Heavyweight stars Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira are set to headline a UFC Fight Night event in the organization’s return to Abu Dhabi.
The UFC confirmed the matchup on Twitter. The event is scheduled to take place April 11.
Nelson (19-9) has dropped consecutive decisions to Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, while Nogueira (34-8-1, 1 NC) has lost four of his last seven, including a submission loss to Fabricio Werdum last June. Nogueira injured his arm in that bout, but has since resumed training.
Back in November, Nogueira expressed an interest in fighting Nelson, telling MMAFighting: “I’m totally interested in this fight. He’s a tough athlete and is always fighting the tops. I would like to fight him. He has a heavy hand and would be a good challenge.”
UFC 112 took place in Abu Dhabi in April 2010 and the event was considered a disappointment. Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn to win the lightweight title in an uneventful co-main event prior to Anderson Silva defending his middleweight title against Demian Maia in a performance where Silva taunted his opponent for the majority of the bout.
