UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier throws first pitch at today's Giants-A's game

UFC heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier will put his pitching skills to the test on Saturday.

Cormier, a two-time Olympic wrestler, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Saturday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s at California’s Oakland Coliseum.

It’s the final preseason game for each team before they open the 2013 regular season on Monday. Saturday’s game takes place at 1:05 p.m. local time with Cormier scheduled to throw out the first pitch at 12:55 p.m.

Cormier joins an ever-increasing list of UFC fighters who have had first-pitch honors in recent years, including Jon Jones, Anthony Pettis, Urijah Faber, Rich Franklin and Gilbert Melendez (while with Strikeforce).

Cormier (11-0 MMA, 8-0 SF), who is based in nearby San Jose at American Kickboxing Academy, will make his much-anticipated UFC debut next month when he meets former heavyweight champion Frank Mir (16-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC) on the main card of UFC on FOX 7. That show takes place at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Cormier and Mir were expected to meet this past November while Cormier was still in Strikeforce, with Mir crossing over for a one-time-only heavyweight clash. But a Mir injury forced him off the card, and the entire show later was canceled. Cormier instead made easy work of Dion Staring with a second-round TKO on Strikeforce’s final card in January.

That win improved him to 11-0 and came on the heels of his two most impressive wins to date. In September 2011, he knocked out current top UFC heavyweight contender Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the semifinals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament. And in the finals, he dominated Josh Barnett to win the crown.

Mir will be returning for the first time since a second-round TKO loss to then-champ Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 in a heavyweight title fight. That loss snapped a three-fight win streak for Mir, including a brutal technical submission of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira when he snapped his arm at UFC 140.

UFC on FOX 7 is headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Benson Henderson and former Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez.

The full UFC on FOX 7 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez – for lightweight title
• Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir
• Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson
• Matt Brown vs. Jordan Mein

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 5 p.m. ET)

• Darren Elkins vs. Chad Mendes
• Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck
• Francis Carmont vs. Lorenz Larkin
• Myles Jury vs. Ramsey Nijem
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama
• Jorge Masvidal vs. Tim Means

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 3:35 p.m. ET)

• T.J. Dillashaw vs. Hugo Viana
• Roger Bowling vs. Anthony Njokuani
• Clifford Starks vs. Yoel Romero

For more on UFC on FOX 7, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Daniel Cormier)