"Little Nog" UFC-Bound, Debut Expected This Fall

His twin brother, UFC heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, hinted at it in a UFC 102 conference call this morning, but it now appears all but confirmed that the UFC is close to signing, or has already signed light heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira to a contract, with his debut happening by the end of the year.  MMA Weekly has the updated info:

"They’ve already talked to him, they’re dealing with my brother," said Antonio Rodrigo. "For sure he’s coming to the UFC." Antonio Rodrigo expected his brother to make his UFC debut by the end of the year, and expected an announcement from the promotion shortly.

MMAWeekly.com was later able to reach the Nogueira brothers' manager, Ed Soares, who fell short of saying that Antonio Rogerio would fight in the UFC, but did say, "We're in positive negotiations (with them)."

He also confirmed that a planned bout against Alex Stiebling on the Sept. 12 Bitetti Combat event in Brazil had been cancelled.

On Monday, Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz told MMAWeekly.com that Antonio Rogerio had not been signed to his promotion, and believed he was UFC bound.

Combining the excellent BJJ of his twin, with what some believe to be an even better standup game, "Little Nog" has racked up some very impressive wins over the years, including victories over: Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Alistair Overeem, Vladimir Matyushenko, Guy Mezger, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, and Kazuhiro Nakamura.  Most recently, Nogueira submitted Dutch striker Dion Staring at a JungleFight event in May.