This is the world of MMA at its best: Just a few months ago we were talking about the end of the legacy of Tito Ortiz. Going into his fight with Ryan Bader most fans thought that fight would have been the last time we saw him in the octagon. But here we are once again getting excited about another big fight with his name involved. The former champ in Tito Ortiz (16-9-1 MMA, 15-9-1 UFC) will likely take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 140 on December 10th in Toronto.

UFC officials announced that verbal agreements are in place for the fight, which is a bout that was initially set to take place back in March at UFC Fight Night 24. However, Ortiz suffered an injury in training and was forced out of the battle. Now here we are, full circle, and the two are finally ready to do battle with each other.

UFC 140’s main card airs live on pay-per-view, and Ortiz vs. Nogueira will be part of the broadcast.

At the beginning of the year Ortiz was in dire need of an octagon win. After he suffered the injury while originally training for the Nogueria fight many fans thought we had seen the end of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”. However, after he was again medically cleared he took on the young-gun TUF winner, Ryan Bader. Ortiz shocked the world by finishing Bader in the first round with a wicked guillotine choke. That win earned Tito a shot at number one contender Rashad Evans (after Evans’ first two original opponents were injured in training). The hype of Tito’s second-coming was short lives however, as he stepped in on short notice and suffered a second round TKO loss to Evans. That fight brings us to date as Tito is now ready to once again prove that he is not done as he will take on “Little Nog” in December.

Nogueira has experienced extreme ups and downs in his injury-plagued UFC run. After signing with the company in 2009 he won his first two fights with a TKO victory over Luiz Cane and a controversial split-decision victory over Jason Brilz. However, since then he has suffered decision losses to Ryan Bader at UFC 119 and Phil Davis at UFC Fight Night 24. Nogueria was then set to take on former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin, at UFC 133 but was forced off the card with a shoulder injury.
Now both Nogueria and Ortiz are healthy and hungry, and both are in need of a solid victory. This should definitely prove to be a great addition to the UFC 140 card and should be a fan pleaser. With both fighters coming off of losses but still fighting to keep their careers alive, who are the fans picking in this light heavyweight battle in December?

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