Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir Set for Wrestling Match After 14-Year Wait
Former UFC heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir will finally collide at an AIGA event in November.
It took 14 years, a canceled UFC fight, and a pair of retirement-age bodies, but Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir are finally going to compete against each other.
Per Red Corner MMA, the two former UFC heavyweight champions will meet in a wrestling match at an AIGA Global event in California sometime in November 2026. An exact date and venue have not been announced, though AIGA has previously held events in Long Beach.
The two were originally scheduled to face each other at UFC 146 in 2012, but the matchup fell apart when co-headliner Alistair Overeem tested positive for elevated testosterone. Mir volunteered to step up and fight Junior dos Santos for the heavyweight title instead, leaving Velasquez to face Antonio Silva in the co-main event. The UFC never rebooked the original fight.
Now Velasquez, 44, and Mir, 47, will settle things on the mat instead of in the cage. The match will be contested under wrestling rules with no submissions allowed, per EssentiallySports.
Velasquez has not competed in MMA since 2019 but has stayed active in professional and amateur wrestling, including appearances for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. Mir's last MMA fight came in 2021. Neither man is expected to be in peak form, and fan reactions to the announcement have reflected that reality, but the matchup carries nostalgia value for anyone who remembers the UFC's heavyweight golden era.
I'm not going to pretend this is a must-see athletic contest. Cain is 44, Mir is 47, and neither one is going to look like they did when they were trading leather in the Octagon a decade ago. The fan comments about Mir being in terrible shape aren't exactly wrong.
But you know what? I'll still watch it. These two were booked to fight in 2012 and it never happened. A wrestling match between two former UFC heavyweight champs at an AIGA event in California is not going to move any needles, but it closes a chapter that's been open for 14 years. Sometimes that's enough reason.
