A rematch of of the MMA’s all-time greatest fights will take place this summer down in Brazil. The UFC announced over the weekend that light heavyweights Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will square off at UFC 190, which takes place August 1 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main event of the card features UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defending her title against Bethe Correia (see opening odds for that fight HERE). Shogun and Little Nog first duked it out a decade ago at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005, with Shogun taking a unanimous decision after 20 minutes of back-and-forth action. That matchup is still regarded by hardcore fans as one of the greatest fights in the history of the sport, with both men going back and forth for the entire 10-minute first round as well as the following two five-minute rounds, with Shogun eventually getting his hand raised after both men left everything in the cage. If you haven’t seen that fight before, I recommend watching it as soon as you can — it’s epic. For years, fans have been asking for a rematch between the two, but for whatever reason the fight just hasn’t happened until now. And while both men are nowhere near as dangerous and entertaining as they once were, together they have a special chemistry inside the cage and this rematch could very well be another Fight of the Night candidate in 2015 if their chins hold up for that long. Shogun — who has lost four of his last five fights, including his last two by knockout — is obviously on a huge decline, but Little Nog is a step down in competition from the guys he’s been fighting. And the same thing can be same for Little Nog, who is on the downside of his career but who — like Shogun — been fighting the best for a long time. Both Shogun and Little Nog are coming off of brutal knockout losses, to Ovince St-Preux and Anthony Johnson respectively, so it’s hard to say if their chins can hold up for the full 15 minutes this time around, but if their chins can hold up, fans might well be treated to a fantastic fight between two aging warriors in the vein of Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva. As for the betting line, you have to expect Shogun to be the favorite here just because he always gets love from the bettors, and I’d expect him to come into the bout around 2-to-1 or maybe a bit higher, but obviously this is a tough fight to put money on either way considering the state of both men, and unless either fighter is available at a crazy price, this already seems like it’s the perfect fight to pass, hopefully enjoy, and cross your fingers that it’s half the fight the first one was.
