UFC President Dana White went on the podcast Steve-O’s Wild Ride Thursday, where he stated that a match-up between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is being targeted for July 25.
The rubber-match between Antonio “Minotoro” Nogueira and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is being targeted for July 25, per UFC President Dana White. White appeared on a podcast hosted by reality-show personality and MMA superfan Steve-O where he stated that he was looking to match up the pair. The two met twice before: in Pride in 2005 and in the UFC in 2015. Rua has won both previous meetings by unanimous decision.
Nogueira is looking to get back in the win column after losing to Ryan Spann in May of last year. A veteran of the UFC since 2009, Nogueira has alternated wins and losses since 2015, coincidentally from his last meeting with Rua. Nogueira had previously been scheduled to return to action sooner against Trevor Smith last November but was forced out of the bout due to an injury. Notably, UFC Hall-of-Famer and Nogueira’s older twin brother Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira has said that he expects his little brother to retire after his next fight.
Rua will be looking to notch his first victory of 2020 after fighting just once in 2019 where he fought Paul Craig to a draw. While injuries plagued Rua throughout the past decade, it did not stop him from claiming the light heavyweight title back in 2010 and fighting a who’s who of the division since then. Similar to Nogueira, Rua has also expressed that he feels this may be the end, as he stated prior to the fight with Craig that he would be walking away from competition after completing the final fight of his current UFC contract, the last of which would be the fight with Nogueira.
Shogun vs. Nogueira 3 was originally expected to take place on May 9 in Rio de Janeiro. That date was the original slot for UFC 250, prior to the coronavirus pandemic cancelling the event and the new card taking place in the United States — making it impossible to keep the match-up last month together. The current fight is expected to take place on Fight Island and the event has been rumored to be headlined by a middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till.
