A clash between former UFC and Pride heavyweight champions has been agreed upon, at least in principle, to take place inside the Octagon sometime in August.
Six-time UFC champion
Randy Couture confirmed to Sherdog.com on Thursday that he’d verbally agreed to face
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a UFC 101 matchup, which was first reported by MMAWeekly.com. Couture’s camp received word on Saturday that the vaunted Brazilian has accepted the bout as well.
Couture had previously turned down an offer to fight Nogueira earlier this year to undergo elbow surgery in January for an old injury.
Bout agreements for the anticipated heavyweight fight still remain to be signed, while Couture will have a host of projects to juggle with the fight, including a major motion picture role in “The Expendables,” which will shoot from March to May in Brazil and Louisiana. Couture will star alongside Sylvester Stallone, who wrote and will also direct the film that includes an assemblage of action star greats from Jet Li to Jason Statham, as well as recent Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke.
Couture will also shoot a role in the film “Warrior,” directed by Gavin O’Connor, sometime this summer.
Couture (16-9) dropped his third heavyweight title to
Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 in Las Vegas last November, after the 2000 NCAA wrestling champion clipped the 45-year-old fighter with a right and sent him to the canvas. The matchup had been competitive up until that point, though Lesnar had nearly 50 pounds on Couture.
During his 12-year professional career, Couture also earned three UFC titles at light heavyweight, including an interim championship against former 205-pound champ
Chuck Liddell. Couture holds wins over notables Liddell,
Vitor Belfort,
Kevin Randleman, and
Tim Sylvia.
Nogueira (31-5-1), who blazed through Pride’s heavyweight ranks until three ill-fated meetings with No. 1 world-ranked
Fedor Emelianenko, will also be on the rebound.
The 32-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt was stopped for the first time ever with a second-round technical knockout at the hands of
Frank Mir in their interim title bout at UFC 92 last December. Mir will meet champion Lesnar to unify the two belts at UFC 98 on May 23 in Las Vegas.
Outside of Emelianenko and Mir, only
Dan Henderson and
Josh Barnett can lay claim to victory over the revered Brazilian.
Couture travels to Germany this week to take part in a press conference for UFC 99, the promotion’s first foray into the country. UFC 99 will be held at the Lanxess Arena on June 13 in Cologne. The German-speaking Couture, who spent the majority of his four-year Army career there, was considered to headline the card, although his prior film engagements prevented his participation.
Editor's Note: This article was updated at 8:06 p.m. EST to add Josh Barnett to the list of fighters to have beaten Nogueira.
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