Antonio Rogerio Nogueira talks about his upcoming fight with Ryan Bader at UFC 119.

Little Nog doesn’t seem to be too concerned about Bader’s superior wrestling skills. He thinks his Jiu Jitsu will even out the score there. Nogueira didn’t show much ability to counter wrestlers in his last fight, so it seems unlikely he will be able to do so against Bader on Saturday.

The UFC 119 Nogueira odds list him as an underdog at +140 which makes this one of the closest fights on the card.

Ryan Bader talks about his upcoming fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 on Saturday 25.

He is very respectful of Little Nog “I have huge amounts of respect for him and his brother, what they’ve done for this sport, and what they’ve done in this sport.”

He talks briefly about strategy saying “I think I just have to create scrambles and definitely use my power and land some shots and keep mixing stuff up.”

For all of the respect Bader gives Nogueira talking about how Nogueira is a top-five fighter, Bader is the UFC odds favorite in this one at -170 while Nogueira is +140.

Video preview of the Frank Mir vs Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic and Ryan Bader vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira fights.

In some ways these two fights mirror each other with older vets with improved striking taking on younger fighters that are best on the ground but have very effective stand up.

Admittedly, Mir is a lot more experienced than Bader, but the old guys are both underdogs with UFC 119 odds listing Bader the favorite at -165 and Mir was paying -220 before the rumors of Cro Cop’s injury caused the odds-makers to take the Mir-Cro Cop odds offline.

Up and coming light-heavyweight Ryan Bader faces Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 in Indianapolis, IN on September 25. Both fighters come in to this fight with perfect records in the UFC, but Bader has looked impressive rising from the ranks of TUF while Little Nog has looked quite ordinary since joining the UFC after a long career in PRIDE.

Bader comes in to this fight listed as the UFC odds favorite at -165 to Nogueira’s +135.

After winning Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter, Ryan Bader (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) joined the UFC and continued his rise to prominence translating his wrestling background to build a ferocious ground and pound attack. He is not a technically proficient striker, but he is extremely powerful.

Bader’s next opponent is PRIDE legend Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira (19-3-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC). Little Nog was originally feared for his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but, ever since training in boxing with the Cuban national team, he seems more pre-occupied with getting KOs and his ground game has suffered as a result.

Nogueira’s last fight came at UFC 114 against Jason Brilz who is basically a physically weaker, less-accomplished version of Bader. Nogueira struggled to deal with that wrestler and ended up getting booed when he was announced as the winner by decision.

If this fight is to go for Nogueira, he is going to have to get his ground game back in to form and condition himself to go full-out for three full rounds because Bader is relentless.

Bader will have a hard time finishing the fight before it goes to a decision because Nogueira is too good at boxing to open himself up for Bader to get the KO and he is too good a BJJ to get submitted by the wrestler, but Nogueira will likely spend the whole fight trying to hold off Bader and lose in a decision.