Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White confirmed an upcoming light-heavyweight matchup between Tito Ortiz (15-8-1) and Antônio Rogério Nogueira (19-4).
The fight was first reported by Tatame.com, who spoke with “Lil Nog” but but was unable to confirm if it was Ortiz or not since he’s had opponents change on him in the past.
“The Huntington Beach Badboy” is in desperate need of a win against Nogueira, having lost three straight and gone 0-4-1 in his last five with the UFC. A loss should cement the former light-heavyweight champs release from the promotion as a fighter.
Ortiz appeared last month at UFC 121 against Matt Hamill, who Ortiz coached in the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, losing a unanimous decision to his former student. He lost a split decision to Forrest Griffin at UFC 106, a unanimous decision to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84, earned a draw against Rashad Evans, and lost by TKO to Chuck Liddell at UFC 66 for the light-heavyweight title.
Nogueira had a seven fight win streak stopped by Ryan Bader in September at UFC 119, losing by unanimous decision in the co-main event of that show. The Brazilian had defeated Jason Brilz at UFC 114 to earn the “Fight of the Night” award and TKO’d Luiz Cane at UFC 106 in his debut, which earned him the “Knockout of the Night” award also. Wins in that streak include victories fighting for various promotions such as Affliction and Sengoku, as well as others.
Update: UFC president Dana White confirmed the fight during the UFC 122 Q&A session on Friday, noting that both men would meet in March, but no specific date would take place.