Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Roy Nelson have been two of the top heavyweights in the UFC for the past few years and now it appears they could be on a collision course.
In a recent interview with MMAFighting.com, Big Nog said he’s interested in taking on Big Country.
“I’m totally interested in this fight,” Nogueira said. “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.”
Nelson (19-9) has dropped consecutive decisions to Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier this year after winning three straight by first-round knockout.
Nogueira (34-8-1, 1 NC) has lost four of his last seven, including a submission loss to Fabricio Werdum in June. Nogueira injured his arm in that bout, but is expected to resume full training in January.
Nelson has yet to respond to Nogueira’s comments and the UFC has not announced any plans to book the matchup.
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Cerrone to face world BJJ champ
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone looked fantastic in his submission win over Evan Dunham at UFC 167 and the lightweight contender is wasting no time getting back to work. Cerrone is set to fight Adriano Martins at UFC on FOX 10 in Chicago on Jan. 25.
Cerrone (21-6, 1 NC) is coming off his first submission win in two years, while Martins (25–6) is looking to extend his win streak to seven. Martins, a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, submitted Daron Cruickshank in his UFC debut on Nov. 9.
Also on the card, unbeaten Russian welterweight prospect Adam Khaliev is set to make his UFC debut against Germany’s Pascal Krauss, plus bantamweights Chico Camus and Yaotzin Meza are scheduled to go toe-to-toe.
The event is headlined by former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson vs. former Strikeforce champ Josh Thomson.
Rising middleweights ready to clash
The fight card for the UFC’s first trip to Duluth, Ga., is quickly taking shape and rising middleweights Yoel Romero and Derek Brunson are scheduled to meet in a bout where the winner will move closer to the upper echelon of the 185-pound division.
Romero (6-1) and Brunson (11-2), who were scheduled to meet at UFC 164 before Brunson pulled out inured, are both 2-0 in the UFC and coming off impressive stoppage wins over Ronny Markes and Brian Houston, respectively.
Also on the card, TUF Live veteran Vinc Pichel will face Garett Whiteley.
In other UFC news:
— Flyweight Alp Ozkilic will make his UFC debut against Darren Uyenoyama at UFC on FOX 9 on Dec. 14 in Sacramento. Ozkilic replaces an injured John Moraga, who is expected to be out four weeks.
— TUF Smashes veteran Ben Wall will face Alex Garcia at UFC Fight Night 33 in Brisbane, Australia on Dec. 7 after Andreas Stahl was forced off the card injured.
— Viscardi Andrade and Nicholas Musoke, who both won their UFC debuts earlier this year, are set to meet at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil on Feb. 15.
— TUF Live castmates Cristiano Marcello and Joe Proctor will fight at UFC Fight Night 36.
