Nogueira was suffering from a staph infection in a December 2008 fight with Frank Mir: the result was a dodgy performance that had people calling for his retirement. Time off and antibiotics have done a world of good: against Couture, he looked every bit as dangerous as ever -- and far less like the shot fighter he was assumed to be. Was that display assisted by Couture’s modest physicality, or…
Nogueira was a lean 231 lbs. for Couture, which would put him at roughly a 50 lb. weight disadvantage once Lesnar re-hydrates on fight night. That’s a lot of caloric ground to make up, but if anyone can ensnare Lesnar with some archaic jiu-jitsu technique, it’s Nogueira.
Shameless Pockets-Lining of the Night Award: Brock Lesnar, for shouting encouragement to Couture knowing full well that rematch would put a few extra shells in his shotgun.
Impenetrable Product Sponsor of the Night Award: “Sytha-6 RTD,” which sounds like something we sprayed over Vietnam and not a sports supplement.
Heart of the Night Award: Couture, for escaping positions and submission attempts by Nogueira that many would have found hopeless.
Ominous Comparison of the Night Award: To Demian Maia, repeatedly referred to as “the new Royce Gracie,” or “Royce Gracie 2.0.” Royce Gracie is a dangerous man, but would lose a kickboxing match with a heavy bag. In 2009, it’s not a flattering statement.
With an economy still submerged in bad dollars and unemployment rates equivalent to John Goodman’s body-fat percentage, you could consider the UFC’s generous nine-fight television card to be a welcome gesture. By any standards, that’s not such a bad deal.
But with no title fights on deck, the surplus of action came at cost: most fans were disappointed that the wildly entertaining main event fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture didn’t have an extra 10 minutes tacked on. Nogueira dominated much of the fight with combinations and a tarp of a ground game, but Couture never appeared outclassed -- just outhustled. He connected with power shots and displayed real grit in escaping multiple strangulation attempts by Nogueira.
It’s unusual that a loss could only add to a fighter’s legacy, but Couture is that unusual a fighter.
Randy Couture said he never felt close to being “done” in the fight.
Couture said the audience was the loudest he’s ever fought in front of.
Couture said he’d have to look at the tape to see what he did wrong, but he thinks he did a lot of things well and also got caught some.
Couture said he gave everything he had and he’s OK with that.
Couture said he didn’t think he won the decision. He said Nogueira clearly won all three rounds and he knew he had lost.
Couture said Nogueira was pretty much what he expected. He said he has a good jab and followed it with a good right hand. Couture thought he could have done better on the feet.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture pocketed matching $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses after their memorable three-round main event at UFC 102 on Saturday at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore. The two legends took a welcomed chunk out of the $1.92 million gate, drawn from the 16,088 in attendance.
Nogueira rebounded nicely from his technical knockout loss to Frank Mir in December, as he worked over Couture standing and on the ground. He nearly submitted the UFC hall of famer twice, first with a brabo choke and then with an arm-triangle choke. Nogueira has now defeated five former UFC heavyweight champions.
The ageless 46-year-old Couture, meanwhile, has lost back-to-back fights for the first time since he lost to Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett in a six-month span back in 2002.
Nogueira and Couture were not the only combatants to profit from the event.
