Loser of Reem-Mir likely to be cut
Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir are in very similar positions, both coming off August knockout losses, both seeing their star fading and trying to recapture past glory. For one of them, their Nov. 16 fight will be their last try to do it in the octagon. The loser is likely to be cut after UFC 167, UFC president Dana White confirmed on Thursday.
Asked if the bout was do or die for both, White, who often hedges his words on such final pronouncements, didn’t waver this time.
“Definitely,” he said. “Definitely.”
Overeem has to win in order to keep his UFC tenure from being declared a bust. After arriving from Strikeforce, he got off to a great start with a destruction of Brock Lesnar that led to his being named No. 1 contender. But in the leadup to his title fight with Junior dos Santos, he failed a random drug test for an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio, and upon returning months later, was knocked out in a huge upset by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
He returned in August and was subsequently knocked out by Travis Browne.
Mir has had an even tougher run lately. The former UFC heavyweight champion has lost three in a row, sandwiching a decision loss to Daniel Cormier between TKO defeats to Josh Barnett and dos Santos.
The duo will pair off at UFC 167 with their backs against the wall, and unless a last minute reprieve comes, only the winner will live to fight again in the Octagon.
