Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Likely for UFC 108
Heavyweight contenders Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will likely meet in a featured matchup at UFC 108 on January 2 in Las Vegas, according to Tatame, which cites a report from Nogueira’s manager Ed Soares.
Velasquez (7-0) improved his UFC record to 5-0 with a second-round knockout of Ben Rothwell last month at UFC 104.
Nogueira (32-5-1), who had been expected to fight the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin before the fight was postponed from UFC 106 to early next year, rebounded from a disappointing loss to Frank Mir with an impressive decision win over Randy Couture in August.
The winner of Velasquez-Nogueira is likely to challenge the Lesnar-Carwin winner for the heavyweight title in mid-2010.
UFC 108 also includes Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva, Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, and Carlos Condit vs. Paul Daley, but the traditional blockbuster event is unlikely to feature a championship main event.
For the latest UFC 108 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.
Pictured: Cain Velasquez
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poor cain wont take him down because he will end up with a broken are nog is going to ko him
I believe corey called this yesterday
This card is looking good! Very interesting match ups. Looking forward to it.
great match dude! this card keeps rebounding from all the scratched fights!
Great test for both fighters although i might have to go with nog in this one. He’s dangerous anywhere the fights goes especially the ground but dammit cain has been an animal lately so who knows how it will play out. Either fighter will get decapitated by brock though
Sad but true.
Its obvious by now that I’m not Lesnar supporter, but assuming that he returns to his Neanderthalic form in 2010, I don’t see Carwin, Velasquez, or BigNog lasting 3 rounds with Lesnar, let alone 5.
Carwin will most likely present the toughest challange because of his size and punching power, but I foresee Lesnar’s next 2 or 3 fights ending in 3 rounds or less, and all with him looming over his bloodied and semi-conscious opponent, with the ref waving off the Vanilla Gorilla…
I love this fight, Cain will take him down just as he has done in all the other fights hes been in. Can he or does he have good enough submission defense to stop Big Nog the answer is we dont no but i bet hell be training it hard and hes in a good enough camp to learn enough to nullify Nogs Jui Jitsu because of Cains outstanding wrestling ability and control. I also can see Cain Tko’ing Big Nog because his chin and legendary punch resistance is looking like a man who has been in alot of wars and no were near wot it was. As we all no Nog will show up and put his heart into this fight and try his best, but i believe his best wont be enough. Great Fight Cain Tko 2nd Round
truemmafan,
I gotta give u props fir pickin cain in this one I will remember you said this just in case there is an upset…Cain has the unbeaten fire in his eyes and I think his drive is amazing but I can’t see him beating Nog I think it is too early for him to be fighting a fight like this, I definately think he has the tools to take Nog down but I think when it gets there and Nog is in his element he will unleash sub attempts and overwhelm Cain but like I said I don’t see too many people pickin Cain so good on ya
Nog rd 1 sub
Agreed.not a good match up for Cain right now.Then again,the experience can’t hurt and it will show Cain where he stands against an elite ground guy.Nog by sub.
if cain wins this one he definately deserves a title shot. i dont see noguiera loseing this one though
Big test for Cain, when Nog is healthy he can take a lot of punishment from nasty strikers and g-n-p guys so cain had better clean up a lot of his strikes and ground movement to avoid having what happened to randy happen to him.
tough match for cain, a skillful striker who can survive and end the fight on the ground.
i actually think brock would be an easier fight for cain.
on the opther hand but, i’m not sure if nog cold sub lesnar or get out from under those close range hammer fists – i don’t doubt it – but am not sure. then again nog wouldn’t get taken down quite as easily as mir did in both lesnar fights.
th HW division is really cool now , but I still think couture in prime would crush lesnar, so compared to the WW and LHW it’s still
so – so
Fantastic fight
cain should keep this fight standing… if he does he has a better chance at winning…
randy is a squirmy guy and barely got out of a couple of nogs sub attempts… i dont know cains sub-defence but it had better be damn good…
i wanna call this fight either KO around the 3 min mark round 2 for cain or a submission for nog around the 2 min mark in round 1… if it goes to the judges…. well who knows how they will call a fight… they might as well just draw straws
while you are right that nog had couture squirming cains stand up is is weakest skill. if i was cain i’d work on BJJ and BJJ defense as well as try to take down nog – which he probably can and just control from the top if possible. nog may knock out cain from standing. if cain can’t dominate from top he may get free a chiro
great matchup i wanted this one bad
i dont think cain will put nog away he might get UD but i just dont see him putting him away he’ll be afraid to get caught in sub if he takes him down and might not want to get in a better position and wont commit so much to his GnP and might just be safe and just try to control him alot…because no doubt nog will catch him he myte no subbmit him but defintley catch him in something.. i say nog sub round 3 (triangle choke) unless cain uses his conditioning and out works him. all IMO by the way
This is one of those fights where Velasquez sort of gets to “pick his poison”.
If he goes to the ground with BigNog, he runs the risk of getting submitted by a BJJ ace. If he stands and exchanges, which is probably his best bet, he runs the risk of gassing while trying to wear out a man thats famous for “Timex’ing” his way thru fights and getting wins…
i dont see cain gassing
You may be right, but when you consider the number of punches he’s going to have to throw to beat BigNog, I wouldn’t be cement certain of that…
This is a great fight, and could very well make up for there being no title fights on this card. Nog is the favorite in my eyes, but Cain is so quick, and such a dominant wrestler he will definitely give Nog some problems.
This IS a great fight, and goes to show what sort of depth the UFC has in terms of talent.
I think someone just yesterday was calling the UFC out for not having enough talent to cover all of the event fight slots, but I defy anyone to show me an MMA organization that could keep pace with the rash of injuries and illness that’s wracked the UFC in the last couple of weeks…
Strikeforce dealt with a lot of injuries on Cyborg v. Carano, but that was one card, not multiple. And still not as many as the UFC has had to deal with.
Still was a damnnn good card tho I really enjoyed that event
There is one thing I do not like about this fight and that’s that both fighters may just lock up and hold on when it hits the ground. Not saying the fight won’t be good but there is the potential for it to turn into a takedown hold down fight. I think Big Nog wins because even if Cain gets him down, Big Nog still has sweeps from he11 and his ground control is second to none. On their feet I think Cain is still too loopy of a puncher to really be accurate and consistent enough to drop big Nog, however he does have the power to rock and use those openings to gain a take down into a better position than Nog’s Guard, like say Half guard or side control. Either way I think this a smart match up for the heavyweight division.
Great match-up except it takes away a top challenger in the HW division.
Nog Will win this by sub.
Cain has never dealt with a guy with Nog’s jits
Nog 2nd rd anaconda choke/arm triangle
So who do you think gets to be the Main Event??
yeah this card is slowly getting pretty stacked..ill rather see alot of good caliber fights than just some decent fights and a big championship match like the ufc has done before but in the end i watch them all
Cain should get some takedowns i would imagine.
Although he won’t keep him down like he did with Kongo.
I think this is a very tough match up for Cain.