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Cro Cop steps in to face Mir at UFC 119

It appears there is a change afoot in the main event for UFC 119, the promotion’s debut in Indianapolis scheduled for Sept. 25.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has been forced to withdraw from his rematch with Frank Mir. He will apparently be replaced by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, as first reported by Fighters Only.

A report from MMAJunkie.com adds that a source indicated a recurring hip injury as the reason for Nogueira’s withdrawal.

Having lost his bid to win the unified UFC heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar at UFC 100, Mir then bounced back with an impressive submission of Cheick Kongo before losing to Shane Carwin in his last outing in March.

Filipovic enters the bout having won three of his four fights in his second go around in the Octagon, including winning his last two. He most recently defeated Pat Barry at UFC 115 in June in Vancouver.

Nogueira had hoped to avenge the first TKO loss of his career in fighting Mir at UFC 119. Mir accomplished the feat in December 2008 at UFC 92.

[source]

Pop Star Usher training at Blackhouse with Anderson Silva, Mark Munoz, Junio Dos Santos?

UFC middleweight Mark Munoz ran into a surprising fighter while training at the famed Blackhouse gym. The Los Angeles fighting home of Anderson Silva, the Nogueira brothers, Junior Dos Santos and Jose Aldo also hosts multi-platinum artist Usher.

Usher is training for a fierce dance-off with Justin Timberlake. Their bout has title implications, as the winner will have a shot at the next "King of Pop" belt.

Photo credits: Getty, Mark Munoz's Twitter

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Machida vs. Nogueira????

Just when Mike Swick was pointing out the pitfalls of fighting one of his American Kickboxing Academy teammates, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Lyoto Machida’s manager discussed how his clients could potentially wind up across each other in the Octagon.


“(Rogerio) wants what every other light heavyweight wants in that category and that’s he wants a belt,” said Ed Soares. “Whatever fight is going to be, put him up a little bit closer towards that title shot, that’s where he wants to be, that’s who he wants to fight.”

It turns out Nogueira is expected to face former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 113 on May 8 in Montreal. A win over a former champion surely would “put him a little bit closer towards that title shot.”

Despite Nogueira and Machida being Black House teammates, Soares believes a battle over the belt would be enough for the two to face each other, not out of any disparagement, but out of respect.

“They both want the same thing. Lyoto wants to keep his belt and Rogerio wants it. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes, but I think when push comes to shove if that fight was to come up, I think they’d fight each other. They’re friends they respect each other very much,” Soares told MMAWeekly Radio recently.

“At the end of the day, they both want one thing. If the only way is that they’re going to have to fight, like I said, we’ll cross that bridge when it comes, but I think it could happen.”

Nogueira, of course, first has to get past Griffin, which is no small task.

Machida also has his own hurdle to cross, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Machida and Rua fought once before, at UFC 104 last October, with the champ earning a controversial unanimous decision. Many felt that Rua should have gotten the nod, and UFC president Dana White granted an immediate rematch.

There are other contenders in the mix as well; fighters like Rashad Evans, Quinton Jackson, Jon Jones, and even another teammate, middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

But if each wins his next bout, another section of the bridge between Machida and Nogueira will be in place.

 
 
 
(info from yahoo sports via mmaweekly.  pic from...we don't remember, who cares.)