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Antonio Rogerio Nogueira to make his debut at UFC 105 but against who?

Oh yeah, Rogerio is pretty good.

According to Fighter's Only,

Rogerio Nogueira (17-3) - a light-heavyweight fighter who fought for PRIDE FC in the past - is about to sign up with UFC and will debut on November 14th at UFC 105 in Manchester, England.

"The UFC didn't confirm yet (the contract) but Dana White welcomed me," said the talented fighter at UFC 102 post-event  conference. "I hope everything goes well here. I hope to do a good job and show good fights. It's important for me being around here with my brother. If I'm here it will be an excellent opportunity for my career".

The first question is who will Rogerio fight?

Keith Jardine, Thiago Silva and Brandon Vera are available as is Luiz Cane. Matt Hamill could be a dark horse candidate but that taps into the next question. Will Rogerio be on the televised card?

Star-divide

WKR previously wrote about the status of the Manchester fight card. 

Unknown (possibly Penn vs. Sanchez): Main Event
Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang: Co-Main Event
Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Televised
James Wilks vs. Matt Brown: Televised
Ross Pearson vs. Aaron Riley: Televised
DeMarques Johnson vs. Peter Sobotta: Preliminary

If we assume that the British TUF winners and Dan Hardy are on the televised card then that leaves one spot available, a main event spot (there is a possibility that the UFC will have six televised bouts).

With Rogerio on the 105 card it seems that the UFC would want him on the televised card and since the main event is still open we can assume Rogerio may be filling that role. So Nogueira's debut UFC opponent has to be legitimate enough to garner main event status.

Thiago Silva and Luiz Cane fit the bill but not very well. I am not sure that a Silva-Nogueira or Cane-Nogueira would garner a lot of North American interest or sell a lot of U.K. tickets. Then again the card isn't on pay-per view and the plethara of U.K. talent on the card could provide wiggle room on the financial front.

Personally I think the dark horse scenario makes the most sense. Have Nogueira debut against a middle-tier light heavyweight and have it as the sixth fight of the televised card. Then again the UFC would still need a main event and Anderson Silva is taking a hiatus plus Penn vs. Sanchez is rumored for network T.V.

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