If you’re buying into the hype of this weekend’s UFC 110 main event (“up-and-coming phenom against one of the best of all-time”), you know already that this has the potential for a great, great fight. Both men (Minotauro Nogueira and Cain Velasquez) possess rare traits that will surely make this fight exciting; Nogueira’s legendary toughness, BJJ savvy and striking prowess against the raw power, wrestling skill and tenacity of Velasquez. At yesterday’s pre-event press conference in Sydney, Australia, UFC president Dana White added more incentive for the participants: the winner would be the man receiving an immediate title shot at Brock Lesnar upon his return.
White said, “[Nogueira and Velasquez], the winner of this fight puts them right in the mix because something could happen to either Shane (Carwin) or (Frank) Mir (who are meeting at UFC 111 in Newark, NJ) in that fight where they couldn’t fight Brock, so the winner of this fight would fight Brock.”
Lesnar has been inactive since this past July’s UFC 100 event, battling a potentially career/life-threatening case of diverticulitis, however, in January announced he would return to fighting this year. An exact date for Lesnar’s return has not yet been established.
