Mixed martial arts fans spent years debating as to which fighter was truly the best in the world in what can be labeled the golden age of mma. UFC fans and Pride fans alike were seen bashing each organizations fighters. Though Pride is now demised, one of those hypothetical dream matches finally came to fruition tonight. Though years late, mma legends Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira finally went toe to toe in a match up that lived up to every bit of hype it had behind it. Much was talked about pre fight on the status of both fighters, with the two legends coming off knockout losses, who would be the one to come out on top? Would Couture’s age be a factor in the fight? Has the damage Nogueira accumulated over the course of his career finally caught up to him? All was answered and put to rest as Minotauro proved he still has a lot left in his career and puts into question his lost to Frank Mir. All three rounds saw both fighters land heavy shots, but over the course of the action packed fifteen minutes, Nogueria landed the more effective blows and submission attempts. It can be argued that he was a level above Couture in all aspects of his game.
In the first round after a series of jabs were landed by Couture, Nogueira landed with a huge right hand that put the mma legend on his back. It seemed that the fight might be over as Nogueira went in and transitioned to a darcee choke that was locked in tight. Living up to his captain america moniker, Couture somehow was able to escape with both fighters landing heavy combinations until the end of the round. The second round picked up where the first left off with Minotauro landing a nice one-two hook combination. Couture answered back with a stiff low kick but is hurt by a Minotauro right, as the Brazilian attempts a choke. Couture pushes him off and works in Nogueira’s guard landing good short elbows to the body. Nogueria’s mastery of the ground became very apparent as he easily swept the former UFC heavyweight champion and worked in an arm triangle. Couture was able to work out of the position and landed a heavy flurry that hurt his opponent but contined to back step with Nogueria pushing forward. At the beginning of the third round Couture was rocked once more and somehow fought off Nogueira’s ground and pound attempt. The last part of the round saw “The Natural” working in his opponent’s guard scoring to the body with elbows but the die was already cast. The Brazilian notched one of his biggest wins to date with a unanimous decision over Randy Couture.
Silva starts comeback from Machida lost, shows top form
Fighters are faced with an interesting conundrum when they come off of knock out losses. Many say a fighter is never the same, others say they come back stronger and more resilient. Both Thiago Silva and Keith Jardine have had those types of knock out losses, but it seems as if Jardine has been more affected as he was knocked out in the first round by a re-focused Thiago Silva. The round started off with Jardine landing a great low leg kick and following up with a well timed body kick soon after. Silva though landed a textbook counter left hook from a Jardine flurry and put his opponent down. In what was reminiscent of his loss to Machida it was now Thiago Silva landing shots from the top position while Jardine could do nothing but cover up until the fight was stopped at 1:35 of the first round via TKO. Silva quoted after the fight that he is now re-focused after his loss to Machida as the twenty-six year old now improves to 14-1.
Rosholt gets the win after a back and forth contest, Nate shows why he is great, Vera works his way to a decision victory and Gonzaga shows his kicking power
Jake Rosholt pulled a clutch third round submission win over Chris Leben after a back and forth match up. Rosholt showed he was the better conditioned and skilled fighter in Leben’s hometown of Portland, Oregon. A huge knee cut Leben up in the first round followed later by a clean left hook. Leben the brawler, attempted to finish the first round strong throwing a flurry that was slipped by Rosholt. The second round was fought at a faster pace with Leben pressing on in the opening half. A good hook rocked his opponent but Rosholt was able to recover but Leben landed the better shots in what looked like a fight that was starting to build in his favor. That went out the window in the third round as the former NCAA wrestling champion took Leben to the ground and attempted an arm triangle. From this position he was able to transition to mount and was able to successfully apply an arm triangle ending the bout at 1:30 of the third round.
Nate Marquardt all but clinched his place as the next in line to fight Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. Marquardt only needed twenty-one seconds to claim victory as he knocked out Damian Maia in the first round. Blocking a high head kick by his Brazilian opponent, Marquardt caught a mid body kick and countered with a straight right that put Maia out hard on the mat. Maia was hoping to continue his phenomenal win streak coming off wins over Chael Sonnen and Nate Quarry but tonight was not his night as he now falls to a professional mma record of 10-1.
San Diego native Brandon Vera overwhelmed Krzysztof Soszynski via a unanimous decision in a lack luster three round fight. Vera used his foot work to stay out of Soszynski’s range to avoid receiving any serious damage and landed effective body kicks thought out the fight. Moving in and out, Vera got the better of the clinch game as it seemed Soszynski gassed out by the middle of the second. The third rond was no different than the first time, with a outclasses Soszynski not being able to mount any effective offensive and Vera moving his head and switching up his foot work to keep the Ultimate Fighter season 8 contestant flustered. Vera was given the bout 30-27 on all judges scorecards.
Much can be said that as much as you prepare for a fight much of it can still be left up to chance. One can argue that the groin kick that Gabriel Gonzanga landed in the opening seconds of his fight with Chris Tuchscherer could fall under that saying. One can never really be one hundred percent after taking a hit like that, but after taking a break Tuchscherer toughed it out and signaled referee Dave Hagan to continue the bout. He would soon be back on the mat as the heavy footed Gonzaga landed a huge head kick in which he followed up with punches to his downed opponent. Gonzaga soon transitioned to mount and continued to pop off shot after shot, as the now bloodied Tuchscherer gave his back to Gonzanga and the referee is forced to stop the bout at 2:27 of the first round. The Brazilian now bounces back from his lost to Shane Carwin and improves to 11-4.
In other bouts:
Evan Dunham defs Marcus Aurelio via spilt decision (29-28,28-29, 30-27)
Mark Munoz defs Nick Catone via spilt decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Todd Dufee defs Tim Hague via KO in 0:07 of the first round
Mike Russow defs Justin McCully via decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
Aaron Simpson defs Ed Herman via TKO (injury) in 0:17 of the second round.
