Sherdog.com is reporting that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will headline UFC Fight Night 10 on June 12 or be the featured main card bout on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 Finale on June 23.
His likely opponent is Justin McCully, who most recently upset fellow heavyweight Antoni Hardonk at UFC Fight Night 9 on April 5.
Here's the snip:
"Kicking off a busy summer for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the organization heads back to Florida in mid-June with a main event rumored to include recent heavyweight acquisition Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. While a fight between Nogueira and Justin McCully is believed to be in the pipeline, McCully's agent Ken Pavia declined to comment on the status of the bout except to say nothing is signed. Sources inside Nogueira's Brazilian Top Team camp said that the former PRIDE champion's debut UFC debut is also possible for June 23 on the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 5."
Over the weekend, we passed along some speculation that "Big Nog" would make his Octagon debut at UFC 73, which would have put a nice card over the top with superstar talent.
Now it seems the UFC is content to showcase its prized PRIDE FC free agent acquisition in front of a national televised audience for free. And since the Brazilian has settled in Florida, he would without a doubt have some "hometown" support in the stands if he were the marquee attraction at UFC Fight Night 10.
It's hard to argue with that logic.
But McCully?
Leading up to this point, UFC President Dana White intimated that "Minotauro" would be in against a "top guy."
And with just one UFC win, during which he almost had his arm torn off, McCully doesn't seem to fit the bill.
Then again, with 2007 being the year of the upset, who really knows what the hell is going to happen.
Stay tuned for more updates.
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