Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira celebrates victory over Dave Herman at UFC 153 – Photo via Fighters.com
A couple of heavyweights look to be slotted in as opposing coaches for the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.” Former PRIDE opponents Antônio Rodrigo ‘Big Nog’ Nogueira (34-7-1, 1NC) and Fabricio Werdum (16-5-1) have reportedly verbally agreed to appear on the reality series after a recent news report from GloboSporte.com.
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Update: Officials with UFC Brazil Tweeted (@ufc_brasil) a link to the story earlier this afternoon, virtually confirming the two heavyweights as the next TUF coaches.
Both men squared off with one another in July 2006 at a PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute event as part of the Openweight Grand Prix quarterfinals. ‘Big Nog’ would earn a unanimous decision over his fellow Brazilian at the Japanese event.
No official has been released naming the Nogueira and Werdum as the coaches as of yet. The second season of “TUF: Brazil” is expected to hit the airwaves in March while filming beginning in January 2013.
Nogueira earned a submission win in Brazil earlier this month in the co-main event of UFC 153. At the Rio de Janeiro show, ‘Big Nog’ squared off with Dave Herman replacing the previous co-main event after an injury to Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson forced the former champ off the card. The win allowed Nogueira to bounce back from a submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140, which saw the Brazilian suffer a broken arm.
Werdum has won two straight since re-joining the UFC and is 5-1 in his last six bouts. The former Strikeforce fighter stopped Mike Russow in June at UFC 147 finishing the Chicago cop via first round TKO. Werdum’s other win was by decision in a lopsided striking clinic against Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson via decision at UFC 143. That match won both fighters the “Fight of the Night” bonus.