UFC light heavyweight veteran, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been revealing exactly what injury forced him out of his trip to Stockholm, Sweden to take on one of the European countries top prospects at 205 pounds, as ell as revealing he’d love to fight a certain former middleweight champion in his next fight inside the octagon.
Speaking via Tatame Magazine, Nogueira said:
“It was a leg-lock that caught me but it’s been a while now. I was training my Grappling and Wrestling and it got worse. The doctor said my knee should be alright within a month. I’ll be training 100 percent. God bless me, I’ll be fighting in June.â€
When asked why he’s so keen to face former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin inside the octagon, Nogueira responded:
“Because we had a bout scheduled against him, I was supposed to fight him in the past and I already know what game plan to use against him. He’s a guy who likes to stand-up. It’ll be good. One left-handed fighting another left-handed is something good to see. It would be an excellent fight. I need a good fight. I need to keep the performance I had against Tito Ortiz.I owe it to people.â€
Nogueira got his octagon career back on track following back-to-back losses to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis when he stopped former 205 pound champion, Tito Ortiz at UFC 140 just last month. He was due to face Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of the UFC on FUEL 2 card set for April 14th in Stockholm, Sweden before injury struck. Stay tuned to MMABay for news on when and where he’ll fight next as we get it.
