Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz Headlines UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle

http://mmajunkie.com/news/21822/antonio-rogerio-nogueira-vs-tito-ortiz-headlines-ufc-fight-night-24-in-seattle.mma

By John Morgan

A light-heavyweight matchup between Brazilian veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and UFC legend Tito Ortiz (15-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) is getting main-event treatment in March.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that the contest, which originally was thought to be scheduled for UFC 128, instead will headline UFC Fight Night 24.

While officials have not formally announced UFC Fight Night 24, the event is expected to take place March 26 in Seattle and air on the UFC's longtime cable partner, Spike TV.

UFC Fight Night 24 represents the UFC's first visit to Washington. While a venue has not yet been announced for the event, Seattle's 17,000-seat KeyArena would seem a likely target. Currently, the Washington State Department of Licensing's boxing, wrestling and martial-arts division hasn't scheduled the show, according to a department official, but that seems a mere formality.

UFC Fight Night 24, which was first reported by MMAjunkie.com, precedes the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 13" on Spike TV, which airs four days later on March 30.

Ortiz teased the change overnight on his official Twitter account.

"Big news," Ortiz stated. "I'm not fighting in New Jersey. But I am still fighting 'Lil Nog' in March."

Following a recent UFC 121 decision loss to Matt Hamill, Ortiz faced an uncertain future in the UFC. The former champ and "The Ultimate Fighter 3" coach is now winless (0-4-1) in his past five fights, and he hasn't posted a win in more than four years (Ken Shamrock in October 2006). However, the fights have come against some of the division's top fighters, including Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans (draw), Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin and Hamill.

Nogueira, the twin brother of former UFC champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, recent suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Ryan Bader in a key UFC 119 bout. Prior to the defeat, the PRIDE vet owned a seven-fight win streak, which included UFC wins over Luiz Cane (which earned a "KO of the Night" bonus) and Jason Brilz ("Fight of the Night").

For more on UFC Fight Night 24, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.