Eric Holder
11-04-2009, 08:11 PM
The list of UFC heavyweight title contenders is about to get shorter. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is set to face Cain Velasquez on Jan. 2 at UFC 108 in Las Vegas.
MMAWeekly.com sources on Wednesday confirmed the bout has been agreed to. It was initially reported by Tatame.com.
The winner between Nogueira and Velasquez is likely to get the next shot at the UFC heavyweight championship.
After losing the interim UFC heavyweight title to Frank Mir at UFC 92, Nogueira (32-5-1) returned with an impressive victory over UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 102 in August. The win immediately put his name back in the hat of contenders to the belt currently held by Brock Lesnar.
Velasquez (7-0) is coming off a dominating TKO stoppage of Ben Rothwell at UFC 104. Three years into the sport, Velasquez has made a quick rise to the top of the heavyweight division with five of his victories taking place in the Octagon and only one having gone to a decision. Like Nogueira, he has also been mentioned as a contender.
Lesnar was scheduled to face Shane Carwin on Nov. 21 at UFC 106, but had to withdraw due to illness. Rescheduling the bout has been proposed for UFC 108, but apparently still suffering from flu-like symptoms, it is not yet clear if Lesnar will have enough time to prepare for a Jan. 2 date.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=9922&zoneid=13
MMAWeekly.com sources on Wednesday confirmed the bout has been agreed to. It was initially reported by Tatame.com.
The winner between Nogueira and Velasquez is likely to get the next shot at the UFC heavyweight championship.
After losing the interim UFC heavyweight title to Frank Mir at UFC 92, Nogueira (32-5-1) returned with an impressive victory over UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 102 in August. The win immediately put his name back in the hat of contenders to the belt currently held by Brock Lesnar.
Velasquez (7-0) is coming off a dominating TKO stoppage of Ben Rothwell at UFC 104. Three years into the sport, Velasquez has made a quick rise to the top of the heavyweight division with five of his victories taking place in the Octagon and only one having gone to a decision. Like Nogueira, he has also been mentioned as a contender.
Lesnar was scheduled to face Shane Carwin on Nov. 21 at UFC 106, but had to withdraw due to illness. Rescheduling the bout has been proposed for UFC 108, but apparently still suffering from flu-like symptoms, it is not yet clear if Lesnar will have enough time to prepare for a Jan. 2 date.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=9922&zoneid=13