Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Stefan Struve Not Happening Any Time Soon, Big Nog Sidelined for 3 Months

There has been a minor war of words brewing between UFC heavyweights Stefan Struve and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, leading many to believe that a fight was imminent.

They won’t be fighting anytime soon, however, as Big Nog’s manager, Ed Soares, recently told MMAFighting.com that the former UFC and Pride champion wouldn’t return to training for at least three months following surgery.

Nogueira had to undergo surgery after an MRI revealed extensive ligament damage in his left elbow stemming from an armbar submission loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC on Fuel TV 10 on June 8 in Brazil.

Nogueira also required surgery following a Kimura submission loss to Frank Mir in late 2011. That surgery required 16 screws in his humerus, but Nogueira still managed to return to the Octagon 10 months later to defeat Dave Herman.

Struve called for a fight with Nogueira in an interview with Bleacher Report, an official MMAWeely.com content partner.

Nogueira responded in a statement to UFC Tonight, saying, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Let’s get it on.”

Struve then answered back on Twitter, “Bigger they are, harder they fall huh @Minotauromma, lets back those words up and sign the contract, I'm waiting for you..”

It appears, however, that Struve will be waiting quite a while if he waits for Nogueira.

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

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