Two former UFC heavyweight champions are set to meet as Frank Mir will welcome Josh Barnett back to the Octagon at UFC 164 on Aug. 31, the UFC announced.
Barnett recently signed a multi-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will see him compete in the promotion for the first time in over 11 years.
The 35-year-old hasn’t fought in the UFC since he TKO’d Randy Couture to win the heavyweight title at UFC 36 in March 2002, but after becoming champ he tested positive for banned substances, was stripped of his title and eventually released.
Barnett (32-6) went on to have success in various promotions including the defunct Pride and Strikeforce organizations. Barnett has won nine of his last 10 fights, eight by stoppage, and is coming off a submission win over Nandor Guelmino at the last-ever Strikeforce event in January.
Mir (16-7) is riding the first two-fight losing streak of his career and coming of a decision loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC on FOX 7 in April — Barnett’s last loss was also a decision to Cormier back when the two fought in Strikeforce in May 2012.
Prior to the loss to Cormier, Mir challenged then-champion Junior dos Santos for the heavyweight title at UFC 146 where he was knocked out in the second round.
FANTASTIC FEATHERWEIGHTS AT UFC 164
No headliner has been named for the Milwaukee event yet, but there have been several high-profile featherweight fights added.
The event, which takes place at the Bradley Center, features two 145-pound bouts between contenders, as Chad Mendes faces Clay Guida and WEC veterans Dustin Poirier and Erik Koch meet.
Mendes (14-1) has won his last three fights in a combined 3:34 all by knockout, including a 68-second KO of Darren Elkins at UFC on FOX 7. Elkins was a late replacement for Guida who withdrew from the fight after sustaining an injury.
Guida (30-13) is coming off a controversial split decision win over Hatsu Hioki in his featherweight debut in January.
Poirier (13-3) lost a decision to Cub Swanson in his last outing in February, while Koch (13-2) hasn’t fought since being TKO’d by Ricardo Lamas in January.
Also on the card, Brandon Vera is moving back to the heavyweight division as he’ll take on Ben Rothwell, while The Ultimate Fighter season 1 winner Diego Sanchez is expected to compete on the card.
UFC TO LAUNCH SPANISH-LANGUAGE CHANNEL
The UFC and Televisa Networks announced Thursday they reached an exclusive distribution agreement to air UFC programming in 20 Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
Also, the promotion is set to launch a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week UFC channel that will include live UFC events. The new subscription network will be available late 2013.
“The launch of the UFC Channel is a game changer for our sport and its fans throughout Latin America. We are giving millions of fans across the region complete access to all our live events and programming for the first time,” owner and co-founder of Zuffa Lorenzo Fertitta said in a press release. “UFC is the fastest growing sports organization in history and with the strength of Latin America’s premier media group Televisa, the UFC Channel will become the fastest growing sports network in television history.”
