Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: I want to fight Rich Franklin in my comeback bout – UFC news
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, one of the top ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweights recently in a short interview shared his thoughts of having a skirmish with Rich Franklin, the former UFC middleweight champion, once he has recuperated
from his knee injury.
Rogerio was scheduled to take on Alexander Gustafsson in UFC’s pay-per-view ‘UFC on Fuel TV2’ but his sudden knee injury led him to forfeit the engagement as a result Thiago Silva was then given the responsibility to bout Alex on April 14, 2012.
As per the details, Rich Franklin and Rogerio both were out of the octagon for some time and were recuperating from their injuries. Rich is now fit and has been arranged by UFC management to take on Cung Le in UFC 148.
Antonio, infamous as the ‘Minotoro’, has been in a total 25 bouts and came out victorious in 20. He has collected eight of his wins by knockout, four by submission and remaining eight by either split or unanimous decision.
The Brazilian pounder recently nailed Tito Ortiz in December 2011 and was seriously injured after brutally kicking and battering Ortiz. Nogueira is famous for his wins over Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Jason Brilz and others.
Rich, 37, is a veteran who has been in a total 35 mixed martial art bouts and came out victorious in 28. Also known as the ‘Ace’, the American proud has won 15 of his wins by knockout, ten by submission, and three by decision.
Franklin last fought against Forrest Griffin and lost the bout via unanimous decision. Rich is famous for his skirmish with Anderson Silva, the current light heavyweight champion. Though Rich lost both bouts but the whole wild ride mesmerised the mixed martial
art fans all over the world.
The interesting facet of both Rich and Nogueira is that they are southpaws and a brawl between two left handed jabbers and pounders is always an epic showdown to witness. The worth of the bout increases manifold when the opponents reside at the top ranks
of the division and are expert in both the submission and knockout ability.
In the short but revealing interview Rogerio commented, “The doctor said my knee should be alright within a month. I’ll be training 100 per cent. God bless me, I’ll be fighting in June. [I wish for a fight against Rich Franklin] 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 stand-up. It'll be good. One southpaw fighting another southpaw is something good to see.”
Rogerio remarked that the battle will be epic and he is in dire need of a genuine competition to get back on track.
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