A fight between former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and “Ultimate Fighter” season 10 runner-up Brendan Schaub is in the works for early 2011.

According to sources speaking to MMAWeekly.com, the bout between Mir and Schaub has at least reach verbal agreements, although no bout agreements have been issued at this point. Mir vs. Schaub would likely end up on one of the cards coming up in March, but an exact date has not been verified.

The match-up between Schaub and Mir locks up the fact that the former heavyweight champion will not be facing Brock Lesnar in a trilogy fight. UFC president Dana White had talked about the match-up but then backed off when fans on his Twitter page seemed very lukewarm about the idea of a third fight between the two heavyweights.

Since his win over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121, Schaub has made no secrets for his desire to face Mir in the near future.

“If the UFC calls, I’m up for whatever they ask me to do… but I did say I think that next step up from Gonzaga would be a guy like Frank Mir or (Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic). For me, that’s kind of headed in the direction of getting closer to the title,” Schaub told MMAWeekly Radio after his win in October.

“I’m such a fan of Frank Mir and he poses such huge threats to me. I’m trying to get better and the only way to get better is knowing that I have to fight a guy like Frank Mir. That’s the reason (I said I wanted to fight him). Frank Mir is an absolute nightmare… stud jiu-jitsu guy and southpaw.”

It looks like Schaub got his match-up.

As for Frank Mir, the former champion is coming off a win over Mirko CroCop back in September, but not without some criticism for a fairly lackluster fight until landing the knockout blow late in the third round. Mir is 2-1 in his last three fights, and looks to climb back up the heavyweight ladder towards a title shot and faces a very tough test in Brendan Schaub.

Following the fight with CroCop, Mir seemed up for any challenge the UFC presented him including the fight with Schaub so now talk has become reality.

While no date has been determined for the match-up, the fight between Mir and Schaub would likely end up on a card in March 2011. Most of the major fights have been filled for cards earlier than that, and a heavyweight bout like this one will get a major slot on an upcoming show.