Antônio Rogério Nogueira Joining The UFC

[Marquis]

The UFC will soon have a notable addition to its light-heavyweight division, according to former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

During a media conference call to promote his upcoming UFC 102 main-event fight with Randy Couture, "Minotauro" Nogueira said his twin brother, Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira, will soon be announced as a UFC fighter.

Additionally, a source close to the fighter today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) "Little Nog" has been scratched from a Sept. 12 Bitetti Combat show, where he was slated to fight Alex Stiebling.

The UFC has yet to make an official announcement, and Tom Huggins of Bitetti Combat informed MMAjunkie.com that he was unaware of Nogueira's intentions to withdraw from the contest. Huggins also said that the Sept. 12 event will go on as planned regardless of the light heavyweight's ultimate decision.

"Minotoro" Nogueira, a former PRIDE and Affliction fighter, owns a 17-3 career record and current five-fight win streak.

"He's coming to the UFC very soon," "Minotauro" said of his brother. "They (UFC officials) are going to announce that. I don't know when. They've already talked to him, so for sure he's coming to the UFC.

"You're going to hear that."

Nogueira, who submitted Dion Staring at a May Jungle Fight event in Brazil, was recently announced as a participant in next month's Bitetti Combat show. However, it's not known if his departure from the card is directly related to the UFC deal.

"Minotoro," 33, turned pro in 2002 and is widely regarded as one of the top 10 or 15 fighters in the light-heavyweight division. His career includes victories over notables such as Alistair Overeem (twice), Dan Henderson, Guy Mezger and Kazushi Sakuraba.

This is great news to hear. For those of you who don't know, Antônio Rogério Nogueira is Minotauro Nogueira's twin brother who fights at Light Heavyweight.

I have always wondered why Lil Nog didn't join the UFC in the past like his brother, and although I still wonder that, it doesn't matter now since we finally get to see him in the UFC. Lil Nog will just add more depth to the already very deep UFC light heavyweight division. In fact, with the addition of Lil Nog now, the UFC owns all top 10 light heavyweights in the world. I see Lil Nog doing well in the current LHW pool. Although pretty stacked, I think Lil Nog can go on a little winning streak. Possessing great boxing, getting a Bronze medal in the pan American games for SHW in boxing, and having some pretty good knees. He has good stand up. Obviously since he's a Nogueria it's known he posses phenomenal BJJ, and has a decent chin. He's a very well rounded fighter, and I could see him giving lots in the UFC LHW division some trouble with being a threat on the ground and on the feet. Sadly since he trains at Black House along with Machida, I imagine he won't want to challenge for the belt either like Anderson, but we'll have to see how well he does first.

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Here's a fight of his against Dan Henderson

So what are your thoughts of Lil Nog joining the UFC?

 

[X]

Awesome news there. I love the Nogueira brothers, they're great fighters and they're even more entertaining to watch. The addition of Lil' Nog (sounds like a terrible rapper, doesn't it?) is a nice signing for the UFC, and further bolsters an already amazing Light Heavyweight division.

Can't wait to see who they match him up with.

 

[jmt225]

I think the UFC didn't initially sign him because of his lost against Sokoudjou at Pride 33. That looked really fucking bad.

But since then... Lil' Nog has shown himself indeed to be a top 10 LHW with 5 straight wins now after taking that loss. He's going to do some really amazing things, I think. I mean, this guy has two wins over Overeem, a win over Dan Henderson, and an overall record of 17-3. That's some incredible shit right there. However, I do have my doubts to whether or not he'll be able to work his way up to a Title shot, eventually. The LHW Division in the UFC is fucking stacked, and now it's harder than ever to make a name for yourself there. But Lil' Nog will have a chance to prove himself, and I, for one, cannot wait.

Great news.

 

[BaconBits]

I have mixed emotions about this one.

I love it for the fact that he's a great addition to an already stacked UFC LHW division. He should make for some great matchups, and will be most certainly matched up against the guys at the top of the division (Rashad, Rampage, Forrest, Shogun, Jardine, Ace and once he gets some of that Greg Jackson mojo, Jon Jones), but he probably won't fight Anderson or Machida. Oh well, such is the landscape in MMA.

I hate it for Strikeforce/Dream, who just lost the only real attractive matchup they had for Gegard Mousasi.

 

[Rizza]

Very good news. Big Nog is my favorite fighter of all time, so naturally I am going to be rooting for Lil Nog whoever he may be placed up against, but I am really not too familiar with the guy. I watched an Affliction card he was on and he was very impressive against Vladimir Matyushenko, and he supposed to be impressive right? I mean he beat Lil Nog before, and his record isn't half bad either. As many before me have said though, the UFC's Light-Heavyweight division is certainly not lacking any credibility, and with Anderson Silva dabbling in the scene it is going to be one tough place to get to the top. I hope he does very well for himself, and I am eagerly awaiting his UFC debut.

 

[Marquis]

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is set make his Octagon debut against Luis Arthur Cane in a light heavyweight bout, likely at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas.

Sherdog.com originally reported that the bout would be held at UFC 105 on Nov. 14 in Manchester, England, according to sources close to the bout, but has since learned of the new date.

Sources said the Brazilian pair have verbally agreed to the bout and are awaiting written agreements.

Noguiera, the twin brother of former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo, is on a five-fight win streak and submitted Dion Staring with a third-round triangle choke in his last outing for Jungle Fight in May. The 33-year-old Nogueira also appeared in Affliction’s two U.S. events, earning technical knockouts over Edwin Dewees and Vladimir Matyushenko.

Cane, 28, and his crowd-pleasing striking has steadily gained momentum through his last three UFC opponents, taking TKO victories over Jason Lambert and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and a hard-fought unanimous decision over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97 “Redemption” last April in Montreal.

So it looks like Cane will be Lil Nog's first match in the UFC.

Damn do I hope this match comes through. This match up of Luiz Cane Vs. Nogueira is a MOTY candidate. I expect this to be a slug fest. Both of these guys like to stand and bang, and can do it quite well. Nog might try to take Cane down, but Cane should be perfectly fine off his back being a black belt in BJJ himself If I remember correctly. So I see this fight primarily staying on the feet. I'm not sure who will take this one. Both are very similar fighters. Although Lil Nog does have some nice boxing credentials, he also uses his knees quite well. So both come off as Muay Thai fighters with a good ground game. I'm leaning more towards Lil Nog winning this one by decision, but I do think Cane can pull a upset here and knock out Lil Nog. I'm glad Cane is finally getting a top 10 opponent in Lil Nog. Hopefully if he wins he's in line for a number 1 contender match. I'm a big fan of Cane's, and think he's gonna be a top 5 LHW in no time.