Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira rebounded from his disappointing loss to Frank Mir in his fight with an exciting unanimous decision victory over Randy Couture in the main event of UFC 102 on Saturday at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon.
The pair went to war for the duration of the three-round bout, mixing it up on the feet with crisp striking that saw both legendary heavyweights connect with numerous combinations, while also showing off world class grappling when the fight hit the ground.
Nogueira proved to be too much for Couture on this night, as he was dropped to the canvas in the first and third rounds, and nearly submitted in both the first and second. “The Natural” fought through the chokes and survived the knockdowns to go the distance, but was unable to secure the finish he desperately needed to win the fight.
The judges awarded Nogueira a unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 in what is certain to be the event’s “Fight of the Night”.
With the win, Nogueira improves to 32-5-1 and remains in the heavyweight title-hunt, while Couture falls to 16-10 in defeat and has now lost two-straight.
In the UFC 102 co-headliner, Thiago Silva bounced back from the first loss of his career earlier this year to Lyoto Machida with a first-round knockout of Keith Jardine. Silva, now 14-1 following the win, remains on the long list on contenders at 205-pounds, while Jardine drops to 14-6-1 and looks for answers after losing his second-straight and fourth in his last six fights.
Nate Marquardt needed just 21-seconds to knockout jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia in a battle of middleweight contenders on the UFC 102 main card, then promptly called out 185-pound champ Anderson Silva, though he’ll likely need to go through fellow-contender Dan Henderson to earn the rematch.
In other main card action, Jake Rosholt submitted a returning Chris Leben in the third-round to earn the first win of his UFC career, while Brandon Vera again looked lackluster at 205-pounds in picking up a unanimous decision over Krzysztof Soszynski to kick off the pay-per-view.
The UFC 102 prelims were highlighted by Todd Duffee’s record-setting 7-second knockout of Tim Hague in his UFC debut, snapping the promotion’s previous mark of 8-seconds held by James Irvin over Houston Alexander in 2008.
Aaron Simpson logged an impressive opening round against Ed Herman on the preliminary card, before improving to 6-0 on his young-career after Herman was unable to continue early in the second after suffering a knee injury.
Gabriel Gonzaga’s impressive first-round TKO of newcomer Chris Tuchscherer was marred by a brutal kick to the groin that nearly stopped the contest. Tuchscherer managed to continue after the accidental foul but wasn’t the same fighter, as he was quickly downed a head kick from Gonzaga and finished on the ground midway through the first.
Mike Russow, Mark Munoz, and Evan Dunham all picked up decision victories in the remaining preliminary fights.
The official results for UFC 102 were:
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Randy Couture via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Thiago Silva def. Keith Jardine via KO (punches) — Round 1, 1:35
- Jake Rosholt def. Chris Leben via submission (arm-triangle) — Round 3, 1:30
- Nate Marquardt def. Demian Maia via KO (punch) — Round 1, 0:21
- Brandon Vera def. Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aaron Simpson def. Ed Herman via TKO (injury) — Round 2, 0:17
- Gabriel Gonzaga def. Chris Tuchscherer via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:27
- Mike Russow def. Justin McCully via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
- Todd Duffee def. Tim Hague via KO (punch) — Round 1, 0:07
- Mark Munoz def. Nick Catone via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Evan Dunham def. Marcus Aurelio via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Click here for more UFC 102 coverage, and stop by MMAFrenzy.com tomorrow for extensive post-UFC 102 coverage.
Pictured: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
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The fights tonight were awesome! Give everyone some type of bonus!!! WOO HOO!!!!
Nate was extremely impressive tonight. I was leaning towards him winning (as this was a pick-em fight) but not like that. WOW is all I have to say.
Big Nog was sharp tonight, who knows where he stands in the division though after that fight. It seems that the heavyweight division is getting more stacked everyday.
This was an outstanding card. Lots of dramatic finishes.
Thiago Silva has officially permeated Keith Jardine to gatekeeper status. Who’s next for him..possibly Tito? Or maybe Forrest? Or maybe someone else who also desrves a chance to come up.
Maia is a huge disappointment.
Duffee looked great, some fresh blood for the heavyweights.
My man Nogueira handled his business. As for Randy, he looked good and performed well. But this is really the end of the road for him.
Chris Leben frankly just looked fat.
I know you didnt know this at the time but Couture just extended his road with a 6 fight contract. I hope Jardine comes back strong. As for Leben who cares.
He may have extended his contract, but is there any top heavyweight not named Tim Sylvia that Couture can beat? Rogan asked him about possibly going down to 205–really now? Who knows maybe he’ll take on Spider next.
One wonders just how close are we to a Thiago-Lyoto rematch–this time for the world title, of course.
Permeated? I don’t think that word means what you think it does…
yeah not sure if I ever want to see Jardine spread over anything…
If he’s trying to say “Jardine has been relegated to gatekeeper status,”… Well considering that’s where he’s been, that’s not an insult.
And I don’t want to see him spread through anything, although that is an interesting visual image. Would the billy goat beard make it too or would that be his calling card?
Just got home, VERY loud crowd. Thought I was gonna get my a$$ kicked routing for Rosholt. Now I know how you Ohio fans root for The Ace when he is there, Couture entrance was off the charts!
Head out and see where the fighters are hanging out. Feel like a kid in a candy store
Wow what a great event, top to bottom, just solid, one of the best ever. Solid Main event war, tough gruelling fights quick KO’s. This card had everything. Marquardt was impressive was leaning towarsds him but I didnt want to see Maia lose like thst, Silvas knockout of Jardine was highly unexpected. As for the quickest knockout though, I think Bangs KO of Goulet was faster. They f’d up the clock on that one. Vera and Soszynski was a good tough battle, dont pay attention to the crowd they wanna see blood. Nogueira and Couture was a good solid main event war, though I dont expect to see Minotauro get anywhere near the belt. Rosholt beating Leben was impressive though Leben looked like a timid little bunny rabbit and didnt let his hands go and paid for it. Wow I couldnt ask for anything more in an event.
This says something action-wise for me…New world record for me in losing most of my picks in one night…But still thrilled to death with what I saw tonight, no buzzkill whatsoever. Saying ALOT considering that Randy lost and that they didn’t show the Gonzage fight. Awesome job to everyone on UFC’s payroll tonight…
I agree all fights were great! Does anybody else think Goldberg was as high as a kite tonight?
You know, he did seem off. Like that whole comment during Jardine-Silva when he said Jardine was ‘stalking’ his opponent, when Jardine was clearly backpedaling. And that was seconds before Silva eventually finished him. Strange, indeed.
where’s my foil hat??
i think randy should come down in weight class
THIAGO! I want to say it was a night for the Brazilians, but Maia had to mess it up. Poor guy, I was rooting for him but that was unexpected. Never expected Nate to KO anybody, even though he has done it once before in Pancrase. Whatever, can’t take away anything from Maia, he is still an incredible talent. I predict NAte will get smashed by Silva or better yet, Hendo!
You didn’t expect it? Even though his last 3 wins now are KO/TKO wins? Yeah, I can see how you wouldn’t expect it.
Just realized that the home town fighters (Couture & Leben) both lost in their native state! Sucks.
Not too surprised by any fight tonight.
It’s funny I didn’t think Maia would get the next shot because of his lack of striking(even if he won) thanks to Leites and everyone took turns ripping me for it. Now Maia tries show he has striking against a good striker and is KO’d… Not your time yet Maia. Marquardt was ready tonight. Was impressed by Marquardt’s class in no striking Maia again.
You know I actually like Jardine, he’s a hard worker who loves fighting but it’s time to start thinking about moving into coaching or something. Those brutal KO’s are starting to pile up and he can’t keep taking those.
Randy-Big Nog went exactly how I thought it would AFTER seeing Big Nog at weigh-ins, he looked like the old Big Nog and not the guy who fought Frank Mir. When his all around game is on like that he’s hard to beat by anyone. I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch with Mir.
Rosholt-Leben- Am I the only one who was legitimately surprised how technical Rosholt’s striking was? I mean wow that’s come a long way. Not to mention his ground control,while mostly defensive, was still impressive. Interested to see where he goes from here. I thought that was poor refereeing at live speed though at the end. Leben taps and the ref allowed the hold to still be held. After a replay though it doesn’t look as bad but still, seeing Leben twitching is not good for the sport.
I expected Vera to win tonight and he did. He fought very well and finally looks like a healthier 205. Krzysztof looked a lil hesitant after he was caught by a few Vera kicks. Hats off to Vera.
Bad night for the home team but it’s never easy at home for fighters(see Cincinnati). Great card and I hope Herman just has the clear dislocated knee and not too much structural damage there. Unfortunate for that to happen to him, he’s a workhorse. Gotta say Aaron Simpson seems to have been drinking from the Clay Guida fountain, was impressed with his pace.
in not striking Maia again*
Not did Marquardt do the right thing, but the referee stopped it so he didn’t have to take anymore punishment, too.
I think I had a Don Frye vs Takayama flashback while watching Minotauro and Couture go at it. I kinda expected the outcome but was still rooting for Randy. Randy gameplan was flawed, IMO. He didn’t used what got him where he was: Greco-Roman Wrestling. Randy had numerous opportunities in the clinch but chose to break from it and exchange punches. This fight also showed why Randy should be fighting at a lower weight given how easily Nog swept him from the bottom to gain full mount. Yikes.
Nate was great against Maia. Leben may want to straightened out his punches. Jardine’s lack of fundamentals showed again against Silva. Thiago Silva looked a whole lot stronger in this fight.
-Great night IMO
-Man, Couture vs Nog was exactly the fight i said it was going to be. I felt that neither guy would finish the fight in the first and that’s why i knew it would be a war. Couture is fu*king amazing man, he’s a true heart of hearts fighter and he honestly left me speechless. The guy took a $hit load of punoshment and survived those ugly chokes from Nogueira. That fight justifies everything that gets hyped ip about the man IMO. As for Nog, he looked a lot better this fight than his las fight but i feel that if he were to face a younger guy like Velasquez, Dos Santos or even the new fastest ko in UFC history record holder “Ivan Drago look alike”, i feel that Nog would get destroyed because truth be told that if could not finish a 46 year old Couture than the younger more durable guys will give him problems the way Mir did(i know Nog was sick coming in to that fight and i’m not taking anything away from Couture). Aweseome fight though that displayed the heart and courage of both fighters.
-I was not all that shocked to see Demian Maia go down like that because when the fight started i was like WTF? Why aren’t you shooting in for the takedown? I felt that his striking looked a bit sloppy, but Marquardt timed it just right and he’s a helluva class act for not giving Maia any unnessecary punches, Marqurat showed how cool is for that because another guy would have got in those extra cheap shots in. I hope Maia can take this fight and learn from it becaue even though i think the guy can make anyone tap, if Nate got him the way he did, imagine what Silva would do to him… I think Marquradt should fight Hendo next so that we have a clear number one contender fighting SIlva next for the title but i als wouldn’t mind seeing either guy challenge next. Did you see how Silva got kinda mad when Marquart called him out? Must of struk a nerve and pi$$ed Silva off, be careful Marquradt, you might have just re-motivated the Spider to put another hurt’n on you. Congrats to Nate though, this was by no means an easy fight for the guy.
-I’m classier than to just come in here and celebrate the fact that i told all my friends here at Frenzy that Jardine would lose…(Onlytrue1,carls,petterson etc..) I honestly felt before the fight that if Thiago would stand-up with Keith he would lose being that Keith is faster than he is, but i also felt that if Thiago would land a clean shot he would be able to drop Jardine being that he has taken a few beatdowns recently(Alexander,Wanderlei and Rampage dropped him a few times). I’m happy for Thiago because this proves that he is not overrated and maybe Jardine is just like i said.., but non the less i feel bad for Jardine because whether i like him or not(i clearly DO NOT), the guy is a gamer and has never ducked anyone and has had only tough fights in the octagon so props to him, hope he can work on his overall game a little and humble himself and not underestimate guys like Thiago SIlva again. I see Jardine-Forrest 2, what do you guys think? Congrats to Thiago should get a top five guy next OR Thiago-Vera maybe???
-Did you guys see how Lavigne super messed up AGAIN in the Rosholt-Leben fight???? I mean Leben clearly tapped and Lavigne didn’t do $hit, NO, he waited till Leben went out which looked disturbing kinda. I knew Rosholt was a good fighter and told my brother before the fight that i wouldn’t be surprised if Rosholt won because i’ve seen all of his pro MMA fights and seen his WEC fights soooo i knew it was a tough challenge for Leben who hasn’t really evolved his game and cam in a little rusty from the long layoff.
-Good fights overall
have a good one my friends catch you all on the early am tomorrow, your Frenzy neighborhood MK4, Onlytrue i honered our previous bet now i will come back with my usual Avatar….later.
I don’t think you can call it “clearly” tapping on Leben’s part (although I also thought he had real time) or a screw up by Lavigne. On review though, he barely got one tap before he was basically out. Given how hard the ref’s got slammed after CB Dolloway’s pseudo-taps and how everyone is always slamming them for stopping fights early… I can definitely see how one barely tap might be seen as not tapping.
Ultimately, the blame lies on Leben for letting it get that close to pass out before tapping. The instant Rosholt moved to the side and got his hips on the mat, that fight was over. The hold was too tight and too perfectly hooked. Leben held on out of some screwed up sense of pride to the point that he couldn’t tap intelligently. That isn’t Lavigne’s fault.
like I said above first view I was upset with Yves, second time I saw it I could see why he hesitated since from his angle because it almost looked like a half-a$$ed set of punches by Leben. Leben didn’t tap due to his own stubbornness. I’ve used and had that choke done to me a thousand times(in practices) and like you said once he crosses over it’s done. There’s no escape then.
Not an attack at all, by the way. More or less a summary of the discussion at the table as they showed the replays.
I agree with Thiago Silva moving back up the ladder, and fast. He’s 14-1, with the only loss coming to Machida. After that performance, I’m thinking one more and a serious title contender.
no worries DbiZ
I almost didn’t get this card because for 3 reasons 1.no title on the line 2.I thought the main event had the potential to be boring and 3.for 55 dollars wasn’t sure if the hole card was worth it.But once again i talked myself into getting it,i always find a reason or two.And i couldn’t of been more wrong.From top to bottom this card was awesome.Wasn’t to thrilled with the results,but i must say nogs looked great theres no doubt he’s a legit conteder once again.
Good call on ordering it. I was stuck at the firehall catching written updates on Sherdog. I was tempted to order it on the hall’s satellite, but if the bells went off I’d be out 55 bucks. My buddy was texting me like crazy from Boston Pizza as well, so I was well informed, but still wish I could have seen the fights.
Amazing event.
Regardless of the cost, I almost feel priviliged to have seen Couture-Nog, and the rest of the card did not disappoint, aside maybe from the quickness of the Maia-Marquardt fight.
Gratz also to Todd “blink and you’ll miss it” Duffee.
The crowd was electric, and Couture’s entrance was really something special to be a part of. Portland waited a long time for a UFC event, and for their favorite MMA son to be in the main event only added to the excitement.
They were by no means the largest UFC crowd I’ve ever been a part of, but they might have been the loudest, and obviously acutely partisan, but not in a classless manner.
One distinct impression I came away with from 102 was that the HWs have arrived, so to speak. Everyone was talking about Tuchscherer, but Gonazaga was making all of the relevent points. I mentioned in a post a few weeks back over in the forum that I thought we hadn’t seen the last of GG, and I was glad he served notice that he isn’t quite dead just yet.
I hope everyone enjoyed the event as much as I did…
Didn’t get to see the fights, but saw some of the highlights. It looked like Big nog out classed the natural and big nog really mixed up the heavy weight division.
I dont think anybody expected Marquardt to ko maia like that. god damn that was huge. I thought jardine was going to do better than that, but its stamped that he cant do anything against power strikers(Alexander, Rampage, and now silva) I’ve always had a soft spot for leben and hopes he gets another shot in the UFC. I still have to watch his fight to see what the controversy was about him not tapping. Hats off to rosholt though.
DUDE’S!!
Amazing night!!
Congrat’s to Big Nog!! Looked Like the old Self, hellva fight!! Gave me goose bumps!!
Couture is my HERO!!! I got a serious man crush on the dude right now. That fight was beyond sick!!
MK4 you my friend were right!! I still wanna be Thiago so I can celebrate with his wifey!!! And Forrest/Jardine is a great Idea!!
Brandon Vera I love the dude but IMO he didn’t come hard enough, and if he woulda threw more Leg kicks and when clinched up threw his knee’s this fight woulda not lasted 3 rds.
That dude who fought Gonzaga deserves some extra money!! He gave a show and toughed it out hard literally!!!
I’m glad leben lost, that’s for the steriods.
That was a great night of fights. I honestly didnt expect it to be a very exciting fight card compared to the last two UFC events. But man was i wrong.
Hands down Nog silenced alot of critics last night. I know he was fighting a 46 year old but still….anytime someone beats Captain America its a big deal. I would love to see a rematch against Mir, or to see him fight the winner of Velasquez/Rothwell. Nog vs. Velasquez would be a pretty good matchup IMO. Anybody else agree? I know its doubtful that the fight would go down but still…its just an idea.
As for Randy, he showed some serious toughness in the fight. He got rocked multiple times and somehow he kept going. I dont think theres another 46 year old out there that could survive the way he did last night. He showed some real heart. I think he could do alot better at 205. I could see Couture vs Coleman going down as his first fight back at 205. Perhaps a match with the loser of Belfort/Franklin? Or maybe even a rematch with Tito.
I really expected Jardine to do alot better. I think he has proved to be the most inconsistent fighter in the UFC. I would still have him above gatekeeper status though. He went three rounds strong with Rampage, he beat Chuck, he beat Forrest. A fighter that accomplishes that, is not a gatekeeper in my book. I think Stephen Bonnar is more of a gatekeeper when he fights at 100%. Think about it, the 205lb division is STACKED. I think Jardines next fight will be against either Bonnar, or Jon “Bones” Jones.
I might be getting ahead of myself…oh well.
I called that KO by Nate The Great. He is too strong for Maia and he has more punching power than Maia’s previous opponents. And that punch from hell proved it. I really want to see Marquardt vs Hendo. But I think Hendo will get a title shot before that ever happens.
The KO by Duffee was gnarly. That guy has some serious power.
Leben was really disappointing. His fighting style and gameplan is too predictable now. I dont think the UFC will cut him though.
I think Herman is going to be out of action for a long longgg time. His leg looked like it was in reallllll bad shapeeee.
In the words of Forrest Gump, “thats all i have to say ’bout thattt…”
Oh and major props to Rosholt, hes got some real potential. If he worked on his striking a little more, he could really mix it up at 185.