A pivotal heavyweight bout between former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and fast rising contender Cain Velasquez is in the works for UFC 108 on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas, NV.

News of the bout was first reported by Tatame.com as confirmed by Nogueira's manager to SporTV's Sensei blog. However, Heavy.com contacted sources close to Velasquez, who call the story as "pure speculation."

The winner of the Nogueira vs. Velasquez bout will more likely being given next shot at the UFC heavyweight championship.

After winning the UFC interim heavyweight title by defeating Tim Sylvia at UFC 81 in Feb. 2008, Nogueira (32-5-2) was thought to have been back in his old form from his Pride days. However, he would go to be decimated by injuries and went on to lose the interim heavyweight title to Frank Mir at UFC 92. Nogueira has re-emerged as a contender following his recent impressive win over Randy Couture at UFC 102 in August.

Nogueira has put together a 3-1 UFC record since joining the promotion in July 2007, with his other Octagon win coming over Heath Herring in his UFC debut. He has fought the majority of his 10 year career for Japan's Rings and Pride organizations, fighting a combined 31 of his 39 career fights with the two promotions.

"Minotauro" has finised 20 of his 32 career wins by submission and he holds notable career wins over the likes of Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson, Mirko Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett.

Velasquez started his professional career out in 2006, going onto win his first two fights for Strikeforce and Bodog Fight. He then was picked up by the UFC and has since become a household name by winning his first five fights with MMA's premier organization.

Velasquez most recently scored a impressive second round TKO win over Ben Rothwell at UFC 104 on Oct. 24. His previous Octagon wins have came over Brad Morris, Jake O'Brien, Denis Stojnic and Cheick Kongo. The American Kickboxing Academy product sports a perfect 7-0 MMA record, with six of those wins coming by TKO.

Nogueira vs. Velasquez could actually serve as the main event of UFC 108 due to Brock Lesnar being too ill to defend his UFC heavyweight title against Shane Carwin. Lesnar vs. Carwin was set to headline UFC 106 on Nov. 21, however, Lesnar withdrew due to a bout with an illness and the match up was then moved to UFC 108 and was tapped as the event's headiner.

Other bouts featured at UFC 108 include a light-heavyweight bout between former UFC light-heavyweight champ Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva as well as a heavyweight bout between Junior dos Santos and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 108 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!