Nog to Fight at UFC 87 – Lesnar next?
By Curtis Clontz on May 07, 2008
The UFC’s heavyweight division at the present time is running low in talent, but that won’t stop them from generating excitement. DreamFighters has stated that Antonio Nogueira will be defending his UFC title at UFC 87. This could set up a few different scenarios for the division. Nog is 31-4-1 in his career, fighting mostly in the Pride organization. In his last fight he completed an exciting come from behind submission over Tim Sylvia. In his previous 2 fights Nog has been rocked and almost finished, but has shown amazing heart and won both.
The first possible scenario for Nog’s opponent could be Frank Mir. Mir’s rejuvenated career started with a win over WWE sensation Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 by submission. In that fight Lesnar seemed to be in control, and looked to win by knockout but Mir’s Ju Jitsu experience took over and led to a quick submission.
Another scenario would put the winner of the Brandon Vera and Fabricio Werdum up against the champ. Vera lost his previous fight by unanimous decision against Tim Sylvia at UFC 77. This was a disappointing performance by Vera and he looks to silence the critics against Werdum. Vera actually owns a TKO finish over Frank Mir, and is 8-1 in his MMA career. Fabricio Werdum is a submission fighter that is 10-3-1 in his professional fighting career. In his last fight he defeated up and coming star Gabriel Gonzaga, who is best known for his head kick to Mirko Cro Cop. Both of these fighters could be good competition for Nog, but they won’t be able to challenge him like Randy or Fedor could.
With the addition of Nog at UFC 87, it looks to be setting up a fight between the winner of the Nog fight, and the winner of the Lesnar vs. Coleman fight. Lesnar lost in his last fight, but showed promising skill and the makings of a heavyweight force. Coleman is one of the few inductees of the UFC hall of fame. He is a Hammer House fighter that is 15-8 in his career. He has wins over the likes of Shogun Rua, Don Frye, and Dan Severn. Coleman is currently the underdog in this fight and is expected to be a stepping stone for Lesnar.
Curtis, I like the idea of throwing Mir in there, and I’m glad you brought it up. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t say that his career rejuvination started against Lesnar. He beat Hardonk pretty severely before that, and I think that’s what set him up for the Lesnar fight.
However, I think that Vera and Mir are more serious possibilities.
I don’t think that they will give it to Vera because of his loss to Big Tim, but you never know.
I’m actually thinking Werdum will probably get it because of the fight with Gonzaga. It was a performance that impressed alot of people and I wouldn’t be upset with the matchup, since it’d be a technical BJJ war. (though I’d expect Nog to work hard to keep it standing, where he can use that great boxing background)
We’ll see how this pans out. Whoever the opponent, I’m happy to see Nog fighting on the card.
The reason I think it rejuvenated his career is because before that fight many seemed to think of Frank Mir as a washed up has been, that has always been a bit over rated. In a way the fight was ment to be a stepping stone for Lesnar, but Mir was victorious. The win silenced some of his critics and in a way rejuvenated his career.
If Nog does indeed fight on the same card as Lesnar and Coleman that makes an interesting case…Does the winners fight? I hope not, it is too soon to put Lesnar in a title fight, but I can see a Nog vs. Lesnar title fight. That would generate huge PPV numbers.
Vera and Werdum also makes sense. I dont think Lesnar is better than either of these.
Another scenario I see is the winner of Vera vs. Werdum gets the winner of the Nog fight. The winner of the Lesnar vs. Coleman gets the loser of the Nog fight or Vera fight, in a way to generate popularity in this weak division.
I also feel the UFC needs one or two more solid heavyweights. Big names that can generate a buzz but don’t have to be scheduled tactfully to protect themselves and the company. The UFC will soon realize the loss of Timmay was more than they expected.
Expect a Heavy weight TUF in the future…