Velasquez vs Bigfoot on Tap in April

This past November, Cain Velasquez was finally back in the limelight.

Then serving as the UFC's heavyweight champion, the AKA star was looking to keep his undefeated record intact in arguably the biggest fight in the promotion's history, as Velasquez took on top contender Junior dos Santos, serving as the main event for the organization's first endeavor on FOX.

After mending from a shoulder injury which kept him sidelined for well over a year, Velasquez was swiftly finished by the heavy-hitting bruiser in Dos Santos, who knocked out the California native in just 64 seconds, claiming the belt in the process.

Now looking to regain his footing in the division, Velasquez will reportedly return this April as he takes on Strikeforce transplant Antonio Silva at an as-of-yet-announced event.

Portal Do Vale Tudo reported the matchup which was initially confirmed by former UFC champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, training partner and close friend to the behemoth Silva.

The Brazilian was last seen in action when he took on Daniel Cormier in the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix last September. The Olympian served as a late replacement for Alistair Overeem, who bowed out of the tournament due to injury.

Cormier, another product of AKA, made quick work of Silva, finishing off the juggernaut in less than four minutes of action, leaving Silva the victim of Cormier's most impressive knockout victory to date.

The loss snapped a three-fight win streak for the Team Nogueira fighter, who defeated Mike Kyle, Andrei Arlovski and former heavyweight kingpin Fedor Emelianenko, respectively.

The winner between Velasquez and Silva will be on the short list of would-be contenders to the UFC title, which Dos Santos is set to defend against the aforementioned Overeem later this year.

Big Nog gets a Big "Break"

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira suffered a broken arm at UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida in Toronto on Saturday night after waiting until the last possible second – a second too late – to tapout to a Frank Mir Kimura (shoulder lock).

The UFC tweeted out the x-ray of Nogueira’s arm, clearly showing a break of the humerus.

The initial prognosis in Toronto was a trip to Los Angeles for surgery. But it now appears that surgery won’t be necessary.

“Doctor’s report: surgery not necessary for Big Nog,” the UFC tweeted on Monday after Nogueira visited Dr. John Itamura.

Dr. Itamura believes a less invasive course of action will work for Nogueira.

“He’ll have adjustable plastic brace using an ultrasound device 2x/day for 20 mins,” read the UFC’s message on Twitter.

Apparently, according to the doctor, Nogueira could return to the Octagon “in no more than nine months.”

At 35 years of age, having fought through some punishing battles throughout his career, whether or not Nogueira returns to the Octagon at all remains to be seen. At least, UFC president Dana White seems to question Nogueira continuing his fight career.

“You got to look at a guy's career, not just how it’s ending. Big Nog has been through wars. I was at the Pride fight when he fought Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop was just blasting him with kicks to the body and shots to the head, and then he ends up pulling off that submission win in the second round. But he’s had a career where he’s been through some wars,” said White following the UFC 140 post-fight press conference when asked if it was time for Nogueira to consider retirement.

Nogueira is 4-3 since moving to the UFC in 2007, two of his losses coming by way of knockout, the other being Mir’s arm-breaking submission.

“Big Nog is a nice guy and a guy whom I respect.

I know he’s gonna get pissed off at me, but again, it doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’m the one that makes those decisions,” White continued, clearly indicating that he thought Nogueira has to take a long hard look at whether he should continue or not.

“So, I’m gonna have to sit down and talk to him. I don’t want to see him get hurt or anybody.”

UFC 140 Aftermath: Brutal Finishes That Defied the Norm

It is the aftermath of UFC 140 in Toronto and living in the city, the buzz is surely on the brutal finishes of the fights from the card on Saturday night.

All the coverage and talk of Frank Mir breaking Nogueira's arm, along with local reports of how all the Maple Leafs and hockey players in attendance thought it was quite a brutal sport, has left me throwing caution to the wind.

The finishes, and some of the fights we saw this weekend fall directly into the five-90-five percent rule, and it must be explained before any judgement is passed by the uneducated MMA fan.

Five percent of all fights will end in some sort of shocking, brutal or even gruesome fashion, 90 percent will end in exciting, even thrilling but normal finishes and the other five percent will end in boring and uneventful fashion.

Usually, the shocking and brutal finishes are spread and sort out among the many different fight cards in a year or period of time. In my opinion, a case could be made that we saw three fights that had finishes in the first five percent.

Frank Mir's brutal kimura on "Big Nog" is definitely one, Jones's somewhat brutal-looking choke and how he landed plastered face-down was another.

It could be argued that Chan Sung Jung's knockout seven seconds in qualifies in there, too.

Mir's destruction of Nogueira's arm is comparable to the worst injury in any other sport suffered under the rules, like a broken neck on a clean hit in football, a broken leg on a knee-on-knee hit in hockey or a broken arm from a collision at home plate.

You can't judge the sport on the most brutal of its incidents. They happen but they are rare. Just like Machida getting choked out on his feet and dropped or Hominick getting knocked out in seven seconds.

The only difference in these incidents is what makes MMA even safer than some of the other sports mentioned.

Both Nogueira and Machida could have stopped these incidents on the spot by swallowing their pride and tapping out to the opponent—a choice not available in mid-action in most sports.

But both men chose not to tap, and both men suffered very cold and real consequences.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira heads to surgery

Pride is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s a pill that former Pride and UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira refused to swallow at UFC 140 in Toronto on Saturday night.

It's no surprise that Big Nog's heading to surgery after Frank Mir locked on a Kimura shoulder lock. Nogueira tried to roll with it, but Mir wound up on top, blocking any escape. Nogueira refused to submit, instead suffering the pain of his arm nearly being torn off.

The immediate outcome was a trip to the hospital; the long-term ramifications have yet to be determined.

One thing is certain; Nogueira needs surgery to help repair the damage he chose to endure.

UFC president Dana White confirmed Nogueira’s medical situation in a post-press-conference scrum with reporters. He said he received a text from Nogueira’s camp.

“The text was, Nogueira needs surgery. We want to do the surgery in L.A. Can he fly with me to Las Vegas?” he revealed.

“(It’s his) shoulder and elbow. We don’t know what’s wrong with both, but it’s shoulder and elbow.”

Nogueira has been a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt for a long, long time. He’s fully aware of the situation he put himself in by refusing to submit to Mir’s Kimura and now suffers the loss, the injury, and a heavy dose of criticism.

“That’s why you tap,” said White, adding, “he knows that.”

Yeah, I've got to agree swallow your pride and tap to fight another day.

X-Ray of Minotouro Noguiera's Broken Arm

Check out the x-ray that shows Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's broken arm following that devastating submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140.

That submission was really nasty, and the x-ray proves it.