Nogueira vs Couture Set For UFC 101

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture have now both verbally agreed to fight each other at UFC 101, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Couture verbally agreed to the proposed match-up early last week, while Nogueira agreed a few days later. Contracts have not been signed as of yet, however the two camps have both agreed to the fight. The fight is expected to take place sometime in August of 2009, with Portland, Oregon currently being regarded as the odds-on favorite to host the event.

This is an important fight for both Couture and Nogueira, as both are looking to re-establish themselves as contenders for the heavyweight title with a win. The winner of this fight will very likely be the next in line to take on the winner of Mir/Lesnar II, which is scheduled to take place at UFC 98.

Randy Couture is coming off of a second-round loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, while Nogueira is coming off of a loss to Frank Mir at UFC 92.

MMA Weekly is reporting that Nogueira may be training in Los Angeles for this fight and "sharpening his boxing skills" with Freddie Roach.

A Couture vs Nogueira tilt was originally planned for the first half of 2009, but Couture had to re-schedule due to recent surgery on his elbow and movie commitments.

This is a fight that many people have wanted to see for a while now. Can it live up to the hype? We'll find out in August.

Source: MMA Weekly

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