Antônio Rogério Nogueira
Fans who bought tickets to this months UFC 161 event in Winnipeg, Manitoba will see another major change to the main card with news that co-main event fighter Antônio Rogério ‘Lil Nog’ Nogueira (21-5) has been forced out of the event due to injury.
Opponent, and former UFC champ, Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua (21-7) is awaiting the announcement of a new adversary for the pay-per-view event.
Brazil’s Globo.com reported the news on Sunday evening and was since confirmed by MMAFighting.com.
Nogueira is apparently out with a back injury.
This is the second major shake up for Canadian event as an interim bantamweight bout between champion Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland was postponed a few weeks ago after Barao was forced out due to injury.
UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson is expected to take place on June 15, 2013 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The event is being headlined by a light heavyweight match featuring Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson.
Nogueira had won two straight and was 2-2 in his last four matches. His most recent victory came in February when he beat Evans by unanimous decision at UFC 156.
Rua is 3-4 in his last seven Octagon appearances losing a decision to Alexander Gustafsson last December at UFC on FOX 5. ‘Shogun’ picked up his last victory in August of last year after stopping Brandon Vera by TKO at UFC on FOX 4.