UFC
Cheick Kongo vs. Shawn Jordan now official for UFC 149 in Calgary
Jun 18, 2012 - 10:50:06 AM Cheick Kongo vs. Shawn Jordan now official for UFC 149 in Calgary

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Cheick Kongo vs. Shawn Jordan is now official for UFC 149, as UFC officials on Monday confirmed reports over the weekend of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's removal from the card.

Nogueira's arm, which was broken by a kimura from Frank Mir in December at UFC 140, has not fully healed, taking him out of the planned return on the July 21 card in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Kongo hopes to bounce back from a knockout loss to Mark Hunt in his last bout. The 34-year-old Frenchman had a four-fight unbeaten streak snapped with that loss. It was his fifth overall loss in 16 appearances in the Octagon, and first by knockout. It was also his first since a submission loss to Frank Mir in December of 2009.

The 27-year-old Jordan has fought 16 times since making his MMA debut just three years ago, appearing in Bellator Fighting Championships and Strikeforce before making his UFC debut earlier this year. In that debut at UFC on FX 2 in March, Jordan knocked out Oli Thompson in the second round to move to 13-3 overall in his career. Of his 13 wins, 12 have come by stoppage, and he's only gone to a decision twice in his career.

Penick's Analysis: It's certainly unfortunate not to have Nogueira returning for this fight, as the matchup with Kongo was an interesting one, but at this point it doesn't even matter for this UFC 149 card. It's been ravaged far beyond what it was to begin with, and much like UFC 146, every fight is different than it was planned to be. This fight itself isn't a huge name for Kongo to fight, but Jordan's got a solid skill set, and this is a big opportunity for him.