Minotauro

(Mickey Rourke prepares for his next role.)

The Natural and Minotauro — two legendary heavyweight champions whose last performances had fans wondering if their days of competing at the sport's highest level were over. But later this year, one of them will triumph once again. MMA Weekly breaks it:

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Leading up to UFC 92, you may have heard some rumors that Frank Mir was battling injuries while preparing for his fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. We didn't put any effort into discussing it because hey, the dude was going to lose anyway, right? Turns out that's exactly what Mir wanted you to think. As he explained on a recent installment of TAGG Radio, a little media misinformation goes a long way:

So apparently Mir was as healthy as he could have hoped to be, and certainly fought like he was in the best shape of his life. Big Nog, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. During an appearance on the Carmichael Dave show, Dana White let the cat out of the bag:

Sad but true. And Dana could be implying that Nog is suffering from other maladies that won't clear up as easily as a staph infection. Unfortunately, there's no cure for ten years of being punched in the head.

Semi-related: Following UFC 92 and Dynamite!! 2008, our heavyweight, lightweight, and pound-for-pound Power Rankings lists have been updated.

(Props: MMA Mania)

UFC 90 was profoundly disappointing, and UFC 91 doesn't offer much outside of Randy vs. Brock, but the UFC promises to make up for it and then some with "The Ultimate 2008," their stacked-to-death year-end card (December 27th, Las Vegas). The official lineup for the event was announced yesterday with the additions of Matt Hamill, C.B. Dollaway, Cheick Kongo, and Yushin Okami. Here's what we'll be seeing...

Main card
Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans (for light-heavyweight championship)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir (for interim heavyweight championship)
CB Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio (middleweights)
Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson (light-heavyweights)
Cheick Kongo vs. Mustafa Al-Turk (heavyweights)

Undercard
Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister (middleweights)
Antoni Hardonk vs. Mark Burch (heavyweights)
Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy (light-heavyweights)
Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn (welterweights)
Dan Evensen vs. Pat Barry (heavyweights)

Why Dollaway vs. Massenzio gets a main card slot over Okami vs. Lister is anyone's goddamned guess. But it's hard to complain with those three headlining fights. Any early predictions? Remember, "The Ultimate 2008" isn't the only card the UFC is putting on in December — there's also "Fight for the Troops" on December 10th in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the TUF 8 finale on December 13th (location TBA). Both events will be aired on Spike.

(Photo courtesy of MySpace.com/MinotauroBJJ)

This Wednesday at 10 p.m. on Spike TV, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira begins his duel with Frank Mir on the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 8. The two heavyweight jiu-jitsu masters will each lead a team of eight UFC hopefuls (four lightweights and four light-heavyweights), while sizing each other up for their own fight in December; the winner will take on the winner of UFC 91's Randy Couture/Brock Lesnar match sometime next year. Luiz De Souza chatted with Big Nog on Friday to get his thoughts on his TUF experience and the UFC's upcoming "heavyweight tournament."

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CAGEPOTATO.COM: In some of the past seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, the coaches built up great rivalries. Was there ever any hostility between you and Frank Mir? Did he get on your nerves in any way?
ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA: No, there wasn’t much of that; we have a lot of respect for each other. If there were arguments they were between the fighters themselves. I went there to do my job. I went to teach the guys, with the goal of not getting involved in fights with the guys inside the house or from the show, but to train them instead. That was my idea. I did my part and Frank did his. At times I was pissed at some of them because some of the guys were picking fights inside the house, and they would lose their control. There was one who wouldn’t quit picking fights, but overall nothing too major.

What do you think of Frank, as a person and as a fighter?
He is a good fighter, very strong, and he has great jiu-jitsu skills. He is also a very cool and nice guy, but he is my opponent, so I am training to fight him.

What's your strategy going to be when you fight him in December? Would you rather fight him on the ground or standing?
There isn’t really a strategy; my strategy is to finish him. We don’t really choose if the fight will be standing up or on the ground. Whatever happens I will be ready for it.

After he lost to Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson partially blamed his performance on the fact that, because of The Ultimate Fighter, he'd gone 10 months between fights. Are you concerned that your own long layoff will affect your performance?
Well, the last time Frank Mir fought was the last time I fought, so the truth is that we both have the same disadvantage. I really don’t like to go such a long time without fighting; never in my life have I gone without fighting for this long. This does make a difference, but this is my job and I will fight when the day comes.

(Werdum and Andrei Arlovski throw down at UFC 70.)

As the man responsible for de-hyping both Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera, Fabricio Werdum is riding high in the UFC's heavyweight division. And to make sure he doesn't slip away like Randy, Tim, and Andrei, the UFC has just locked him into a five-fight contract extension, with the promise of an immediate title shot if he wins his next fight. Sweetening the deal is the fact that his next fight might be a cakewalk for the well-seasoned and impossible to finish "Vai Cavalo" — he'll compete at UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago), possibly against Junior Dos Santos, a 6-1 vet of various Brazilian shows who's probably not ready for the UFC yet.

Assuming he wins his next match, Werdum will then face either Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira or Frank Mir, who are expected to fight in late December. Werdum hopes Big Nog comes out victorious, telling Tatame:

"A fight against Minotauro would be like a dream. It would be great for me, because I fought against him at PRIDE and it was a great fight, he deserved the victory, and I want to say that I'm fighting for the belt against Minotauro, probably in March."

Werdum is referring to his unanimous decision loss to Nogueira at PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute in July 2006. Following that fight, Werdum choked out Aleksander Emelianenko then moved to the UFC where he lost another unanimous decision to Andrei Arlovski before knocking off Gonzaga and Vera.

Related: Heavyweight Power Rankings