FanHouse FrankMir

The UFC formally announced Tuesday the first three bouts for UFC 107 on Dec. 12 at the FedExForum in Memphis: BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo and Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago.

The promotion had booked the show with the location in mind to coincide with Memphis-born light heavyweight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's expected fight against Rashad Evans as the culmination of their coaching feud on The Ultimate Fighter 10 series. However, Jackson's film pursuits will stall the grudge match and Penn vs. Sanchez was moved from UFC 105 to UFC 107 to have a championship bout round out the final UFC event of 2009.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira says he's ready to fight anytime, and hopes to fight for the title or avenge his most recent loss if he has his way.

"I want Brock Lesnar for sure," said Nogueira, who rebounded from a UFC 92 loss to Frank Mir by defeating Randy Couture by unanimous decision at UFC 102 in August. "I want to fight him. But I would fight Frank Mir also. That's my second choice."

Lesnar is scheduled to fight Shane Carwin in November, but Nogueira is clearly still a top-five UFC heavyweight, and fresh off his teammate Junior Dos Santos' dominating performance over Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 103, Nogueira told FanHouse that he's re-energized in his chase for UFC gold.

Frank Mir is, in addition to being one of the best heavyweights in mixed martial arts, also one of the best analysts of mixed martial arts. And in an interview with Raw Vegas TV, he had plenty to say about subjects ranging from the Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight at UFC 102 to his anger at Joe Rogan's comments during that fight. Also, he discussed his UFC 100 fight with Brock Lesnar, Fedor Emelianenko's decision not to fight in the UFC and a possible fight between Mir and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Video and quotes are below.

You know about his striking, his footwork, his power and speed, but here's another element to Anderson Silva that makes him great: his ability to digest and copy the opposition.

It's perfectly captured in this video in which he simulates Randy Couture to help teammate Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira prepare for "The Natural."

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture are both old and past their primes. But even old and past their primes, Nogueira and Couture are plenty good.

After their epic battle on Saturday night, which Nogueira won by unanimous decision, I consider both Couture and Nogueira to be among the Top 5 heavyweights in mixed martial arts. But at the same time, I think there's a pretty big gap between the Top 2 heavyweights in MMA -- Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko -- and everyone else.

So as I go through my new list of the Top 10 heavyweights in MMA, I mean no disrespect to Couture and Nogueira even as I say they're not close to the best.

Once upon a time, Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would have been the biggest fight in the MMA world. While time has changed the perception of the bout, which fans will finally get to see at UFC 102, the matchup still offers two of the most decorated heavyweights in history.

For years, the stylistic clash has made for great debates, and finally it will be settled in the cage. But how will it all go down?

Let's take a closer look at the matchup.

When Frank Mir owned the UFC interim heavyweight title, he always made clear that he didn't believe his own belt made him the best heavyweight in the world: Mir, like most MMA observers, said that Fedor Emelianenko is the top heavyweight. But now Mir's opinion has changed.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is raising the stakes in its fight with rival MMA promotion Strikeforce, announcing that it will air the Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir UFC 100 fight on Spike Saturday night -- at the same time that Gina Carano is fighting Cris Cyborg on Showtime.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will be the color commentator for WEC 42 Sunday night on Versus, and all this week he's providing his insight into the WEC fights. Today I ask Mir about how his second career as a color commentator has aided his first career as a fighter, and why he prefers watching smaller guys fight.