loss to Shane Carwin.

Since a loss to Roy Nelson at The TUF 10 Finale, Schaub has posted three consecutive wins in the octagon. First came TKO wins over Chase Gormley and Chris Tuchscherer, and in October at UFC 121, he scored a dominating unanimous-decision win over Gabriel Gonzaga. A win over Mir could put him right at the top of the title picture in the heavyweight division.

More more on UFC on Versus 3, UFC 129 and other upcoming cards, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.