Yesterday we passed along news that Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira would reportedly not fight Frank Mir as scheduled September 25^th, due to a rib injury, and that Mirko “Cro Cop” had agreed to step in as Nog’s replacement. Injuries happen, so that’s not too surprising, but we probably weren’t the only ones who had their eyebrows rise upon reading “Cro Cop” was taking the fight. Could it be that “Cro Cop” had reconsidered previous statements he made about getting “too old” for all this ultimate fighting stuff? (Or just as probable—that those comments were taken out of context or inaccurate?)

Well, apparently we kicked into ‘over thinking’ mode way too early on this one (which isn’t a habit here as any regular reader knows), as the UFC has confirmed today that “Cro Cop” will in fact face Mir at UFC 119 in Indianapolis. If you’re a big time Nog fan, and were hoping for some redemption in the rematch with Mir, sorry about your loss. There’s lots riding on “Cro Cop” vs. Mir as well though; should be sweet.

If you’re having trouble keeping track of the bazillion cards being promoted these days (not that we’re complaining), UFC will also feature Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader, Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra II, Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk and Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens on the main card. To bet on any of the upcoming cards head here.

If you’re a huge “Minotauro” Nogueira fan and have had September 25^th marked down on your calendar, in anticipation of your boy getting another shot at Frank Mir, well, you may want to put the coffee down (or any other object that could be thrown courtesy a temper tantrum). According to a report from Fighters Only Magazine Nogueira has been forced to withdraw from UFC 119 due to an injury. In a follow up report from MMA Junkie, a source has confirmed with the outlet, that a rib injury has in fact punted the legendary heavyweight from the card.

So, for big time Nog fans this news has to be very disappointing, as Nogueira has consistently said that a serious staph infection and a messed up knee, were key reasons as to why he got absolutely pasted by Mir at UFC 92. Looks like Nog learned his lesson in terms of trying to fight through an injury no?

Now, the sh-tty news regarding Nogueira’s injury aside, Fighters Only is reporting that Mirko “Cro Cop” will step in to fight Mir at UFC 119. Our first reaction was ‘cool—wait—what?’ Now Cro Cop has clearly fought some of the best in the sport, and if he has indeed agreed to fight Mir then that’s awesome, but it wasn’t long ago we were hearing reports that he was humming and hawing about retirement. Now he’s stepping up against one the world’s best on 6 week’s notice? Guess he’s still looking to make a run.

It kind of seems like it’s been a little quieter on the Chael Sonnen front lately (or other matters are grabbing headlines) which may or may not have anything to do with the outspoken wrestler’s recent on and off again relationship with a certain Twitter account. Now, all that said, it wasn’t too long ago that the Team Quest fighter tossed one of his infamous ‘Sonnens’ in the direction of the renowned Nogueira brothers, who of course, awarded Anderson Silva his black belt in BJJ. You may recall Sonnen didn’t think Silva’s affiliation with Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was such a big deal, stating “One is a punching bag and the other I just ignore.” Now don’t hold anything back Chael…

Yes, it takes some serious bollocks to make such a statement; Nog is right up there on the all time greats and “Lil Nog” is likely a title threat at 205. In a recent interview with Tatame Magazine, Rogerio was asked for his thoughts on the upcoming Sonnen / Silva; anyone surprised by this answer?

“It’s the way he found to bring Anderson to wherever he wants. He’s provoking Anderson to see if he bits the bait, lose his head and goes for the knockout. Anderson will kick his ass. He doesn’t have a ground game… He was submitted by Jeremy Horn and by Paulão… He won (on a fight against Nate Marquardt) because the guy ran out of gas, otherwise he’d get that guillotine.”

Yup; it’s only going to get more interesting as August 7^th draws near….to bet on the fight head here.

When your buddy, training partner and MMA legend gets throttled in front of millions of fans, casting widespread doubts as to whether or not his time as a contender is over, what do you attribute it to? A bad day of course; we all have them, except usually our off days consist of running out of donuts by 9:04AM, rather than having a world class fighter brutalize our face repeatedly with punches.

In the wake of “Minotauro”” Nogueira’s stunning and abrupt stoppage loss to Cain Velasquez Saturday night, the future hall of famer’s teammate, UFC light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida, recently ‘tweeted’’ (thanks to Tatame for the quote):

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t his day. Cain is very well and hit it in the spot. MMA is like that, you can win or lose in seconds. I was very sad with Minotauro’s loss, because I know he worked hard to this fight. But I liked Wanderlei (Silva’s) fight, always in his aggressive style, fighting forward. He won and he deserved it”.

Yes, we agree, Cain did a damn fine job at hitting ‘the spot.’ Many people likely thought Velasquez could defeat Nog, but not too many people probably expected the AKA heavyweight to do that ‘well.’ Machida’s comments about it not being Nogueira’s day are understandable, but, even die hard Nog fans must be wondering if the legendary fighter is still capable of making another title run.

And as far as Machida’s comments on Wanderlei, can’t argue with that either; Silva looked good. See what a new face can do for you?

When the UFC announced that Cain Velasquez would fight former  UFC interim champ Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira, there weren’t many people out there saying WTF? Although Nog has fought nearly 30 times more than Velasquez, has faced way more notable fighters, and is coming off a dominant UD win over Randy Couture, Velasquez is far from a heavy underdog heading into UFC 110. Guess that’s what happens when you’re a sick wrestler, agile as hell, and can also strike. That’s why UFC boss man Dana White had no problem throwing in the 7-0 Velasquez against one of the sport’s greatest fighters ever (thanks to Sherdog for the quote).

“(Velasquez’s) had a progression to get to this point,” said White. “I think that he’s faced good competition and won handily. I think he looks better every time he fights. I think he’s completely well rounded and one of the top heavyweight in the world, so facing a guy like Nogueira at this point in his career makes sense for him, in my opinion.”

We agree. Especially after Velasquez cruised through Ben Rothwell like he was an organic heavy bag at UFC 104. It will be interesting to see if Velasquez elects to stand and strike with Nogueira rather than take him down, which, if wants to, will probably happen. It depends on whether or not Cain wants to test Nogueira’s guard, and risk getting subbed or swept. Guys like Rothwell and Cheick Kongo are tough dudes, but their names aren’t exactly synonymous with ‘omoplata’ or ‘D’arce.’

To bet on Velasquez vs. Nogueira, or any other UFC 110 bouts, head here.

In an interesting story posted on MMA Junkie today, American Kickboxing Academy teammates Jon Fitch and Cain Velasquez apparently disagree as to whether or not jiu-jitsu’s hallowed closed guard, is an effective position any longer to end a fight in modern MMA. Fitch told Fox Fight Game recently (and we’re paraphrasing here in our own colorful manner), that unless you’re submission wizards like Demian Maia and Shinya Aoki, forget about working for subs from the guard as dudes like Chael Sonnen will beat the living hell out of you.

Now, Velasquez is heading into a bout with “Minotauro” Nogueira, a guy who knows a thing or two about brutalizing an opponent’s body and or consciousness from the guard. When asked to share his thoughts on Fitch’s recent claim that essentially the closed guard has passed on, Velasquez reportedly said:

“I don’t believe that,” Velasquez said. “I believe everyone’s dangerous, especially Nogueira on the ground.”

Yes, a wisely chosen response Mr. Rising Contender; the last thing you would want to do is tell the world that ‘you’ll retire if you ever get tapped out from the guard,’ only to have Big Nog slap on one of his patented triangle chokes.

The sport’s evolving, soon guys are going to be turning pro that learned to pass the guard before they could walk, or drilled rubber guard every recess throughout elementary school. That’s some scary sh-t.

To bet on Velasquez vs. Nogueira head here.

Since Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s impressive UD win over Randy Couture, at UFC 102 in August, the legendary fighter has continued to call for a shot at heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar. Although we’d love to see it, Nog might need another win before getting a crack at Lesnar, as, injured or not, his starching at the hands of Frank Mir is still burned in the minds of a lot of people (drunkards excluded of course). Nogueira’s kickboxing instructor is Luiz Alves, a man who also trains another notable heavyweight, namely Junior dos Santos (the dude that just made Mirko Cro Cop say ‘stric.’ That’s Croatian for uncle).

In a recent interview with Tatame, Alves also weighed in on a bout between Nogueira and Lesnar stating:

“That’s a really tough fight to Rodrigo, but it’s not impossible… Against Brock, I think we have to be worried about the first round. Standing well, we’ll grow a lot on the second, start to speed, push, and Brock doesn’t have gas to fight five rounds”

Does Alves have a point? Maybe. Typically the lungs of monsters like Lesnar don’t care to go five hard rounds, but the champ didn’t have too many difficulties in his three round tilt with Heath Herring. (Ground-and-pounding someone’s face for fifteen minutes likely isn’t as tiring as doing laps around the Octagon) Now will Lesnar’s upcoming bout with Shane Carwin go 5 rounds? Are romantic comedies usually worth watching?

Sometimes MMA rumors that get floated around  sound about as absurd as, well, a Bob Arum interview regarding MMA (see below), but a report today from Bloody Elbow’s Michael Rome stating that Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera is “strongly rumored” for UFC 105, seems pretty plausible.

With UFC 105, which will take place November 14^th in Manchester, still in need of a main event, of course any bout with “The Natural” would certainly fit the bill. Couture stated after his recent UD loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira that he plans on returning to light-heavyweight, while Vera is in need of a ‘big name’ win to move into title contention. (And lets face it, although Vera has won 3 of his 4 bouts since moving down to light-heavy, no one was choking on their nachos with excitement during his wins over Krzysztof Soszynski or Reese Andy)

The report, which cites “reliable sources” for the info, states that Couture accepted an offer to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 105, but that Evans turned it down. Too bad; but with Evans thinking about brutalizing nemesis “Rampage” Jackson for weeks now, it shouldn’t come as a shocking surprise, that he’d rather wait for a crack at ‘B.A. Baracus’ then fight Couture. (btw Rampage, you should definitely rock the Mr. T Mohawk for the fight…)

With Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s impressive victory over Randy Couture Saturday night at UFC 102, much of the internet buzz yesterday and today is focused on a possible bout between the Brazilian and current champ Brock Lesnar. (Although news that Disney has bout Marvel for 4 billion is likely eating up a lot of bandwidth, with comic nerds around the world terrified that Iron Man 2 could now possibly feature an appearance from Hannah Montana)

Speculation aside as to whether or not Nog will get a title shot next, (see below) there’s no doubt that a bout between “Minotauro” and Lesnar would be wildly entertaining. (See Nog’s epic 2002 ‘this sh#t ain’t happening’ bout with Bob Sapp for just a sample) Talking to MMA Weekly, Nogueira said the following, when asked about what kind of strategy he would employ against Lesnar.

“A lot of jiu-jitsu and good standing up, make him tired man, move around, move around.  When I get his timing, hit him with a good right hand and box him, box him and get him tired.”

Yeah, we’re thinking that tiring out Lesnar would be a good idea. Although Nog is one of the best in the game at submissions, based off Lesnar’s beat down of Frank Mir, it looks as though the champ could very well punch an opponent’s face through the Octagon cage if he so desired.

Only days removed from Saturday night’s memorable bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture, the winner “Minotauro” and UFC Prez Dana White have already fielded questions about the possibility of a Nogueira / Brock Lesnar fight. What that line of questioning leaves out of the equation; however, is a certain Mr. Shane “This Doorway’s Much Too Small For Me” Carwin, who will challenge Lesnar next on November 21^st. Lesnar may be the favorite in most people’s minds heading in, but Carwin has demonstrated time and time again, that his lunch pail sized fists are rather useful in eradicating a human’s consciousness.

In addition, another of the division’s top contenders, Cain Velasquez, is set to take on Ben Rothwell on October 24^th. Originally Velasquez was supposed to throw down with Carwin, until Lesnar dropped a dime and asked the UFC for another bout in ’09. (And when Mr. Lesnar asks for something, people are wise to listen and make it so…) In a report today from MMA Bay, Carwin is quoted saying:

“I was told that the winner of the Brock fight will likely face the winner of the Cain and Rothwell fight at UFC 104.”

Now, we could be wrong, and sometimes (frequently) we are, but by putting on our ‘read between the lines’ glasses, we’re thinking that the UFC brass is expecting Velasquez to take out Rothwell. Don’t get us wrong, Rothwell’s a tough dude and he could beat Velasquez, but, one would think that “Not So Gentle” Ben wouldn’t get a title shot in just his second Octagon bout. Especially when you have other guys like Mirko “Cro Cop”, Junior dos Santos, and Nog waiting in the wings.