Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Vs. Dave Herman Booked For UFC 153 On Oct. 13 In Rio

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently suffered a huge hit to its upcoming UFC 153 pay-per-view (PPV) event scheduled for Oct. 13, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but it looks like it's starting to rebuild its main card.

Yesterday (Sept. 11) news broke that Jose Aldo andQuinton Jackson had both been injured and had to withdraw from their respective bouts on the card. They were in the co main and main events, respectively.

Now, with a severely weakened card, the UFC will have to put together some more convincing fights just to make it worth watching. It looks like it's taken its first step towards that, with Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) icon Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira now being set to fight heavyweightpersonality Dave Herman.

MMA Fighting has the details, after the jump.

A day after the card lost its main event and co-main event, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Dave Herman have verbally agreed to meet in a heavyweight bout on the Oct. 13 card in Rio de Janeiro, according to sources close to the event. The news was first reported by journalist Guilherme Cruz of Tatame.com.

Nogueira hasn't fought since a gruesome submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140 in December 2011. "Minotauro" looked good at the start, but unfortunately was defeated in an amazing feat of strength, technique, and heart by Mir.

Herman won his UFC debut against Jon Olav Einamo at UFC 131, but has lost his last two bouts to Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson, respectively. He is known for an indifferent attitude towards training, and he's been criticized as not living up to his potential because of it.

However, Herman is certainly an interesting personality, but he'll be fighting for relevance (and possibly his job) here.

The bout is not expected to headline UFC 153, which will take place on October 13 at the HSBC Arena. A headlining bout still remains a mystery after Jose Aldo needed to pull out of his featherweight title fight againstFrankie Edgar thanks to a bum foot.

For more on this ever-changing fight card click here.

source by: mmamania