Former UFC middleweight champ Rich “Ace” Franklin (28-6, 1 NC) will take on Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira (19-5) at UFC 133, scheduled for Aug. 6 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn.
The UFC confirmed the bout on Friday along with another UFC 133 bout, Dennis Hallman vs. Brian Ebersole.
Franklin, now fighting at light heavyweight, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 126 in February.
Since abandoning the 185-pound division in 2008, Franklin has gone 3-3 inside the Octagon, scoring wins over Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva and Matt Hamill.
In addition to the loss to Griffin, he’s also given up losses to Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson since making the jump up in weight.
Like Franklin, Nogueira is in need of a win, probably even more so.
The twin brother of UFC heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, “Lil” Nog is still considered among the top-10 light heavyweights in the world, but just barely. Most sites have him ranked as either number nine or 10.
Since arriving in the UFC in Nov. 2009, Nogueira has gone 2-2, scoring wins over Luiz Cane and Jason Brilz in his first two outings, and then dropping unanimous decisions to both, Ryan Bader and most recently, Phil Davis, at UFC Fight Night 24 last month.
The main event for UFC 133 is still undetermined. Stay close to ProMMAnow.com for more UFC 133 fight announcements and view our Upcoming Events page for a quick look at fight cards for all future UFC events.