UFC 102: BIG NOG IS BACK!

Written by Jim Murphy   |   Sunday, August 30 2009

Former UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is back in the title hunt following a unanimous decision victory over Randy Couture in the main event of UFC 102 in Portland, OR (Photo: UFC)

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira left a lot of questions unanswered in the wake of his UFC 92 loss to Frank Mir.  He had been dominated in his defeat to Mir and in the process suffered the first stoppage of his career.  After the fight it was revealed that he’d suffered from a staph infection during training, severe enough to land him in the hospital for five days.  He insisted that the loss was entirely attributable to his illness.

At UFC 102 from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, ‘Big Nog’ made a compelling case that his loss to Mir was a definite aberration.  Nogueira dominated a determined Randy Couture over three rounds, en route to a unanimous decision victory over the UFC Hall of Famer.  Nogueira’s decisive victory culminated the UFC’s first ever event in the Pacific Northwest and after a bit of hand wringing over slow ticket sales the show came off very well on PPV.

Nogueira entered the arena first to his usual entrance music of ‘Gimme Shelter’ by The Rolling Stones.  He received a respectful welcome from the Rose City crowd, but nothing like the rousing ovation afforded local hero Couture.  Couture lived in suburban Gresham, Oregon for a number of years and trained at Team Quest before leaving to start Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.  He’s still a beloved figure in the Portland area, and his wide grin during Bruce Buffer’s introductions give the impression that he still has a lot of affection for his former hometown. 

Despite the lopsided outcome of the fight, “The Natural” gave his fans plenty to cheer about.  Though he’s no longer able to ‘outwork’ opponents and earn victories, he’s still an amazing physical specimen for a 46 year old man.  Furthermore, he still has the amazing toughness and resilience that made him a legend.  He was knocked down twice, and came close to being choked out in each of the three rounds.  In the first, he fought off a D’Arce Choke before Nogueira relented to conserve his energy.  In the second, he worked out of a dangerous arm triangle choke and in the final frame withstood a ground and pound beating and a rear naked choke attempt.

Couture in no way embarrassed himself, but he never really threatened Nogueira either.  The former PRIDE heavyweight champion looked every bit his old self, displaying a formidable standup game to compliment his top of the food chain groundfighting and submission skills.  After the fight Nogueira expressed his respect for Couture and appreciation for the Portland fans before politely ‘calling out’ current heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

In the co-main event, Thiago Silva demonstrated why he’s considered among the most underrated fighters in mixed martial arts as he dismantled Keith Jardine.  After a ‘feeling out’ process, Silva perfectly countered one of Jardine’s kicks with a nasty straight right hand.  He followed up with a quick ground punching barrage before the referee called a halt to the fight early in the first round.

The most eagerly anticipated preliminary fight pitted well rounded vet Nate Marquardt against BJJ prodigy Demian Maia.  The fight most definitely didn’t live up to its advance billing, as Marquardt made short work of Maia as he countered a leg kick with a thunderous right hand that ended the contest less than a half minute into the first round.  Maia’s BJJ skills are otherworldly, but clearly he has a long way to go before he can be considered more than a one dimensional fighter.

In the other matches on the live PPV event, former college wrestling standout Jake Rosholt ruined the homecoming of Portland native Chris Leban by virtue of a third round submission victory.  Brandon Vera got things started with a lopsided unanimous decision win over a technically outclassed Krzysztof Soszynski.  

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