A planned rematch between UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (picture) for UFC 98 on May 23 that would have unified both title has been canceled.The UFC was recently informed by Mir's camp that he was forced to withdraw due to his injury. Mir suffered a knee injury and has already undergone surgery. The surgery will sideline the former strip club bouncer for the next four to six weeks.
There is no rumor as to whether Lesnar will remain on the card against a new opponent or if he will be taken off the card entirely.
The UFC had just officially announced Lesnar vs. Mir II by UFC.com earlier this week. The much-anticipated rematch had been anticipated to draw a large buyrate on PPV.
The first meeting at between Lesnar and Mir took place at UFC 81 in February of 2008 and ended at 1:30 of Round 1 after Lesnar was caught in a kneebar by Mir. Competing in just his second professional bout, the former WWE superstar was forced to tap despite the fact that he had knocked Mir down and was reigning down punches on him just prior to getting trapped in the submission hold.
Lesnar and Mir had been slated to fight each again other after both secured wins in the first round of a heavyweight title unification tournament. However, a Lesnar vs. Mir rematch in the finals of the tournament had been considered an improbability going in.
But the odds of a second fight between the two changed greatly after Lesnar won the heavyweight title from defending champion Randy Couture this past November at UFC 91. Couture, fighting for the first time after a 15 month layoff was TKO'd by the former WWE Champion at 3:07 of Round 2.
The rematch between Lesnar and Mir became a reality following Mir's upset victory over defending interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira at UFC 92 this past December. Displaying improved stand-up, Mir was able to TKO the former PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion at 1:54 of Round 2.
Meanwhile, several reports have been published recently attributing quotes to UFC President Dana White claiming that a planned UFC 98 main event between Lesnar and Mir was still on.
In a report by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, a quote is attributed to White in which the UFC President denied any knowledge of a Mir injury.
"UFC President Dana White said after the weigh-in for UFC 96 at the Nationwide Arena that he knew nothing of an injury by Mir," wrote Iole, who later reported in his story that sources close to Mir had confirmed that the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion underwent knee surgery last week.
During a bodybuilding webcast conducted at a fitness expo in the Columbus area held in conjunction with this weekend's "Arnold Classic", Mir responded to a question about the date of the fight at the 1:26 mark by saying, "Hopefully the summertime. It was May 23 but I needed to get a scope done to my knee so I got it done immediately last week. It would be rushing it to try and fight that soon because I can't really train for four to six weeks as far as sparring and wrestling and the real forms of training. Obviously I can hit the treadmill but that's usually not a good idea to be getting in shape for a fight on a treadmill."
While the UFC has yet to make a public announcement regarding the cancellation of Lesnar vs. Mir II at UFC 98, it is already exploring options for a replacement main event bout. One scenario believed to be under consideration is moving Rashad Evans' first defense of his UFC light heavyweight title that had been planned for UFC 100 on July 12.
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