Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira silences his critics with UFC 102 win over Randy Couture
by Jesse Holland on Aug 30, 2009 12:27 PM EDT
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"For most of the people who say you're done, when you can come back and prove you're still in the game and put on a good fight, that's what I did. I worked a lot, more than I ever did in my life for this fight. A lot of respect I have for (Couture), he's a true champion. I have a lot of respect for him, that's why I trained so hard to put on a good show. It was a tough fight but I was prepared for that. I was ready to go five rounds."
--Former PRIDE Heavyweight and UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira talks about his thrilling victory over former champ Randy "The Natural" Couture at the post-fight press conference for UFC 102 on August 29 in Portland. "Minotauro" came under heavy criticism following his TKO loss to Frank Mir at last year's UFC 92 event. The stoppage, the first of Big Nog's career, opened the door for speculation that years of abuse had finally caught up to the battle-weary veteran and that his fighting days were numbered. Nogueira, in very Couture-like fashion, proved he cannot be counted out under any circumstance. The question now of course is where does he go from here? Fantasy matchmakers, do your thing...
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i dont like excuses but he had no buisness fighting mir. with all his ailments he sucked it up like a man and came to fight. watching mir prance around like he beat nog at his best makes me sick. hopefully if mir can win a couple, nog can have his revenge down the line.
props to nog for his performance against couture. that is the nog i’ve been waiting for.
by day1er on Aug 30, 2009 12:31 PM EDT reply actions
nog vs. cro cop for HW title shot! that is, if cro cop gets through dos santos
by brendan on Aug 30, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
they might make hendo vs marquardt to headline ufc 105
by JG on Aug 30, 2009 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions
day1er, Nog being injured for the Mir fight was not an excuse.. that was a fact and an explanation to why he lost! what he proved in this fight, was that he is healthy again cause everybody knows how good Nog is when his body allows him to compete..
by RoBerto on Aug 30, 2009 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Even though most people picking Couture claimed they didn’t put much stock in the loss to Mir…I think that they did…which is why Couture was favored by so much. I think this solidifies Nog’s claims that he was physically unable to perform in his fight against Mir and had no business going on with that fight. I would absolutely love to see a rematch with Mir cause it would be the difference between night and day. I think the loss was good for Nog…he came in the best shape of his life and put on a show with his boxing skills.
by Buster Bluth on Aug 31, 2009 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Dos Santos would walk through CroCop liek a hot knife through butter. You heard it here first! Alert the fu*kin’ media!!
by The Negation on Aug 30, 2009 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions
consider it done brendan…dos santos will go straight to a body bag
by gaara on Aug 31, 2009 1:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Thats wtf I have been saying all along! and people wonder why I hate Mir! FOCK THAT!! I say SCRATCH the Kongo/Mir fight! Last night calls for an immediate Mir vs. Nog REMATCH! So mir can get the beating of his life that he was supposed to get in the 1st fight had NOG not been on his death bed!
Mir you over rated, opportunistic FOCK, your time is coming buddy! YOu and the UFC’s marketing team may have fooled everyone, but not me..BUDDY!!! Hidden underneath layers of ego-mania, is the truth of your insecurities, knowing you are AVERAGE at best. I know it, and I know that YOU KNOW IT! Time is coming for everyone else to realize what I have been preaching for so long! Hopefully it starts with BIG NOG!
I would like to see Mir get destroyed in this order:
Nog
Randy
Cain
Kongo
Cro Cop
by john G on Aug 30, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions
john shut up no one wants u here go back to sherdog..
by guyverbob on Aug 30, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
interesting……he’s been on here WAAAAAY longer than you two put together. I always preach this, if you don’t like someone, don’t read their posts. It’s easy, even easier than putting up 12 year old “zings”.
by chefdaddy on Aug 30, 2009 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Chef daddy, “John’s protector”…Never mind these dudes. They can say what they want. It’s a free country ain’t it?
by The Negation on Aug 30, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions
absolutely, and I’m not john’s “protector” lol. It just seems ridiculous when these little cyber wars get started, take up 50% of posts as they build and last for days on end. Granted, I probably didn’t help those matters any, did I?
by chefdaddy on Aug 30, 2009 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions
just don’t mind them…these kids are just butthurt becoz nog punished their cpt paycheck..and by the way I know john would have probably picked nog but decided not to due to overwhelming wwe guys on here that predicted a couture win coz he controlled lesnar and his fake wrestling..everyone who picked randy is now s*cking their own d*ck
by gaara on Aug 31, 2009 1:14 AM EDT up reply actions
BIG NOG!!!BIG NOG!!!BIG NOG!!!BIG NOG!!!BIG NOG!!!BIG NOG!!!BIG NOG!!!
You can never stack the odds like this against him. Randy has never ever turned a fight around in his life. He either dominates or gets mashed out. But Nog can always always see that glimmer of light. And he always pulls it out.
by NameNotRequired on Aug 30, 2009 12:32 PM EDT reply actions
NOG
what an awesome fight, what an awesome picture, man i was so pumped seeing as how i was right about nog dominating standup
by Jared on Aug 30, 2009 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions
NNR: Dont you love how last week, we were one of the very few people who were driving the NOG war wagon, while everyone else wrote him off for dead, and predicted that Randy would whoop his ass? What a legendary performance. I was NEVER so happy watching an mma fight. Im sure it was as sweet for you as it was for me…Congrats buddy! Made a nice amount of money gambling, and I got to witness a vintage Nog, legendary performance…If I died today, I would die a happy man!
by john G on Aug 30, 2009 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I was worried about Big Nog’s chances but I am made up for him, he looked outstanding and completely outclassed Couture. Full credit to Randy for hanging in there but that was easily the best that Nog has performed in the UFC, his boxing was on another level to Randy’s and he was always a threat on the ground. Nog is such a warrior and a nice guy that nobody deserved that win more than him, hopefully he can maintain his form and smash Mir in a rematch before having a crack at Lesnar’s title. I’d like to see him face either the Cain-Rothwell or Cro Cop-Dos Santos winners next.
by David W-S on Aug 30, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Congrat to you as well man. God i wish i had made a AdamG style list to keep track of bandwagonners. I was almost standing on my bar stool the whole time, literally the only one cheering for him. I was sad about the Maia loss but this fight has more than made up for all wrong predictions i’ve had all year. Do people now see what Big Nog would have done to him 4 years ago? Only one man has ever shut him out of a fight and that’s the reason why after all these years he can still ride on those wins.
“Good physical, Good mental, my ground game, everything is perfect right now.” – BIG NOG
by NameNotRequired on Aug 30, 2009 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Ok, so do you want a prize for that John? You know, like a bag of candy for driving the Big Nog War Wagon? kudos to you man, you got that prediction correct. I’m sure you must’ve cum when Nog almost got Randy in the first submission… ;)
by The Negation on Aug 30, 2009 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
NOt at al…I dont want my props. I want people to stop writing legendary fighters off after 1 bad fight. Nog has been completly disrespected by this site, and thats why I am hype…as for me being righgt, I oculdnt care less. To me, its not important what u people think of my fight picking skills, what is important is what my betting account looks like after an event.
Still impressed by the Mir fight? I got FLAMED on this site since last January cause I was “making excuses” for NOG siting his staph, knees, elbow, neck….TODAY I FEEL VINDICATED. YOu guys called it excuses, but last night proved it to be REAL TALK. After seeing Nog fight last night, I doubt you guys will be calling him done or an underdog in his next fight. Nog last night was capable of beating any heavyweight in the UFC and I would make him the favorite against anyone, other than maybe Brock…and o f course, fedor the god!
MOtha Fcking WAR Big Nog! To me, that was my favorite fight in my mma history!
by john G on Aug 30, 2009 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Hahaha, Big Nog!Big Nog!Big Nog!
Yep, that was a great event but I was disappointed by a few things during the PPV.
Vera/Kryzz… The both didn’t look good at all. Kryzz could’ve find a way to victory by keeping going for the clinch after following his combos, but he didn’t, he choose to play in Vera’s strength by keeping his distance after almost every exchanges, which was a poor strategy. Vera did almost nothing in that fight and I’m starting to think that he won’t achieve anything in the LHW division. It was completely annoying to hear f’n Rogan always having the Name Vera in his mouth the all fight. Vera is so good, Vera is so fast, Vera looks very good… blah, blah, blah. Could you be more bias than that please. Even when he interviewed him first thing he said… I’m here, with a happy Brandon Vera(as usual, but with a huge smile on his face)but Vera didn’t seems happy at all. To me that was enough to deceived me for the first time in years while listening his comments, but then, he did it again in the same event with Herman. It was really painful to listen.
Nate/Maia… well like I predicted for months Nate KO’d Damian before we get the chance to see them go to the ground. I didn’t expected to be that quick with only 1 punch but I’ll take it. Personally I would ‘ve gone Hendo on his a$$ just for getting in my face at the weight-in but Nate is a classy guy so that didn’t surprised me to see him give Damian a break. Now I can’t wait to see if Maia gonna have the balls to go in Barcelona to face Nate’s again. It should be very interesting to see what will happen in the next few weeks.
Leben/Roshold… I guess I was sleeping to not see him as a threat. Not only he got good wrestling but he seems to have great jits too. I wish him the best, he’s gonna need it against the true top 10 contenders in the MW division. Leben was sluggish as always so I didn’t see any change with before.
Sardine/Thiago… Damn that I was mad with myself to pick Sardine at the last minute b/c of Nostraduma$$ predictions. Damn you Holland. I never like the guy and it was the 2nd times for me to taking for him(1st was against Forrest) and probably the last too. Thiago didn’t impressed me either he was looking wide open with no defence again and he will get KO’d again if he don’t fixed that right away. But it’s more easier to say, than to do it, in his case. It’s his style and I see him having problems against future opponents that can throw strait punches. Plus he always seems to have no cardio. I hope that I’m wrong b/c I like the guy but he’s got a lot to achieved if he want a rematch with the Dragon 1 day.
BIG NOG/Handy… I was so f’n glad that Nog shut you up bunch of haters with your… Nog is done, he got to much millage, he’s too old, he’s getting KO’d everyday while eating his cereals…BS. After having a hard time with almost everyone this week about this and peoples laughing at me for trying to debunk those f’n rumors, I was expecting to see people saying that they were wrong but no, in a typical fashion everyone was taking for Nog last night. Please band of hypocrites, I remembered only a very few guys that was with me and NNR on this one and it was JG and John. I just hope that you guys will stop from now on with all the retirement talks every time that a fighter pass their 30 have a loss. Next mothafukin Cro Cop, bitches. Anyway Nog was awesome and in best shape since 2005 like he said he would. I was disappointed by a few mistakes that he did and not been able to finish Handy when he had the chance but Handy did a great job last night I’m prod of him too. At least he validate his case for staying fighting for a couples of more fights.
Congrats to the Duffman and Russow. Finally McCully will be kick out of the UFC and I would’ve put Duffman against Blanket Velasquez for his next fight if I were Joe Silva. At least we could get a better evaluation on him than only 2 punches.
by Alpha Male on Aug 30, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
one good thing that comes out of this event is another legendary heavyweight fight…
standing in the red corner holding a professional record of 30-1-1, the biggest pussy ever… FEDOR “The Last Empereror” Emelianenko
and in the BBBLUUUUEEEEE COORRNNNNER ! the most feared heavyweight alive…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….JUSTIN “AMERICAN FEDOR” McCULLY!!!!!!!!!!!
by Jared on Aug 30, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions
WAR ALPHA!
Silva actually used the same strategy kinda as Silva. He left his leg out there but instead of following it with a punch, as soon as Sardine moved in for the kick, he killed in the inside leg. I thought he would GNP him right there but in the end it was the glass chin that did it.
Also, i am more scared of Duffee than Lesnar. Seriously, he’s only 23 and will only get bigger. This is the result of MMA getting bigger. These guys with BJ penn type talents and beasts like Jon Jones and Duffee come out of the woodwork when they get a platform to display their skills.
by NameNotRequired on Aug 30, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Cheers MOTHAFOCKING Alpha! Cheers Mofo’in NNR! Cheers MOfo’in JG!! SHAME ON THE HATERS who today, all act as if they had NOG all along.
ANYONE still impressed with Mir’s win over NOg? hahahahaha. FOCKING klowns! I will pray to mma god, FEDOR every day from here on out that the UFC book NOG vs. Mir rematch so all the fools can finally see what would happen if Mir ever actually fought the real NIG MOtherFOOCKIN NOG!!!!!! Mir is TRASH who is just the ultimate opportunists and he has the ballz to actually have an ego..hahaha KLOWN! The Ultimate oppotunist! He reminds me of a WWE klwon, who runs into the ring and pims an opponent that was just Ko’ed by a steel chair! hahaha…he wil have his day of reckoning.
I wont say that BIG NOG is back, because I never thought he was GONE!!!!!
Fight of the year BY FARm performance for the ages. Had this been 2004, Randy would be twisted into a pretzel! Props to Randy, but today is BIG NOG DAY BITCHES!!!
I would give anything to have that ADAmG style list today so all you p athetic bandwagon hoppib trolls wouldnt be GRANTED admission on t he BIG NOG WARWAGON!!!
Big NOG is the #2 Heavyweight of all time, and that CAN NOT BE DISPUTED, not that I ever thought it could be!
by john G on Aug 30, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Anyone here able to spare some tranquilizers for John? His post is loaded with CAPS and by my count, 26 exclamation points.
Maybe it’s just me, but when someone finishes his or her sentences with “BITCHES” I just don’t give them much credibility, even if they were right about their picks. Does the “G” in your user name stand for “ghetto”?
by Greggo on Aug 30, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Greggo-you really took the time to count the exclamation points? Kudos to you…
John G-You’re really hilarious. Prayin’ to the MMA God? That ain’t Fedor man. And you could keep Nog’s balls to yourself dude. I really think you want a prize for choosing Nog all along. Jesse Holland, give him a prize please…
by The Negation on Aug 31, 2009 1:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Vera/Soszynski: I agree the fight didn’t look very good. Krzysztof could’ve done more to actually win, but he didn’t. It sucks, ‘cause I used to really like Vera, but he looks like a shadow of his former self to me. I just didn’t think he looked impressive at all in this fight.
Nate/Maia: I was really surprised at how fast Nate knocked him out, so hats off to you for calling it, I thought Demian could get Nate to the ground and sub him, but I guess not.
Leben/Rosholt: I felt just looking at their recent track records tells you that Jake was the favorite for this fight and that it was his to win or lose. I actually think Leben hung in there better than I thought he would. I don’t know where he can go from here though. A welcome to MW fight for Wanderlei?
Jardine/Thiago: Ha, shouldn’t have listened to those, Thiago had all the tools and the perfect style to beat Jardine. I do agree there are some holes in his standup he needs to patch up before fighting some of the other strikers at LHW, like Cane. I also agree he’s got a ways to go before he gets a rematch with Lyoto.
Nog/Randy: I was rooting for Nog and knew he wouldn’t disappoint. Everybody was just too fast to criticize him and write him off for done after the Mir loss, yet completely ignore the deficiencies in Randy’s game. Even with Randy’s top game, Nog’s the most dangerous guy he’s ever had beneath him, who could not only end the fight off his back, but could also sweep. Nog really surprised a lot of people counting him out with his stand-up too. Effective use of the jab, combinations, power shots that dropped and visibly staggered Couture…Nog knew the main way for Couture to neutralize him was using the cage, and Randy could barely keep him there. Still wanted to see him sub Randy though.
by Jase on Aug 30, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks to taking time to respond to my post, Jase, I appreciated it. You seems like a good MMA nerds, I like your posts. Keep contributing to this site, we need more guys like you.
by Alpha Male on Aug 31, 2009 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions
What is sad is that a 16-9(now 16-10) Randy gets more respect and love then a 31-5(now 32-5) Antonio Nogueira who has fought a who’s who in the HW division of mma. I don’t want to take anything away from Randy but it is insane that Big Nog has to silence any critics. When ever a guy like Randy loses to someone like Nog you can tell the difference between the UFC casual vs. the mma fan at the water cooler. All I heard all morning so far was how Randy lost to the bum that got KO’d by Mir. Then when you try to explain who Nog is and who he has fought and the staph infection, the rebuttle is “well Randy is 46 years old and he couldn’t finish him”…It is really hard to speak to a casual UFC fan if you know any mma outside of the UFC’s last 3 or 4 years.
by Da Monkey on Aug 31, 2009 6:46 AM EDT up reply actions
I was impressed by Big Nog’s standup. I hope he continues to train hard in that area. Nog vs Brock would be an interesting matchup.
by kibbled_bits on Aug 30, 2009 12:34 PM EDT reply actions
He has always had crisp boxing. Both him and Lil Nog train with the Cuban olympic boxing team. You saw it especially against Kharitonov, who himself was selected to be on the Russian Olympic boxing team before he declined so he could enter the Pride GP where they fought.
by NameNotRequired on Aug 30, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Randy looked like he was in a car accident afterwards
by kibbled_bits on Aug 30, 2009 12:35 PM EDT reply actions
This was a great fight and Nog looked incredible!
by DL92 on Aug 30, 2009 12:51 PM EDT reply actions
After this fight, I guess he could fight Cro Cop depending on how the fight with dos Santos goes. Or rematch Mir after his fight with Kongo. I’m just not too enthused with a fight against Cain or Gonzaga. Either way, I’d imagine another win after his victory over Couture nets him a title shot.
by Jase on Aug 30, 2009 1:29 PM EDT reply actions
I think the single thing I saw in the Nog fight that impressed more than anything else was the sweep he pulled on Randy to take mount after Randy had top position in the 2nd round. I don’t recall ever seeing anyone turning position around on Randy like that before, just shows how Nog is in a class by himself on the ground. IF CroCop beats Dos Santos I can see a contender fight between those two. If not, Mir IF he wins. If both lose, maybe a contender fight w/Cain after he beats Rothwell.
by efisher on Aug 30, 2009 2:20 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah, when Nog reversed Randy in the second there was no doubt that the fight was his. It was like, oh, if Randy can control his from one of his best positions he is screwed. It was also clear early that Nog had a decided edge on his feet, which I think surprised Randy.
Randy is just too prone to flash knockdowns from shots to the top of the head. He fought great, though, showed a ton of heart getting out from under Nog at the end and finishing on top. Time to move down to LHW and fight someone like Thiago Silva.
by revjames13 on Aug 30, 2009 4:11 PM EDT reply actions
In terms of match-ups for Nog, I think he should be next in line after Carwin.
The staph-infected bum knee fight against Mir should be counted as an aberration. He is the official #2 HW of all time. That should be enough to warrant a shot at the title after beating Couture in the fashion that he did.
No need to see him fight Cro Cop again, at least not right now. Since we want to see how good Brock is (and there’s no telling if he can get past Carwin, but if he does…) let’s see how he handles Big Nog. There’s only one Nog and I don’t want to risk not seeing those two go at it because some peeps think Nog should get one more win. He’s a legend and legends should get a little bit of a break when it comes to getting title shots.
To be a Legend you gotta beat a Legend. Lesnar vs. Nog.
by revjames13 on Aug 30, 2009 4:23 PM EDT reply actions
Big Nog vs. Cain Velazquez. Winner gets shot at Brock/Carwin.
by Beef 'O' Brady's on Aug 30, 2009 7:39 PM EDT reply actions
1 OF THE GR8ST FIGHTS EVER!! BESIDES VERA & KRYSTOF THAT WAS A BAD ASS UFC!THEY SHUD OF SHOWED THE GNZAGA FIGHT NSTED
by d*locc on Aug 31, 2009 11:55 AM EDT reply actions
Nog Couture was a great fight to watch. Maybe FOTY. HOWEVER, cmon guys, Both guys looked far from their best. Nog is past his prime. He was getting tagged left and rigth with combinations. Randy just doesn’t have the power to knock down Nog….Nog has no head movement anymore nor does he keep his hands up.
Nog’s BJJ still is unbelievable and way better than 99% of fighters out there. However, lets be real here. Nog does not look like the same Nog who was unstoppable in Pride. His standup and reaction time is so much slower. The wear and tear on his body is starting to take its toll (Crocop, Fedor 2x, Heath Herring, Sapp, etc). I think Mir would have his way with him again and Brock/carwin would tko him.
by Bob Lawblah on Aug 31, 2009 12:31 PM EDT reply actions
Glad to see Nog beat Captain Paycheck! Also glad to see the old Pride legends do well. Not to start the PRIDE argument, but it proves my point all along. You cannot judge one way or another which fighters are better. Both orgs were great, and every fight is different. Tired of Pride bashing from noobs like carnage in another post…. Scary to think how bad Fedor beat Nog twice, and Nog DOMINATED everyones champion!
by rip23 on Aug 31, 2009 12:32 PM EDT reply actions
I think deep down all those Fedor bashers know that he is one of the best fighters of all time…They just don’t want to admit it.
by Bob Lawblah on Aug 31, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Also, I still believe this Nog that beat Randy isn’t near his dominant self that he was in Pride. Nog in Pride was absolutely incredible. That tells you how good Fedor was to dominate him twice
by Bob Lawblah on Aug 31, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions
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