Former heavyweight champion Frank Mir (11-3) will tangle with Justin McCully (8-3-2) UFC 86 on July 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to an MMAWeekly.com report that MMAmania.com has been able to independently confirm.
Mir is fresh of a big submission win over Brock Lesnar at UFC 81: "Breaking Point" in February. The win -- his third in five fights since a return from a potentially career-ending motorcycle accident -- vaulted the "Baddest Man on the Planet" back atop the division rankings virtually overnight.
That's the reality even though Mir defeated an inexperienced (albeit massive) former professional wrestler in Lesnar, as well as an unproved commodity in Antoni Hardonk the fight prior at UFC 74: "Respect" back in August 2007.
Regardless, his confidence is back, and by all accounts, he's also back in the training room -- something he admittedly didn't do much of while preparing for his initial (and lackluster) comeback matches.
McCully will be coming off a year-long layoff after defeating Antoni Hardonk via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 9 back in April 2007. It will mark just the fifth fight for the Team Punishment fighter in the past eight years and only his second appearance inside the Octagon.
"The Insane One" is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt under Allan Goes, which makes this appear to be a showdown between two grapplers -- Mir is also a jiu-jitsu blackbelt (under Ricardo Pires) and now works with Marc Laimon to refine his technique.
To check out the most recent UFC 86 fight card click here.
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