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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is set for a September return, according to his boxing coach Luis Carlos Dorea in comments made to Tatame.com, and he may have an opponent set.
"It’s set that he’ll be back in September, and rumors point that his opponent might be Quinton Jackson," Dorea said. "It’d be a great fight for Rogerio, he’s a former UFC champion and a victory over him will move us pretty close to the title. The UFC only has top athletes and Quinton Jackson is really dangerous. It’d be a great fight, but the UFC didn’t confirm anything yet."
Despite Dorea's reluctance to confirm the bout, Tatame continued to report that the fight has been agreed upon. This comes following comments Rampage made on Twitter this month saying he didn't want to fight Lyoto Machida, which had been a fight discussed previously that even Dana White had mentioned as the next one for both fighters.
Rampage said he wants to fight a more exciting fighter after what he felt was a boring fight against Rashad Evans, and with Machida's reputation Rampage said he wants an exciting fight first, then Machida.
If the fight does get put together, it could be the main event for the UFC 119 card coming to Indianapolis on September 25.
Penick's Analysis: This would be an excellent light heavyweight match up, and Rampage would get the exciting fight he's looking for. That's definitely a fight where I can see both fighters standing and trading, but Nogueira's still got a good ground game and if he chooses to do so he can make it a grappling match as well. It should be a good fight and I hope it comes to fruition. It would make a better co-main event if the UFC can find a better main event for this card, but with Rampage coming off a million buys against Rashad he'd be a solid fighter to put in the top slot on an in between pay-per-view.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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