Today's officially announced UFC 108 headliner between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Cain Velasquez (7-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will, in fact, determine a No. 1 contender.
The winner of that fight, which takes place Jan. 2, will meet the winner of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin.
Lesnar vs. Carwin originally was slated as next week's UFC 106 headliner, but the bout is now on hold due to a bout of mononucleosis that's slowed the champ.
Following the UFC 106 cancellation, Lesnar vs. Carwin was then expected to headline UFC 108, but Carwin later posted a blog saying that date was also scratched.
That ultimately led to the Nogueira vs. Velasquez booking for the UFC 108 main-event slot. The UFC needed to announce a headliner for the show because tickets go on sale to the general public this week.
While certainly main-event worthy, the fight has added importance now that UFC officials have confirmed it'll determine a No. 1 contender. That caveat was expected but not official until today's announcement.
"Nogueira vs. Velasquez is a great matchup between the present and the future of the heavyweight division," UFC president Dana White stated. "Nogueira showed in the (Randy) Couture fight that he still has plenty left to offer at the top level of the game, and Velasquez was devastating in his win over Ben Rothwell, so with both guys in top form, we're definitely going to see a No. 1 contender emerge from this fight to take on the winner of the Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin title fight."
However, because the fight is a No. 1 contender's bout (and not for an interim title, for example), it'll go the normal three rounds.
Nogueira's only loss in the UFC came to Frank Mir in December 2008, when he lost his interim title. However, Nogueira was slowed by a staph infection and a knee injury, and he was even hospitalized for five days just a few weeks before the fight. However, he looked sharp in his return and defeated a game Couture in August.
Velasquez, one of the sport's top prospects, entered the UFC after he and American Kickboxing Academy founder Javier Mendez struggled to find opponents in other organizations. A series of no-shows and cancellations led to a 15-month break from competition just two months after the collegiate wrestling standout turned pro. He's now 5-0 (four knockouts) in the octagon with recent wins over notables Cheick Kongo and Ben Rothwell.
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