Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Vs. Dave Herman Booked For UFC 153 On Oct. 13 In Rio

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently suffered a huge hit to its upcoming UFC 153 pay-per-view (PPV) event scheduled for Oct. 13, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but it looks like it's starting to rebuild its main card.

Yesterday (Sept. 11) news broke that Jose Aldo and Quinton Jackson had both been injured and had to withdraw from their respective bouts on the card. They were in the co main and main events, respectively.

Now, with a severely weakened card, the UFC will have to put together some more convincing fights just to make it worth watching. It looks like it's taken its first step towards that, with Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) icon Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira now being set to fight heavyweight personality Dave Herman.



A day after the card lost its main event and co-main event, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Dave Herman have verbally agreed to meet in a heavyweight bout on the Oct. 13 card in Rio de Janeiro, according to sources close to the event. The news was first reported by journalist Guilherme Cruz of Tatame.com.

Nogueira hasn't fought since a gruesome submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140 in December 2011. "Minotauro" looked good at the start, but unfortunately was defeated in an amazing feat of strength, technique, and heart by Mir.

Herman won his UFC debut against Jon Olav Einamo at UFC 131, but has lost his last two bouts to Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson, respectively. He is known for an indifferent attitude towards training, and he's been criticized as not living up to his potential because of it.

However, Herman is certainly an interesting personality, but he'll be fighting for relevance (and possibly his job) here.

The bout is not expected to headline UFC 153, which will take place on October 13 at the HSBC Arena. A headlining bout still remains a mystery after Jose Aldo needed to pull out of his featherweight title fight against Frankie Edgar thanks to a bum foot.

Light Heavyweight Anderson Silva vs Stephan Bonnar
Heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Dave Herman
Light Heavyweight Glover Teixeira vs Fabio Maldonado
Welterweight Erick Silva vs Jon Fitch
Light Heavyweight Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Welterweight Demian Maia vs Rick Story
Preliminary Card (FX)
Featherweight Rony Jason vs Sam Sicilia
Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga vs Geronimo dos Santos
Lightweight Gleison Tibau vs Francisco Trinaldo
Featherweight Diego Brandao vs Joey Gambino
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Welterweight Sergio Moraes vs Renee Forte
Middleweight Luiz Cané vs Chris Camozzi
Lightweight Cristiano Marcello vs Reza Madadi

Source

Sept 13 - updated fightcard (card overhaul - Anderson Silva, Stephan Bonnar, Fabio Maldonado, Antonio Nogueira, Dave Herman in)

boing

When Anderson Silva steps into the octagon to face Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153, it will be one of the most lopsided main-event fights in terms of odds the UFC has ever seen.

According to the early line, which was released on Thursday morning, Silva will be a massive favorite. In fact, its the highest opening line ever for an Anderson Silva fight, oddsmaker Nick Kalikas told MMA Fighting.

Silva has been installed as a -1350 favorite, according to Kalikas of MMAOddsbreaker.com. That means that Silva is essentially a 93 percent favorite to win.

By comparison, Jon Jones was made a -925 favorite in an early line against Vitor Belfort at UFC 152.

Prior to this, Silva's highest line was in another non-title fight, his July 2008 Fight Night bout against James Irvin, which he won in a 61-second knockout. In that fight, he opened at -600.

Some of the most lopsided UFC main event lines have ended in shockers. In 2010, B.J. Penn met Frankie Edgar as a -850 favorite and lost in a unanimous decision. Georges St-Pierre was an even more decisive favorite at UFC 69, taking opening line odds of -1000 into his welterweight title matchup with Matt Serra. Of course, Serra won by knockout in a shocking upset.

There have been more lopsided major bouts, however. According to MMA Fighting's research, the highest odds found in a recent major event were -2500, which happened in two separate promotions. In February 2007, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou upset heavy favorite Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, while in a June 2010 Strikeforce event, Cris Cyborg easily handled underdog Jan Finney.

Bonnar (14-7) takes a three-fight win streak into the matchup, which is scheduled for three rounds in the light heavyweight division.

Silva (32-4) has never lost in the Octagon, taking a UFC record 15-fight win streak into UFC 153, which takes place on Oct. 13 from Rio.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVbv7ulBG7M[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPzsYIbPV3w[/youtube]

sept 26 - updated fightcard & background

oct 8 - updated fightcard & background