Antonio Rogerio Nogueira not interested in proposed Brandon Vera bout

by John G. on Dec 3, 2009 8:36 PM EST

According to Fighters Only magazine, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's Muay Thai coach stated that UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, offered the Brazilian a match up against Brandon Vera at UFC 110 on Feb. 6, 2010 -- the card headlined by his twin brother Rodrigo and Cain Velasquez.

"Minotoro" is happy with the date, but isn't all that interested in fighting Vera because he is coming off of a loss. In addition, the two share a training facility.

Earlier in the week, Lil' Nog expressed interest in wanting to fight a big name like Forrest Griffin in his next fight.

Rogerio and Griffin competed on the same card in separate fights a few weeks back, so it would sound like a logical choice. However, it doesn't seem that the UFC is interested in feeding Griffin to the wolves again, which is exactly what would take place if he faces off against the much more skilled Nogueira!

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Griffin isn’t interested in that fight either, he called Lil Nog a no-name and admitted that he doesn’t want to fight top fighters unless they have big names. Terrible attitude in my opinion, you have to have some confidence in your skills if you have any intentions of winning a title again. Lil Nog would smash Forrest and he knows it.

by David W-S on Dec 3, 2009 9:32 PM EST reply actions

I agree!

I would love to see Nog make his name in America off of that over rated Klown, Forrest Griffin…tO bad Forrest isnt all that interested in testing himself against world class fighters at the present moment. THere is no way that a fighter like Forrest who really wants to earn another title shot should be ducking nOgueira. Nog is better then Forrest so it makes perfect sense for forrest to take the fight.,…he has a lot to gain from a win…..so I dunno wtf he is talking about Nog, not being a big enough name!

I never thought Forrest was any good, but I did admire his willingness to fight anyone…now that is gone, whats their left to like?

by John G. on Dec 4, 2009 8:22 AM EST up reply actions

Forrest's last 5 fights (3-2)

Tito
Andy
Rashad
Rampage
Shogun

thats a pretty tough schedule. IDK where David heard Forrest say that but you cant deny his willingness to fight top comptetition

dude.....i am

by brendog on Dec 4, 2009 9:18 AM EST up reply actions

I heard him say something similar

in 2 different interviews. He didn’t name Nog specifically, but said at this point in his career, if he’s going to risk losing, he wants to at least lose to somebody his friends and family and Starbucks buddies have heard of, cause he gets tired of having to justify his opponents and explain to people who they are and why he’s fighting them. I see where he’s coming from. I get tired of having to explain my job and why I do it to people and often wish I had a snazzy title that didn’t require explaination or justification. In the interview he basically said that nowadays there are so many good fighters coming up that skill level often isn’t reflected in name-recognition and therefore Danger-as-an-opponent is disproportional to reputation-payoff/damage. When your buddies at Starbucks hear that you lost to somebody they never heard of, they think you suck at your job, cause they don’t know that that guy was 12-0 or Top-5 ranked.

by (shonuff) on Dec 4, 2009 1:41 PM EST up reply actions

Not all that interested in the Vera fight either

but who else is available? Couture is fighting Coleman, Rashad and Thiago are fighting, Franklin doesn’t want to train in the winter, Forrest has a broken foot and doesn’t want to fight little Nog, Jon Jones is fighting this saturday, Rampage went hollywood on us, and Jardine is fighting Bader. In my opinion that makes Vera the best available option. Your choices are simple Little Nog fight right away against a lesser opponent or wait and fight someone in the top 10.

by DB22 on Dec 3, 2009 9:39 PM EST reply actions

bad match for both

For Nog this is a step down from Cane, and for Vera its an almost sure loss. Neither of them stands to gain anything from this fight. Lil Nog vs Rich Franklin makes a lot more sense. Or better yet, switch things up and put Lil Nog vs Randy and Franklin vs Coleman. Those are two very marketable fights as they could play the angle of Couture avenging his loss to Big Bro, and Franklin vs Coleman is a champ vs champ, era vs era, style vs style match and not destined for snoozery like Coleman/Couture.

by (shonuff) on Dec 4, 2009 12:07 AM EST up reply actions

Go Vera, it's your birthday! Throwdown some leather, you tentative motherfuck!

Whatever the fuck you do in life, echoes in eternity! <----slightly edited
-Maximus[Gladiator]

by The Negation on Dec 3, 2009 11:32 PM EST reply actions

Who can blame him

A fight w/ Vera would be a step down for him after how he handled Cane. The win would do nothing for him really. Shame the UFC and Forrest don’t seem up for that fight. I suppose Rogerio could wait to fight the winner of Couture/Coleman or Rashad/Thiago maybe? Rampage is apparently back but I’m not sure what the timetable is on him fighting again. Truth is, there just aren’t that many ideal options available for Lil Nog on short notice.

by Hardcase on Dec 4, 2009 8:25 AM EST reply actions

Rampage

Lil Nog vs Rampage!! Oh and by the way, I can blame him… fight who you are told to fight, Carwin has the right attitude!

by PHISH NATION on Dec 15, 2009 4:02 PM EST up reply actions

Give Lil NOG his rubber match with “The Janitor”

by McArthur... on Dec 4, 2009 8:38 AM EST reply actions

Give Him Tito

I’d love to see that fight, although Lil Nog takes it. Tito wants a tough opponent, give him one.

by Slim473 on Dec 4, 2009 9:41 AM EST reply actions

not a bad idea, Slim

not bad at all. Beating Tito would give him name recognition in the US and Tito has accomplished way more than Vera in his career. He’s a more worthy opponent and a good name for anyone to have on their resume.

by (shonuff) on Dec 4, 2009 1:46 PM EST up reply actions

Vera is trash

He doesnt have a snowballs chance in hell against nOG.

by Lester The Pimp on Dec 4, 2009 10:06 AM EST reply actions

I THINK..

Fighters should be made fight each other no matter what they think if it’s an obvious fight to see who moves up the rankings, or who is actually a better fighter or for whatever reason. This crap like “I don’t want to fight my friend” or “he’s not a big enough name” is only bs imo and they should go out and fight like its their last fight ever, no matter who it is!!!

I"m no Ned Flanders punk!!

by tkkpal on Dec 4, 2009 11:54 AM EST reply actions

I disagree

I’m with you 1000% on the not-fighting-top-ranked-friends thing, but I disagree about the name thing. I think once you’ve acheived a certain level, you shouldn’t have to fight guys below that level of acheivement until you’ve proven you can’t hang with the big boys anymore. I generally hate seeing fights between legends of the sport and untested mid-level up-n-comers. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate matchups like Couture/Vera and Hendo/Bisping.

by (shonuff) on Dec 4, 2009 1:54 PM EST up reply actions