Inside Fights has confirmed a Wrestling Observer Newsletter report that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will face the winner of the Nov. 21 Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin fight.
Nogueira’s spirited victory over Randy Couture placed him near the top of the challenger’s heap in the UFC’s heavyweight division. He recently requested a rematch with Frank Mir, but the UFC has no interest in canceling Mir’s bout with Cheick Kongo, which is scheduled for UFC 107 in December.
Nogueira will instead wait to see who comes out victorious in the UFC 106 championship bout. No timetable has been given for Nogueira’s title shot, but it will likely happen at some point in the first three months of 2010.
Brock spoke to the Alexandria Rotary Club at its September 24, 2009 meeting. He shared his journey from South Dakota boy growing up on a farm to top collegiate athlete, professional wrestler to World Champion with the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization.
To see a photo of Brock from that event click here.
WWE commentator Jim Ross blogged about Brock's upcoming title defense (credit: JrsBarBQ.com):
Shane Carwin is talking a great game hyping his upcoming fight with Brock Lesnar for UFC. I like Carwin's salesmanship but pissing off Lesnar isn't the brightest of ideas. Lesnar has that animalistic ability to focus on his prey and develop a "me against the world" mentality that helps Brock feel "pressured" and makes Brock more dangerous. I'm anxious to see this encounter. Notice, as usual, Lesnar isn't talking but you can bet your last bottle of BBQ Sauce that the former "Next Big Thing" in WWE is training like a madman. I do think that the Lesnar-Carwin fight will be nasty. Lesnar wins....I hope...much to the chagrin of "MMA Purists."
This is coming from an interview with Shane Carwin from heavy.com:
"This is the first time that I am getting ready for a fight with a little hate for my opponent. He continues to fuel the fire with his ignorant comments about my opponents and my record. Next thing you know, he will tell you his high school was bigger then mine and therefore that'll be the deciding factor. I am ready. I wish I could kick his ass tomorrow... We have been doing a "bring your child to the gym" day so we can deal with temper tantrums and irrational thoughts... Brock is not good with math. Thankfully, the UFC and WWE have paid him enough money to get a math tutor. I know I wasn't walked through the front door of the UFC with people holding the door for me. I wasn't fed fights that sell pay-per-views. I was matched up by promoters and took whatever they put in front of me... I have fought three times as many people then Brock has. If he wants to disrespect the opponents I have fought, that is his choice. I say any man or woman that enters that cage to face an opponent is worthy of my respect. They have trained hard, and to disrespect MMA fighters is disrespecting the sport of MMA. What I can tell you is, talent-wise I respect Brock, but he needs a filter put on his words."