Brazilian light heavyweight Antônio Rogério Nogueira (20-5), aka ‘Little Nog’, had been set to face Alexender Gustafsson next month in the headliner for UFC on FUEL TV 2, but an injury to Nogueira’s knee forced him off the Swedish card.
Nogueira has since undergone surgery to repair his knee, but before he went under the knife he spoke to Tatame.com about the details of what was to be done for his knee as well as his desire to face former UFC champ Rich Franklin next.
“It was a leg-lock that caught me but it’s been a while now. I was training my Grappling and Wrestling and it got worse”, Rogerio tells, sad about the fact he had to drop it. “It’s like I’m getting my knee cleaned, they’ll take off part of my meniscus and check out my knee-cap. The doctor said it should be a silly procedure, but it’s gotta be done now otherwise it’ll get worse”.
“… Because we had a bout scheduled against (Rich Franklin), 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 to stand-up. It’ll be good. One left-handed fighting another left-handed is something good to see.”
Nogueira earned a win in his last fight, stopping Tito Ortiz in the first round at UFC 140 via TKO. The win was the Brazilian’s first in three matches after losing decisions to Pil Davis and Ryan Bader.
Franklin is recovering from surgery himself, having undergone surgery to repair the damage which occurred during training. ‘Ace’ had his last fight over a year ago, losing a decision to Forrest Griffin at UFC 126.