Josh Barnett’s first fight back in the UFC’s Octagon will come against Frank Mir at UFC 164 on August 31st.
Barnett had hinted that he’d be interested in fighting the former heavyweight champion prior to signing his new deal with the promotion, stating that it was a fight fans had been talking about for years.
Mir appeared to be singing from the same hymn sheet in an interview just yesterday.
“I think that would be a phenomenal fight,” Mir told El Octagano. “I think that some of the fans have talked about it a lot on the Internet as far as who is the better catch wrestler. And I think that I would be more than happy to welcome him to the UFC and I think it would be a great fight.”
Barnett’s return comes off the back of a relatively easy win over Nandor Guelmino at Strikeforce’s last ever event, though prior to that he had suffered his first loss in nine fights against Daniel Cormier in the final of the promotion’s heavyweight Grand-Prix.
A loss to Cormier is something Mir shares in common with Barnett, having dropped a decision to him in his last fight. That made it two losses in a row for Mir who was coming off an unsuccessful title attempt against Junior Dos Santos, so he’ll see this upcoming bout as a must-win.
