UFC 102: Couture
vs Nogueira
Rose
Garden in Portland, Oregon
Saturday, August 29, 2009.
The untelevised undercard will feature the return of LW Marcus Aurelio, as well as the debuts of top HW prospects Todd Duffee Mike Russow, and Chris Tuchscherer. Tuchscherer was discovered while auditioning for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter and will be thrown in with the big dogs right away as he squares off with Gabriel Gonzaga. Also featured on the untelevised portion of the card is a MW matchup between impressive newcomer Aaron Simpson and Portland native, Ed Herman. The main card will provide Krzysztof Soszynski with a chance to prove himself and Brandon Vera a chance to answer the question if he really is the Truth as they square off in a LHW match sure to get the crowd going. A pugilistic chess match seems likely as Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt will face off in a fight with the winner looking to position themselves as next in line to fight for the MW belt. The controversial star of the first season of TUF, Chris Leben will look to bounce back from a loss and a suspension in front of his hometown crowd as he faces hyped newcomer and highly decorated wrestler, Jake Rosholt. In the evening’s co-main event, Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva will duke it out, trying to claw their way back to the top of the division after losses in their last bouts. And in the main event of the evening, MMA legends Randy Couture and Antonio Minotauro Nogueira will lock horns in front of a very pro-Couture crowd in a fight that was supposed to happen at UFC 81 for a belt, nearly two years ago. With both coming off of losses, these two former UFC champs will be looking to get back on the winning track and show the world that they still have what it takes to be champions.
Krzysztof Soszynski 18-8-1 vs Brandon ‘the Truth’ Vera 10-3 – Krzysztof, who I will now refer to as Kris because that name is too unnatural to attempt type, is a very experienced fighter. The vowel hating Polish Canadian fought at UFC 97, stepped in for an injured fighter for UFC 98 and now will replace another injured fighter. He steps in to replace Matt Hamill, who was forced to withdraw with a knee injury sustained in training. He appeared on TUF8 and was impressive, both in his pranking creativity and his win over Kingsbury as well as a loss to former training partner, Vinny Magalhaes. Prior to appearing on TUF, Kris had 23 pro fights, including wins over Dan Christison, and Marcus Hicks. He has also fought and lost to Chris Tuchscherer, Matt Horwich, Ben Rothwell (twice,) Mike Whitehead, and Reese Andy. Kris is a former bodybuilder and professional wrestler and credits wrestler Bad News Brown for getting him started in BJJ. Currently riding a 6-fight win streak, the Team Quest-Temecula fighter has powerful and polished striking in addition to a polished ground game, shown by his Sub of the Night wins over Shane Primm and Stann.
Brandon
Vera, the last holder of the WEC HW belt, is fighting for the 4th time
as a LHW.
He should be used to the weight cut at this point
and should come in very crisp. His first fight at 205 was uninspired
in a decision win over Andy and his in next fight against the tough Keith
Jardine. Although the Jardine fight did show a stronger and more conditioned
Vera, he still was not showing the form he was at when he was competing
as a HW until he cam out and destroyed Mike Patt with leg kicks in his
last fight. Vera has great Muay Thai skills, effectively using kicks
and knees. A good example of some of Vera’s striking ability is
when he made the late Justin Eilers (RIP) look like a human Pez dispenser.
The Truth has wins over Whitehead, Fabio Scherner, Assuerio Silva, and Frank
Mir with losses to Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum (in my opinion,
a very bad stoppage) and Jardine. The former Air-Force man wrestled at
Old Dominion and with the AF at the US Olympic Training Center. He also
holds a BJJ black belt under Lloyd Irvin. Kerry, Brandon’s wife
is also a strong kick boxer and was featured on Fight Girls alongside
Gina Carano, and Master Toddy. I think it helps having a wife that can
kick your ass if you don’t focus and train right, so Vera should
come into this ready for war.
He is also the first man to hold
a major PRIDE and UFC title. Couture never ceases to amaze as he has
pulled off some of the biggest upsets in the sport. He's the first man
to win a title in two different weight classes in the UFC, and he accomplished
most of his truly defining moments at 39 and up. I believe this will
be Randy's second three round match in over a decade, that in itself
is amazing. The things that these men have been able to do over the years
is truly amazing. It's almost kind of sad to see them have to fight because
there aren't many people out there who would like to see either lose.
Both are classy men and have been great ambassadors for the sport, but
at the same time, it would be a shame to never see them fight. This fight
would've happened years ago if Randy and the UFC didn't have their contractual
problems. I believe it would've been better then, but better later then
never. There's a lot of questions going into this fight for both men.
Nogueira probably had the worst performance of his career against Mir,
and was also finished for the first time in his career. There are many
questions if all the damage has caught up to him and if he can still
compete at this level. Randy didn't have a terrible performance against
Brock, but it also wasn't his best in my mind, and he's also 46...you
have to winder when his time will come. A lot of questions will be answered
when this event is done and over with. I hope we get to see the best
out of these two legends at the end of it, though.
