UFC 102 Red Ink: Couture/Nogueira
Jake Rossen Aug 29, 2009
79 years: that’s how much life experience -- give or take a few
months of time in the high chair -- will be on display for
Saturday’s UFC
102 main event. Strip away the excess and you have 22 years of
martial artistry in the cage. That’s a lot of knowledge. A shame
we’ll only see 15 minutes of it.
Both Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira have been hypothetical opponents for one another for years. It’s a little late, but it’s better than never. And it’s a simple premise: Couture will look to clip a sluggish Nogueira on the feet, work his way inside, and trip him down to the mat; Nogueira will look to find Couture’s chin, find an arm in a scramble, or trick Couture into a ground trap. The winner will have more fuel for another heavyweight title run; the loser is likely to get a cut of revenue, a Hall of Fame plaque, and a lot of time off.
Hinges On: Couture’s top game against Nogueira’s bottom game.
Third-Party Investor: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who seems like a natural title elimination partner if he beats “Junior” dos Santos in September.
Who Wins: As lethargic as Frank Mir made him look, Nogueira has good boxing and a minefield of a ground game. 13 years Couture’s junior, if he’s not the fresher fighter, he needs to be donated to science. A renewed Nogueira by submission.
Both Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira have been hypothetical opponents for one another for years. It’s a little late, but it’s better than never. And it’s a simple premise: Couture will look to clip a sluggish Nogueira on the feet, work his way inside, and trip him down to the mat; Nogueira will look to find Couture’s chin, find an arm in a scramble, or trick Couture into a ground trap. The winner will have more fuel for another heavyweight title run; the loser is likely to get a cut of revenue, a Hall of Fame plaque, and a lot of time off.
Hinges On: Couture’s top game against Nogueira’s bottom game.
Third-Party Investor: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who seems like a natural title elimination partner if he beats “Junior” dos Santos in September.
Who Wins: As lethargic as Frank Mir made him look, Nogueira has good boxing and a minefield of a ground game. 13 years Couture’s junior, if he’s not the fresher fighter, he needs to be donated to science. A renewed Nogueira by submission.
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