The new UFC 153 fight card is slowly starting to come together.
A day after the card lost its main event and co-main event, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Dave Herman have verbally agreed to meet in a heavyweight bout on the Oct. 13 card in Rio de Janeiro, according to sources close to the event. The news was first reported by journalist Guilherme Cruz of Tatame.com.
The Brazilian Nogueira (33-7-1, 1 NC), who owns a gym in Rio, hasn’t fought since his submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140. Mir broke Nogueira’s arm via a kimura after “Big Nog” refused to tap. Nogueira was scheduled to fight Cheick Kongo at UFC 149, but he withdrew from the fight after determining the injured arm was not fully healed.
Herman (21-4) enters the fight on a two-fight losing streak. He most recently lost via knockout to Roy Nelson at UFC 146.
The Nogueira vs. Herman fight is not expected to be the new UFC 153 main event.