Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir Is Booked for Final Strikeforce Heavyweight Bout

It’s official, Daniel Cormier is slated to lock horns with former UFC heavyweight titlist Frank Mir in the last ever Strikeforce heavyweight bout.

According to USA TODAY, both UFC and Strikeforce Companies have corroborated that Cormier’s final outing for the San Jose-based promotion before heading to the Zuffa-base organization will, in fact, be against Mir.

UFC head honcho Dana White was at hand to deliver the news.

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There has been a lot of speculation as to who Cormier would fight next, and this is the fight that makes the most sense. The reality is, Cormier is one of the best heavyweights in the world. He just won the grand prix and beat Josh Barnett. He needs to fight opponents of that caliber, and Frank Mir is that guy.

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In May of this year, Cormier defeated Josh Barnett in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finale to become tourney winner, since then, an opponent had been sought out for the 33-year-old to see out his contract.

One of the rumors making the rounds was that “DC” would face off against Tim Sylvia, another erstwhile UFC heavyweight champion—a rumor which White was quick to squash.

Presently, the former Olympian and NCAA Division I standout is currently 10-0 in his short MMA Career.

With regards to Mir (16-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC), the submission specialist is two months removed from his second unsuccessful shot at the heavyweight crown. He lost via second-round TKO courtesy of the reigning champ Junior dos Santos.

Cormier and Mir were initially cage bound for Sept 29 in the co-main event of Strikeforce: Gilbert Melendez vs. Pat Healy fight card.

However, John Morgan of MMAjunkie.com just tweeted that both combatants will now meet sometime in Oct or Nov at a soon-to-be announced event.

Furthermore, according to Yahoo! Sports, the Strikeforce Heavyweight belt which was initially on the line has been scraped in favor of a non title bout.

Later, ESPN caught up with Cormier, and this is what he had to say about his projected matchup with Mir.

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I got exactly what I asked for. No matter who they put in front of me, I was going to prepare myself like a professional and get ready to fight. But I just did not know, with everything that has been said about guys crossing over (from Strikeforce to UFC), if they were going to be able to find someone who fit how my career has played out.

My career has played out where I've advanced at every step, from one guy to the next to the next. I wasn't sure if there were too many guys outside of UFC who fit that. Frank Mir does that and even more.

He's a guy I have a great amount of respect for, all of his accomplishments and what he's done lately. I get to fight the guy who just fought for the UFC championship two months ago.

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