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Instant Classic Ends UFC 102
PORTLAND, OR - AUGUST 29: UFC fighter Antonio Nogueira (L) battles UFC fighter Randy Couture (R) during their Heavyweight bout at UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira at the Rose Garden Arena on August 29, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Antonio Nogueira;Randy Couture
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Scrutinized for a subpar and weary performance in his December loss to Frank Mir, Nogueira answered definitively, flooring Couture twice and outgrappling the UFC Hall of Famer for final scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Couture had been winning on the feet in the first round until he was caught with a right hand and dropped. From there, Nogueira placed Couture in a Brabo choke, but Couture remained calm and escaped to battle Nogueira standing for the rest of the opening frame.
In the second, Couture avoided a guillotine choke attempt and scored with elbows in Nogueira's guard, but Nogueira, known for his comebacks, swept Couture and advanced to attempt an arm-triangle choke.
Nogueira sealed the victory in the third, dropping Couture once more with a right, and followed by controlling Couture for the majority of the remaining round.
When the scores were announced, there was no question who the winner was.
"I didn't think I won the decision," Couture said. "I'm pretty rational. I think Nogueira clearly won all three rounds. He knocked me on my keister at least two of the rounds. He definitely won the fight."
Nogueira spoke about the much-needed win after a tough loss December where he was plagued by effects from a staph infection and a knee injury that required surgery following the fight.
"For most of the people that say you are done and you can prove that you can come back and you're still in the game, and make a good fight," Nogueira said. "That's what I did."
In the co-headliner of the evening, Thiago Silva rebounded from his first career blemish in January by planting Keith Jardine with a heavy left hook and finished with punches for the TKO at 1:35 of the opening frame, handing Jardine the first back-to-back loss of his career."I'm back!" Silva barked at Jardine after the fight, according to his translator.
Nate Marquardt remained a strong candidate to challenge Anderson Silva for his middleweight title, strengthening his campaign with a 21-second victory over the formerly undefeated Demian Maia.
Marquardt caught a leg kick and landed a straight right to put Maia away, a counter Marquardt had prepared from studying tapes of Maia.
"I want that belt and I don't know who's going to get the next shot, but if you want someone who's going to kick Anderson Silva's butt," Marquardt told the crowd. "You're going to give that shot to me."
Three-time NCAA wrestling champion Jake Rosholt wrapped an arm-triangle choke around Chris Leben's neck and armpit to render the Oregon native unconscious at 1:30 of the third round.
"He's a tough SOB," Rosholt said. "I knew I was going to have to put him out. I wanted to stand up, frustrate him and make him respect me on the feet."
In light heavyweight action to open the main card, Brandon Vera outpointed Krzysztof Soszynski through three rounds for the unanimous decision victory.
"It was a good fight," Vera said. "Krzysztof's a tough dude. I wished I could have knocked him out."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
8-30-2009 @ 7:37AM
jjoekiker7 said...
I knew UFC would overshadow boxing, boxing got to be boring with the idiots running it trying to make all the money, trying to monopolize the sport, but thats normal and UFC is trying to become the main attraction I guess we want a main attraction, but I remember the good old days of Gracie who I called the SNAKE......he would come ouyt there against guys 3 times bigger back then they could and would put you up against bigger guys and you would think aint no way that Brazialian bad boys is gonna take this guy, but while the big idiot is punching away at Gracies' body the snake is starting to coil wrap around his victim like a boa constricter then squeeze and slap slap slap I give quit stop I cant breath or my arm is breaking the guy could kill those big oafs if he wanted to...... any way....good riddance BOXING idiots you got greedy and thought you had it tied up UFC is here to stay and it will out-do boxing anyday-------.... I made 7 thousand dollars on the fight with randy which I knew he was gonna loose an y one want to bet......go to send me an email to talk about it but not if you rthe polic followed by w
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 8:57AM
whit4576 said...
jjoekiker7 - What does this article have to do with boxing? Taking cheap shots at a sport that franky made it possible for MMA to achieve the exposure it has the past 5-6 years is unnecessary.
Dana White himself was a boxer.
While, there is still alot of other MMA organizatons and their still a over reliance on Pay per view -- two things that hurt boxing (aside from having a dominant charismatic heavyweight champion -- boxing has always been up or down depending on who the champion was) in the past decade, UFC has done a much better job of marketing than boxing ever did at any point in its history. While boxing largely had negative coverage throughout its history, which puts into prospective how popular it really can be.
Moreover, it knows how to promote its lighter-weight divisions (which have the best talent in either sport) much better.
But that said, in spite of all its marketing, is primary genre is still 18-35 white male, which is a shrinking US demographic, while boxing remains more popular amongst Hispanics the fastest growing demographic. That in part is why UFC is focusing on promoting around the world as a way to sustain its growth.
Morever,due to cable television the advent of 500 channels, the Internet and Pay per view, it will never be as popular as boxing was 20 years ago because there are more entertainment alternatives today.
8-30-2009 @ 8:58AM
What's Happnin? said...
boxing is a mans sport its not about money its about heart. there is no class to mma when you knock someone down let them get up then knock them down again its not a fight when you jump someone when there down. if you con knock them down once more times than not you can do it again. no heart to mma you see them dudes give in all the time when it gets tough no heart
8-30-2009 @ 11:58AM
Ron Gurtiza said...
They were hand picked.
8-30-2009 @ 12:32PM
sstitan2 said...
are you serious the ufc is a monopoly if dana had it his way there would be no mma promotions but the UFC and MMA fighters dont make near the money Boxers do i dont even think mma has had a guy make a million a fight yet maybe fedor oscar de la hoya got paid 52 million to fight floyd and floyd made like 30 million the only thing the UFC does better then boxing is promotes all the fights better then boxing where boxing only promotes big name main event fights
8-30-2009 @ 9:24AM
Steve said...
What's happnin?....man what are you talking about?....I don't have anything against boxing..But come on man..Have you EVER seen a ufc fight?..those guys have a lot of heart they get the crap beat out of them and keep getting back up..you say they give up?...well in boxing you didn't have to worry about getting your arm snapped like a twig or your ankle or knee or leg broken in half..let someone get you in an arm bar and see how tuff you are..you'd be tapping out real quick anyone would if they wanted to keep there arm. So saying they have no heart is dead wrong i've seen a fight where the guy didn't tap and his arm snapped in half and he was still trying to keep going till the ref stopped it.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 9:53AM
Uncle Eddy said...
Ultimate fighting is as much a sport as dog fighing
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 3:04PM
duff72 said...
You no nothing about martial arts, you are an idiot. Please don't reproduce, because your child will be dumber than you.
8-30-2009 @ 10:12AM
mudholestomper said...
Uncle Eddy said...
Ultimate fighting is as much a sport as dog fighing...........................wimpy, non-fighters who are scared of most things in life will never understand the fighting spirit these martial artists have. go watch tennis or meathead football, you homo punk.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 10:23AM
sandyqueenthief said...
that was one good fight!
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 10:26AM
vipmarketinginc said...
Why are spammers getting on here,doesn't anyone monitor this crap?
Boxing and MMA are two totally different sports.
They both require a lot of heart, skills and conditioning. If you are lacking any of these you
won't make it far. Appreciate the ones that have it, in both sports.
I was surprised Maia got caught that quick.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 10:27AM
mitch said...
If you dont like mma then dont read these articles.Why does it have to be boxing or mma they are both good.
Whats happenin is a good name for you because you clearly dont have a clue.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 10:29AM
paradenta said...
Randy Couture's record is 16-10...I love the guy but I can't think of another more overrated sports figure: 16-10? That's a journeyman's record!
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 12:06PM
marknew91 said...
Yes, but he's 87 years old, so really, that's still a pretty impressive record. I hope I can brawl like Randy when I'm his age. If I live that long. Seriously, Randy showed he can be a good sport even when losing. He's a good role model, even for kids, and younger fighters. No one likes someone who makes excuses after a fight, and especially someone who bad mouths the winner after the fight. Randy shows class, and I think others will learn from that.
8-30-2009 @ 12:59PM
johnnynumber5 said...
The reason he doesn't have a padded record is because he hasn't fought any tomato cans. I believe 11/13 UFC fights have been title fights for Couture. You have to look beyond the record and you will see even when he lost he has never really been outclassed in the octagon.
8-30-2009 @ 10:52AM
venturamickey said...
time to hang up the gloves randy, however another randy & ice man would be kinda like a seniors golf tournament eh? how about tag team mma?
like brock with a midget and tito with his alter ego.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 10:52AM
ddscorp1 said...
As a former boxing fan I'd say If MMA can keep this going and continue to put on good solid fights, they will bury boxing in no time. If they aren't already! Just don't let all the corruption, greed and fixing going on in boxing infest MMA and it will be bigger than anyone could of thought it would. Boxing is dead! All I see is fixed fight after fixed fight. Bad decision after bad decision.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 11:05AM
freaky couple420 said...
randy is still a champ dont ever quit i think he is a asset to the sport
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 11:07AM
freaky couple420 said...
the ufc rules boxing drules boxing is dead as michael jackson cold as ice
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 11:16AM
English said...
It is a entertaining sport, but hard to support as the fighters seem to last about three fights and they go away and new people come in. It takes time to build up a fan base and no one seems to last long enough for that to happen.
Reply