If not Lesnar, Mir wants Cain

TORONTO -- It appears Frank Mir will have to wait for a third meeting with UFC superstar Brock Lesnar.

With rumours swirling about Alistair Overeem’s potential withdrawal from UFC 141, former title-holder Frank Mir said Saturday after submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -- and breaking his arm in the process -- in the first round of the co-main event rematch at UFC 140 in Toronto that he wouldn’t mind stepping in as a replacement and fighting Lesnar in what would be a rubber match between the two.

"I’m pretty healthy, and three weeks is enough time," Mir said. "I feel pretty good. I only fought a three-minute fight. My wife will want me around at Christmastime, but she can deal with it."

However, Overeem was granted a conditional licence by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Monday, and just has to pass two pre-fight drug tests to get the okay to square off against Lesnar.

Mir handed Lesnar his first career loss by submission in February 2008, but was defeated by strikes in July 2009 in the rematch -- which at the time was for the undisputed heavyweight belt held by Lesnar.

Mir’s eagerness to avenge that loss is understandable; there was a lot of trash talk fired at Mir by Lesnar, including him referring to the interim belt that Mir won in his first meeting with Nogueira as a "make-believe belt." Lesnar also claimed that Mir was aided by referee Steve Mazzagatti’s decision that he hit Mir with illegal blows in their first meeting.

Mir also had a bit of a chip on his shoulder leading into his bout Saturday at the Air Canada Centre, after Big Nog had seemingly used a staph infection as an explanation for his performance in their first meeting in December 2008, where Mir TKO’d Nogueira to hand him his first stoppage of his career.

The 32-year-old Mir boasted following his second win over Nogueira that he was the first person to knock him out and now he was the first person to submit him. He also stated his case for a title shot, sooner rather than later.

"I don’t know how many heavyweights have three wins in a row against some notable opponents with (big) names," said Mir, referring to his current string of victories over Nogueira, Roy Nelson and Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic. "If Brock just lays on Overeem for (five) rounds, maybe I get the title shot and he doesn’t."

Mir was undoubtedly the author of the most noteworthy moment of UFC 140, especially for less hardcore fans, when he twisted the submission hold he latched onto Nogueira’s arm to such an extent that it snapped his humerus -- in loud fashion. UFC president Dana White called it “submission of the century.”

It was an impressive comeback after he was dropped early in the first frame by Nogueira and took several blows to the head as the referee looked on. However, Mir kept a hold of Nogueira’s leg to indicate he was working to regain position, recovered and eventually wrestled his way to top position. He grabbed hold of a kimura and ultimately twisted the elbow and shoulder in cringe-worthy fashion when the Brazilian didn’t tap out.

There were some critics of Mir who suggested he should have shown more care. But he said it was totally up to Nogueira to avoid the damage to his arm, which was discovered on Monday will not require surgery but will likely keep him out of action up to nine months.

"When he caught me with right hand, at that point it turned into a war, and I just started grinding around and moving, and he tried to do jiu-jitsu move for jiu-jitsu move with me," said the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who’s considered one of the UFC’s top submission grapplers. "I was able to end up on top. When I locked up the kimura, when he did the defence, I’m used to guys trying to roll me through ... Only difference was when I locked up Nogueira, I had a strong inclination he was not going to tap. So I took a deep breath and, uh, you guys saw what happened."

Regarding his next potential opponent, Mir said if the Lesnar matchup is not available, he wouldn’t mind fighting Cain Velasquez next. Velasquez, who defeated Brock Lesnar last October for the title, lost his belt to Junior Dos Santos by knockout after just 64 seconds at last month’s UFC on FOX show.

"I don’t want to wait around just to fight for the title," Mir said. "I think Cain is still the real deal, he just got caught (against Dos Santos) like I did tonight. I recovered, he didn’t and (Dos Santos) jumped on him."

James Brydon is the editor and lead writer for sportsnet.ca's MMA section.