UFC Fight Night 24: Spike TV Announces Main Card for Ortiz vs. Nogueira

March 29 may mark the final fight in the UFC career of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz as he faces Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 24 on Spike TV.

With UFC President Dana White describing the fight as a “must win” for Ortiz, the pressure has never been higher for the former Light Heavyweight champion to walk away with a win.

In addition to the previously announced main event, Spike TV officials announced Wednesday that the televised card will also include: Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson, Duane Ludwig vs. Amir Sadollah, and Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan.

The preliminary card includes the following fights:

Welterweight bout: Dennis Hallman vs. TJ Waldburger

Middleweight bout: Mario Miranda vs. Aaron Simpson

Heavyweight bout: Sean McCorkle vs. Christian Morecraft

Bantamweight bout: Michael McDonald vs. Nick Pace

Welterweight bout: John Hathaway vs. Kris McCray

Featherweight bout: Alex Caceres vs. Mackens Semerzier

Heavyweight bout: Jon Madsen vs. Mike Russow

With the card now written in ink, let’s take a quick look at each of the fights on the main card for the big event, UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira on March 29 at the Key Arena in Seattle, WA.

Featherweight Bout—Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

An immediate rematch was certainly in order after a controversial split decision gave Leonard Garcia a win over Nam Phan at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale in December.

Fans and experts alike were baffled at the judges’ scorecards, which gave the fight to Garcia despite what many believe to be an obvious win for Phan.

In fact, the decision was so controversial that UFC President Dana White awarded Phan his win bonus despite being given a loss in the record books. It was even dubbed Sherdog.com’s “Robbery of the Year” for 2010.

Both fighters bring an exciting style that could easily make for a Fight of the Night candidate and an extra bonus in their paychecks.

Rumors are that the winner of this rematch will eventually face Diego Nunes, who is fresh off a victory over former WEC Featherweight champion Mike Brown in UFC 125.

Welterweight Bout— Amir Sadollah vs. Duane Ludwig

The Ultimate Fighter season seven winner Amir Sadollah will have a chance to get back on a winning streak as he faces veteran fighter Duane “Bang” Ludwig in his seventh UFC fight.

Sadollah, currently 4-2, rebounded from a discouraging unanimous decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 114 by winning his own unanimous decision over Peter Sobotta at UFC 122 in November 2010.

Sadollah previously competed at middleweight but has made the successful transition to welterweight after defeating Phil Baroni back in November 2009.

His only other loss came at the hands of Johnny Hendricks in just his second professional fight in 2009.

Duane Ludwig may have saved his UFC career by winning a split decision over Nick Osipczak at UFC 122.

Ludwig has been making his return to 170 pounds but had previously dropped back-to-back fights in the UFC to Jim Miller and Darren Elkins.

Ludwig owns a professional record of 20-11 and is clearly the more experienced fighter of the two in this contest, but appears to be slowing down now at the age of 32.

This is a very important fight for both fighters as they attempt to prove their worth to the UFC decision-makers. 

Welterweight Bout—Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson

It was less than a year ago that “The Outlaw” Dan Hardy was stepping into the cage with one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and the UFC Welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre. Hardy had earned his title shot by winning each of his first four fights in The Octagon, including an essential No. 1 contenders fight over AKA’s Mike Swick.

But at UFC 111, Hardy just didn’t appear to be ready to face a fighter with the caliber of “Rush” St. Pierre.

The fight was as one-sided as a decision victory can really be, with St. Pierre controlling the action from bell to bell. Though Hardy’s toughness was applauded by everyone for his refusal to quit, it was obvious that St. Pierre was just on another level.

It’s tough to tell if the loss to St. Pierre affected Hardy’s confidence, but a first round knockout loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 120 certainly didn’t do anything to dispel that thought.

Hardy will attempt to get back on the winning path, but will have the very tough task of facing one of the UFC’s most talked about up-and-comers, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

Johnson had been on a three-fight UFC win streak before his submission loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 106.

Things got worse though, when a knee injury kept him out for an extended period of time, forcing him to miss the entire 2010 year.

“Rumble” will be looking to pick up where he left off before the loss to Koscheck as he had been working his way toward an eventual title fight. A win over a previous No. 1 contender would do wonders not only for his confidence, but also his standing in the UFC welterweight division.

Light Heavyweight Bout—Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

The main event for UFC Fight Night 24 will feature the legendary Tito Ortiz as he faces Antonio Rogerio “Lil Nog” Nogueira in a light heavyweight showdown.

UFC President Dana White, a known detester of Ortiz, explained the importance of this fight for the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion.

"This is a must-win fight for Tito Ortiz," White said. "Everyone knows that Tito and I have had a rocky relationship, but he's been with us since we started this company, and we're on good terms now. This is the biggest fight of his career. 'Lil Nog' is ranked in the top 10 in the world, and a win puts Tito back in the mix.”

Following his most recent loss to Matt Hamill at UFC 121, Tito Ortiz has now gone over four years without a victory in mixed martial arts. The last time he had his hand raised was in October of 2006 when he smashed Ken Shamrock for a third and final time.

In Tito’s defense though, he has always faced top competition. Prior to his loss to Hamill, Tito’s losses have come at the hands of four former UFC Light Heavyweight champions in Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida and Forrest Griffin. He also fought to a draw with another former champion, Rashad Evans.

Still, there is no doubt that this is a must-win for Ortiz to continue in the UFC.

For Nogueira, this fight may be seen mostly as a chance for him to get back on the winning side of things after his unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 119. Prior to the loss, “Lil Nog” had been on a seven-fight win streak which included two wins in the UFC.

This fight doesn’t figure to be anything close to a must-win for Nogueira, but certainly the victory would help propel his name back into the spotlight as a legitimate contender in the very highly contested 205-pound division.

It will be interesting to see which Tito Ortiz shows up for this fight. If it’s the hungry one we saw in years past who looked to finish his opponents, this fight could be very interesting—but if it’s the same one that showed up for the fight with Matt Hamill, Tito could be getting his pink slip on Monday morning.