A light-heavyweight clash between Ilir Latifi and Antônio Rogério Nogueira has been added to the recently announced UFC Fight Night 112 card which takes place in Oklahoma City on June 25.
The news was broken in a tweet by the UFC’s European account this evening.
In what could be seen as a strange coincidence, both men come into this fight off the back of knockout losses to Bellator’s newest signing, Ryan Bader (22-5). However, prior to that, both men were on different career trajectories.
Sweden’s Latifi (12-5, 1NC) saw his three-fight winning streak end, courtesy of Bader’s knee, last September. Prior to that, the 33-year-old had gone 5-2 inside the UFC Octagon, after his short notice debut back in 2013. Fighting out of Stockholm’s Allstars Training Centre, it is a bit of a surprise that Latifi, who trains alongside Jimi Manuwa and Alexander Gustafsson, is not on the upcoming UFC Stockholm card.
For “Minotouro” Nogueira (22-8), this fight represents the chance for the PRIDE veteran to get back to winning ways, amid a 1-3 run, dating back to 2013. All told, the 40-year-old Brazilian fighter has fought just five times in the last five years, though that does include wins over Rashad Evans and Patrick Cummins.
With Nogueira primarily fighting on UFC Brazil cards in recent years, and Latifi having fought 75% of his UFC bouts in Europe, the location of such a fight is a bit of a surprise, though the fight itself makes sense.
A fight between BJ Penn and Dennis Siver was among the first additions to this card, revealed only last night. The card order has yet to be announced, but is expected that this fight, along with the Penn/Siver bout, will be near the top of the card. The other notable fight announced for this card sees Johny Hendricks face Tim Boetsch at middleweight.
Updated UFC Fight Night 112 card
Featherweight: B.J. Penn vs. Dennis Siver
Light Heavyweight: Ilir Latifi vs Antônio Rogério Nogueira
Middleweight: Tim Boetsch vs. Johny Hendricks
Light Heavyweight: Josh Stansbury vs. Jeremy Kimball
Women’s Strawweight: Felice Herrig vs. Justine Kish
