Daniel Cormier to fight Frank Mir

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Daniel Cormier, the 2012 Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner, will face former two-time UFC champion Frank Mir on Nov. 3 in Oklahoma City.

The three-round fight will be a homecoming of sorts for Cormier, who was an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University.

"It feels good to go back to Oklahoma, where I haven't been in almost two years," Cormier told ESPN.com. "I lived there (in Stillwater, Okla.) from 1998-99 until 2010. It's like a second home to me.

"I've got all my people and my family at Oklahoma State. In Oklahoma City I have a lot of great friends. And I have a lot of friends in Dallas, which is a really big place for Oklahoma State graduates.

"I anticipate a pretty decent crowd and a lot of support on my side. So I'm going to go in there and do my thing and Cowboy Up."

Cormier, a native of Lafayette, La., who currently fights out of San Jose, Calif., will take a professional mixed-martial-arts record of 10-0 into the cage against Mir.

During his most recent bout on May 19, Cormier defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett by unanimous decision in a lopsided affair.

That victory earned Cormier the Grand Prix title.

Mir (16-6) becomes the first active UFC fighter to participate in a Strikeforce-promoted bout.

He looks to rebound from a second-round TKO loss on May 26 at the hands of current UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. Mir is a Las Vegas native and resident.

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Franklin McNeil

Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts

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• MMA columnist for ESPN.com
• Analyst for "MMA Live"
• Covered MMA/Boxing for The Star-Ledger