MMA World

An intriguing heavyweight contest between former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrgio Nogueira (32-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and undefeated contender Cain Velasquez (7-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is in the works for UFC 108.

Brazilian cable channel SporTV’s Sensei blog was the first to report the fight, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since been able to confirm with sources close to the bout that at least one of the competitors has agreed to the contest.

Bout agreements for the Jan. 2 event in Las Vegas have not yet been distributed.

A former PRIDE heavyweight champion, Nogueira earned the UFC’s interim belt with a win over Tim Sylvia in February 2008. Nogueira then lost that title to Frank Mir at UFC 92 in December 2008.

Nogueira has since bounced back with a win over Randy Couture in the main event of UFC 102 in a bout considered by many to be the 2009 “Fight of the Year.”

Nogueira was believed to have been next in line for the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin for the heavyweight title, but the recent rescheduling of that bout and current uncertain nature of the contest led to the the new fight for “Minotauro.”

Meanwhile, Velasquez looks to keep his perfect record unblemished. Velasquez has earned five-straight wins in the UFC, and the stretch includes four victories by TKO.

Velasquez most recently fought in an impressive mauling of veteran heavyweight Ben Rothwell in the co-main event of UFC 104 in October.

The winner of the Nogueira vs. Velasquez matchup will certainly emerge as a primary contender for the UFC heavyweight title.

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