UFC light-heavyweight Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko (25-5) is looking for a little pay-back and he doesn’t care which fighter headlining the upcoming UFC Fight Night 24 event it is. Whether it’s Tito Ortiz or Antônio Rogério Nogueira, he’s got a beef with both men.
“The Janitor” owes Ortiz for a loss way back at UFC 33, a match he took on short notice stepping in for an injured Vitor Belfort. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” would earn a unanimous decision to defend his UFC light heavyweight title.
Against Nogueira, Matyushenko has fought the Brazilian twice in his career going 1-1. Their first meeting was back in August 2002 at a UFO – Legend event, where he earned a unanimous decision. Their second meeting would happen six-and-a-half years later at the Affliction: Day of Reckoning event and this time Nogueira would walk away the victor, landing a knee in the second round to score the knockout win.
Matyushenko spoke to MMAWeekly.com about the upcoming fight between Ortiz and Nogueira to explain his reasons for wanting the winner.
“I can’t wait for the fight to see Tito get his ass kicked, I think that’s what’s going to happen. You never know. I think he’s still in good shape. I can’t wait because I want to fight either of those guys. I want to fight both of them, but whoever wins I think will be a good match-up to fight me. I’d put money on (Nogueira), but it’s MMA. It’s fun to watch because you never know. In my mind I still can beat them. I respect them both, but with Nogueira the last fight I had a serious injury before that and I think it was not a fair fight, and the fans want to see the real deal. Same with Tito, it was a short notice kind of deal and it was a long time ago, and a lot of fans keep asking me about it and I think it will be a good thing to happen.”