Frank Mir gets his wish, welcomes back Josh Barnett at UFC 164

And just like that Frank Mir got what he wanted. After expressing a desire to welcome Josh Barnett back to the UFC, Mir’s wish has come true as he will be facing the former UFC Heavyweight champion upon his return to the octagon.

The UFC officially announced via Twitter that former heavyweight champions Barnett and Mir will be face off at UFC 164 Aug. 31 in Milwaukee.

Interestingly enough, the last time Barnett fought in the UFC he defeated Randy Couture via TKO to win the Heavyweight title, which he was then stripped of after testing positive for banned substances.

Barnett went on to fight for pretty much every decent-sized promotion imaginable including Pride, Sengoku, Impact, Affliction, Dream, Strikeforce and has now come full circle back to the UFC.

In fact after doing some research, it appears that Barnett is one of very few and possibly the only fighter in history to have fought in every prominent organization in existence.

However, with his debut now set, it’ll be interesting to see what Barnett has to offer in the UFC and whether he can make a run back to the title before time catches up with him and his abilities begin to decline.

His addition to the heavyweight division definitely raises the competition level and the overall depth of the division well beyond anything we’ve ever seen in the UFC.

If you’re a fan of the big boys, there has never been a better time to be excited than now.