Antonio Rogerio Nogueira got his career back on track at UFC 140 with his stoppage win over Tito Ortiz, prior to that he had lost two fights in a row. He was scheduled for a main event bout with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fuel TV 2 but was forced off the card due to a knee injury.
With the fight with up-and-comer Gustafsson off, Nogueira has his sights set on a former UFC champion for his next fight:
The doctor said my knee should be alright within a month. I’ll be training 100 percent. God bless me, I’ll be fighting in June. (I wish for a fight against Rich Franklin) because we had a bout scheduled against him, I was supposed to fight him in the past and I already know what game plan to use against him. He’s a guy who likes to stand-up. It’ll be good. One left-handed fighting another left-handed is something good to see. It would be an excellent fight. I need a good fight.
Franklin isn’t exactly on the top of the game at the moment. He has only fought once in almost two years, a decision loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 126. His last win came in June of 2010 when he knocked out Chuck Liddell at UFC 115.