TKO Xtreme

Gouwenberg (left) standing with Tim Thurston and Bill Mahood. Photo property of Revolution Martial Arts.

Todd Gouwenberg, a native of Langley, British Columbia, will face the toughest test of his career when he steps into the cage with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Hardcore Championship Fighting: Destiny on February 1.

Todd Gouwenberg is a veteran of TKO Championship Fighting and Bodog Fight who possesses a mixed martial arts record of 7-2. Gouwenberg holds victories over the likes of Icho Larenas, Martin Desilets, Michael Patt, and Konstantin Gluhov. Gouwenberg, known for his heavy hands, spends his time training at Revolution Martial Arts in Port Kells, British Columbia.

Revolution Martial Arts is home to the likes of Kalib Starnes, Kajan Johnson, Tyler Jackson, Kultar Gill, Bill Mahood, Matt Leo, Jay Jenkins, and of course Todd Gouwenberg.

Gouwenberg made his professional mixed martial arts debut in October 2003 knocking out Jeff Kirwinki at Western Freestyle Championships: High Impact. Gouwenberg’s first real test came at TKO 16: Infernal when he fought and defeated former TKO heavyweight champion Icho Larenas. After the impressive stoppage over Larenas, Gouwenberg’s career hit a rough patch where he dropped consecutive fights to Jacob Conliffe and Lavar Johnson. Since the losses, Gouwenberg has scored four straight victories including three in Bodog Fight.

Gouwenberg’s opponent, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, is well known for his time spent fighting for PRIDE Fighting Championship in Japan. Over the span of seven years, Nogueira has solidified himself as one of the top light heavyweights in the world scoring victories over the likes of Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Guy Mezger. Nogueira is coming off a TKO loss to Thierry Sokoudjou at PRIDE 33: Second Coming.

Gouwenberg was recently on Full Contact Fighter Radio where he said, “I always look to keep a fight standing but things happen sometimes in fights where you have to adjust. If you get caught with a shot and you need to get a body lock or something and a takedown because you’re a little bit wobbled, there’s a lot of things that come into it. But yeah obviously if I can keep this fight standing for sure, there’s a lot of things that come into it and that doesn’t mean I won’t want to put him on his back and ground and pound him and then stand it back up again.”

This fight will be a stern test for Gouwenberg both standing and on the canvas. Rogerio Nogueira has spent an extensive amount of time working on both his striking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Nogueira was the 2006 and 2007 Brazilian Boxing Super Heavyweight Champion and also won a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. Along with his time spent training with the Cuban National Boxing Team, Nogueira has secured his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt training with his brother, Rodrigo Nogueira at Brazilian Top Team.

Pushing all of Nogueira’s accolades aside, Gouwenberg feels he is ready to steal the spotlight. In preparation for the bout, Gouwenberg has spent his time at Revolution Martial Arts honing his skills with Tim Thurston (Boxing), Tim Shears (BJJ), Roy Witts (Boxing), Dave Rothwell (BJJ), and Paul LaLonde (Kickboxing and Muay Thai).

Hardcore Championship Fighting: Destiny is scheduled for February 1, 2008 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta.