Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen (once again) offered up his services to accept a short-notice fight to face Mauricio Rua at UFC 161 after Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was forced out of the bout due to injury.
According to "The American Gangster," Nogueira's decision to "call in sick" three weeks early was nothing short of a "scumbag" move, one he says the Brazilian striker is guilty of doing on more than one occasion.
His words to "The Telegraph:"
"Little Chicken Belly Nog pulled the same scumbag move that he does every time, lets the UFC put out posters, commercials, doing everything to promote him, knowing full well he's not going to do the fight. Once again he calls in sick, three weeks early. In no industry on earth can you do that. Nobody can call their boss and say 'Hey, boss, 20 days from now, I'm not going to feel good'. So he calls in sick three weeks early... it was a ruse from the beginning, and basically, I just wanted to help out."
The former two-time No. 1 middleweight contender was unable to get clearance to get into Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to face Rua earlier this month, so the bout was shifted over to UFC on FOX Sports 1 #1 as the headlining bout for the event scheduled to go down in Boston, Mass., on Aug. 17, 2013.
Sonnen is coming off two consecutive title fight losses against 185-pound champion Anderson Silva at UFC 148 last July and UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones at UFC 159 back in April.
"Shogun," meanwhile, looks to get back on track after getting outclassed by Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on FOX 5 last December.