Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC on FOX 12 blew the roof off the SAP Center this past weekend (Sat., July 26, 2014) in San Jose, California.
Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds -- including Matt Brown -- who saw his seven fight win streak come to a halt after coming up short on the judges' scorecards in the wake of his five-round war against Robbie Lawler (video). And Josh Thomson, who was upset by rising contender Bobby Green after three rounds of action (highlights).
But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover now less than 48 hours removed from the show?
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
"Lil Nog" looked to make a triumphant return to the Octagon after sitting on the sidelines for over 17 months with a recurring back injury, by slowing down Anthony Johnson 2.0 in the co-main event of the evening.
And according to this Nostradumbass, Antonio's boxing pedigree was supposed to give him the edge against the much bigger and powerful fighter.
Unfortunately for Nogueira, he barely got a chance to get warmed up before he was staring up at the lights down at the canvas, as "Rumble" flat out destroyed the 13-year mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran in a mere 44 seconds.
From the get-go, Johnson unloaded the pressure by walking down the former PRIDE star, looking to end the bout as quick as possible. A mission that was accomplished as "Rumble" clipped the Brazilian with a sneaky short right that had his foe on queer street.
It was all downhill from there, as Johnson turned up the pressure and proceeded to clip "Lil Nog" with three devastating, neck-snapping uppercuts that had so much force behind them they could have laid out an elephant.
The win gave Johnson his eighth straight and set him up nicely in the 205-pound title hunt. The loss did the opposite for Nogueira -- who suffered only the second stoppage loss of his career -- as he will continue to find himself on the outside looking in, as far as the official rankings go.
Perhaps it was the long layoff, or the fact that he was facing a tank of human in Johnson, but Nogueira didn't look like a man riding a two-fight win streak over the likes of Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans.
But it's hard to say if the layoff contributed to his loss; after all, he did come back after a similar sit to score a win over "Suga" after knocking out "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy." Having said that, a fight against Mauricio Rua in his next outing would tell us exactly where "Lil Nog" stands in his combat sports career.
Both men have showed interested in staging a rematch of their epic battle at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005. And with both fighters coming off devastating knockout losses, now is as good a time as any to make it happen.
For nostalgia sake, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) can stage it on Sept. 20, 2014, when the ZUFFA-owned promotion heads back to "The Land of the Rising Sun" for UFC Fight Night 52.
Of course, that's if "Lil Nog" is cleared to fight by then.