The Juggernaut MMA News Report 08.26.09: Turning Points for Legends

Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 08.26.2009

The Juggernaut examines the upcoming UFC 102 card and wonders what's in store for Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Which fight should surprise all and can Marquardt avoid a Maia submission? Also included is your healthy dose of news galore plus an early preview of Lesnar/Carwin and more!


UFC Keeps Rolling with 102

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about UFC 101, well, more like three weeks ago. The UFC is churning these shows out like there is no tomorrow. This card set for Saturday night is quite the doozy. There may not be any championship fights or dream fights we've looked forward to for years (no matter the UFC marketing), but the card looks pretty damn good.

The main event features two legends of the sport as Randy Couture will challenge Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Both men are coming off devastating losses late last year, Couture to Brock Lesnar and Nogueira to Frank Mir. Both men need to win to right their ship as a loss would send either man even more so into the average heap. For Couture, perhaps a loss would force him to drop back down to light heavyweight. For Nogueira, a loss would only increase talk of him being too old and worn from all of his past wars.

Regardless, two classic fighters will battle in Portland, Oregon on Saturday night.

The talk out of Nogueira's camp is not that great. Reportedly, he has not looked impressive and has shown the wear and aging that have made people wonder whether his time has passed. There is no doubt about it, Couture will walk into the octagon the more healthier of the too and that counts for a lot. It sucks when once legendary fighters simply fall off the mountain in such a quick span of time (Chuck Liddell and possibly now Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira). However, that attitude can come to an abrupt halt if Nogueira defeats Couture on Saturday night. Remember, Big Nog is always a submission away from walking out with his arm raised. Randy has been submitted before by Valentijn Overeem and Enson Inoue. It is possible. Then again, Couture can pummel Big Nog with punches and finish the fight. We have seen it done and wouldn't you think Couture's boxing game is as good if not better than Frank Mir's skill set? Couture was able to fight back to his feet when Brock Lesnar took him down in the first round of their fight. You would be led to believe Couture can stay off the mat against Nogueira, a Black Belt in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Big Nog will likely outweigh Couture by at least twenty pounds but Lesnar had more than forty pounds on Couture when they fought. Randy has made a career out of fighting bigger men.



Why does it feel like forever since we saw Minotauro last reign victorious?

This fight comes down to how healthy Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is and whether he can move around and not get blasted like he was earning money for taking shots to the head. Frank Mir beat Nogueira by keeping his distance, attacking and moving. Couture loves to develop a winning strategy and I am curious to see how he comes out and tries to knock down the huge Brazilian. He did it against Gabriel Gonzaga two years ago so you would expect him to be up for the challenge. I would find it fascinating if Couture decided to keep the fight close and fight out of the clinch with the likelihood that at some point, Big Nog may put him on his back.

This is as much a sport based on an established resume as it is one based on what a fighter has done of late. Some will pick Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira because of his dominance of PRIDE (for the most part) for most of this decade, assuming that one bad performance does not turn a career down the toilet. However, he was so bad in that Mir fight, so slow and so old that you have to consider his time has come. If that's the case, then Randy Couture is your man. If you believe in second chances and it was just a bad night (hey, everyone has one eventually) and Nogueira has had about eight months to recuperate and get right, then maybe Couture's luck as a heavyweight has run out instead.

Either way, by the time Sunday morning (eastern) rolls around, one legend of this sport will be in a real rut, having lost two consecutive fights.


Will we see another slugfest from Randy?



While the undercard lacks a real co-main event level fight, that does not mean the talented fighters are absent. The rest of the main card looks as follows:

Keith "nobody likes me" Jardine vs. Thiago Silva

The 411mania MMA readership does not like Keith Jardine for some odd reason. Perhaps a win will get people off my back about it. Jardine has wins over Forrest Griffin, Wilson Gouveia, Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera. The problem stems from the fact he has losses against Houston Alexander, Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson, two of which he was knocked out rather quickly. Thiago Silva is known as a powerful striker so expect most to be looking for a quick finish. Silva is coming off his first loss, a knockout from Lyoto Machida in January. I'd love to see Jardine win and stick it to the haters, but I fear a thrashing is on its way.

Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt

Leben is fresh off a suspension due to failing a drug test last year. His first fight will be against MMA newcomer, Jake Rosholt. Rosholt is 5-1 with his lone loss coming against Dan Miller in February. A loss may result in a cut from the UFC for the young, former Oklahoma State wrestling champion. For Leben, it will be nearly a year since he last stepped into a non-training fight. Since he was knocked out by Anderson Silva, he has gone 3-3 and really needs to get back on that horse as he is a fan favorite, still. Assuming his training has gone on without a hitch and cage rust will not be a factor, Leben should be able to defeat the more inexperienced Rosholt.

Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt

A fight where the winner may not receive much in terms of elevation. Anderson Silva seemingly does not want to fight any mid-level challenger and that's exactly what Maia and Marquardt are. Maia has been submitting people left and right which is what the people will want to see. Marquardt has changed his training style in the recent past and has insisted a new version of himself is ready to make a run at championship gold in the UFC. Both men have Black Belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu although Maia is recognized as one of the best grapplers in MMA. It's not too often you hear people talk of Marquardt's submission skills. On paper, it's pretty clear what Marquardt has to do. AVOID THE MAT~! If Marquardt can keep the fight standing and avoid the mat at all costs, he has a better chance of being victorious. It's safe to say Marquardt has better striking skills than either Jason MacDonald or Ed Herman, the only two oppents Maia had in the UFC who took him out of the first round. If Marquardt can force the fight to go into the second or third rounds, it gives him more opportunities to hurt Maia with strikes. That said, Maia is always just a sweep and a hook away from ending a fight, just ask Chael Sonnen. It's too tough to pick against Maia with the roll he's on now. In his five UFC fights, he's undefeated and has won each fight with a submission. In fact, of his ten career wins, eight have come by way of submission. Incredible~!

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brandon Vera

Brandon Vera has not defeated what you may consider a "top opponent" since he defeated Frank Mir in November 2006. And even that version of Mir was not at his best, on the rebound from his infamous injuries and addictions. Vera has lost to Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum and Keith Jardine since then. How will he fare against Soszynski? Well the Polish Canadian has not done well against "top competition" either, losing to guys such as Mike Whitehead and Ben Rothwell during his IFL Days two years back. However, he is on a six-fight winning streak and is 3-0 in the UFC having won a pair of fights in April and May. Now, he will face a former top heavyweight contender in Vera. Both men have a lot to gain here to put them on that next level. Both are solid strikers but Vera should do well from the clinch while Soszynski is probably the better free roaming boxer. I would think it would be difficult for Soszynski to submit Vera, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, but stranger things have happened. I see this fight being fought mainly on their feet and going to a decision. Both men have knockout power but among some of the great match-ups, this is my pick for surprisingly awesome fight of the night. If you're saying PICK ALREADY, sorry, you'll have to wait for the end of the week roundtable preview for UFC 102. I'm still torn here.

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Roy Nelson talks TUF10, from last month

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JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS

- UFC 105, set for November 14th in Manchester, England has a card that's shaping up nicely these days. The show will air on Spike TV in the United States and a week before the big UFC 106 PPV (more on that later). The rumored main event will be BJ Penn's next UFC Lightweight Championship defense against new top contender Diego Sanchez. According to Fighters Only, two main card fights all but official for the show are middleweights Michael Bisping and Denis Kang along with welterweights Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim. The match-up for Bisping seems a bit odd since I would have believed they would try to book him against a bigger name than Kang. Since coming to the UFC earlier this year, Kang has lost to Alan Belcher and defeated Xavier Foupa-Pokam. Bisping has more to lose with this fight than he does winning in my eyes. Kang is no joke and back-to-back losses for Bisping would put a real road block in his career that he must overcome. If Bisping defeats Kang, then he is no more in title contention in the 185-division than he would be by beating a fighter such as Alan Belcher or Thales Leites (who was recently cut). I will say the proposed fight between Hardy and Kim should be all kinds of fun.


- UFC 106 is set for November 21st in Las Vegas and will feature a big main event featuring Brock Lesnar's next title defense of his heavyweight crown against up-and-comer Shane Carwin. The card is also believed to feature the return of Tito Ortiz to the octagon as he faces Mark Coleman. Plus, Jon Fitch returns to fight Ricardo Almeida. Those are the fights either official or very likely at this point. The main event took Carwin away from a previously planned fight with fellow heavyweight prospect, Cain Velasquez. Instead, Velasquez will fight Ben Rothwell at UFC 104 in October. For more on my thoughts on Brock Lesnar and his current contenders, continue reading after the news.


- Reports courtesy of MMAJunkie say a welterweight bout pitting Thiago Alves against previously undefeated Brazilian Paulo Thiago is in negotiations for UFC 107 in December. Both fighters were on the losing end of their respective fights at UFC 100 to Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, respectively.


- Competition is awesome~! Once the Floyd Mayweather Jr. PPV fight with Juan Manuel Marquez was set for the same night as UFC 103, it was only a matter of time before the UFC took matters into their own hands to try and get the upper hand. Well, Spike TV and the UFC announced late last week that for the first time, certain preliminary fights from UFC 103 will air LIVE on the network during the nine o'clock hour. According to reports, the one-hour special will feature Efrain Escudero's fight with Cole Miller and Tomasz Drwal's fight with Drew McFedries. The hour special will lead right into the PPV at its normal time slot at ten o'clock eastern. The main event of UFC 103 features Vitor Belfort's return against Rich Franklin. People in MMA, boxing and the TV industry will be paying close attention to how that night's business shapes up to see whether Mayweather or the UFC can draw better.


- According to SI's Josh Gross, Anderson Silva and his representatives have spoken to the UFC about a potential move up to the heavyweight division in the near future. It's no secret Silva has been unhappy with his pay due to the fact he is not a major PPV draw. Apparently, Silva is not interested in fights with Nate Marquardt (in what would be a rematch of their first fight) or Demian Maia and has repeatedly talked about his disinterest in fighting friend Lyoto Machida at light heavyweight. The UFC has routinely said Silva's next bout would likely be a middleweight title defense against Dan Henderson. This is an interesting story because there are so many possibilities of what Silva could end up doing. Does he defend against Henderson again, then go to 205 to fight Shogun Rua? If he is interested in moving up to heavyweight, it would certainly be a sight to see. Could Randy Couture defeat him...at any weight class?


- Bellator Fighting has postponed the start of their second season from this October to January 2010. The public reason given was they are still in negotiations with a new television partner. The confusion comes because we do not know if by 'new' they mean from ESPN Deportes to ESPN or ESPN2 or 'new,' not ESPN related at all. There's no question if Bellator is not on an ESPN-family network and have to settle for something lower such as Fox Sports (ugh~!) or even something similar to Versus, the success they saw last year will not repeat. Here's hoping if they can't air on ESPN2, they return to Deportes.


- Pictures on the internet showing a new looking Wanderlei Silva appear to show Silva after undergoing surgery to repair his septum. Some believe Silva underwent surgery to remove scar tissue from his face. According to GracieMag.com, Silva's septum was repaired allowing the Axe Murderer to breathe better and improve his quality of life away from fighting. It was believed Silva was going to fight Michael Bisping in November but that fight was waved due to Silva's recovery. It's unknown when exactly he'll be ready to train and fight again, perhaps early 2010.


- In yet to be announced news, that should please fans of the international MMA scene, the UFC is expected to confirm the signing of Minotouro Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, otherwise known as "Little Nog." Rogerio Nogueira is the twin brother of current UFC Heavyweight Minotauro Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or "Big Nog." Rogerio Nogueira fights as a light heavyweight and would add additional oomph to an already stacked division featuring a collection of the best fighters in the world. Rodrigo Nogueira is 17-3 in MMA with his only losses coming against Vladimir Matyushenko (2002), Shogun Rua (2005) and Sokoudjou (2007). He has since avenged the defeat to Matyushenko with a TKO victory earlier this year at Affliction's final show. Rogerio has notable wins over Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Guy Mezger and others. He also has an accomplished boxing career in his native Brazil.

Since PRIDE folded in 2007, specifically once Minotauro Nogueira came to the UFC in 2007, it was expected his brother would soon follow. For reasons unknown, it appears not until now, Little Nog will join the UFC.



- Frank Shamrock told Tapout Radio he plans to return to the cage to fight in December. When asked about potential opponents he brought up possibilities including Matt Lindland, Cung Le and Nick Diaz. However, I would not expect to see a rematch with Diaz anytime soon.


- YAY~! Tomorrow night (9:30 PM eastern) marks the return of MTV's BULLY BEATDOWN. The second season will consist of new fighters such as Andrei Arlovski, Jake Shields (returns from season one) and Eddie Alvarez, among others. The show will once again be hosted by Jason Mayhem Miller and Big John McCarthy will referee the exhibition fights.


- WEC 43 has been postponed from September 2nd in Youngstown, Ohio to October 10th on Versus with the same advertised line-up of fights. The main event will feature the interim-lightweight title fight between Donald Cowboy Cerrone and Ben Henderson. The official word given was an injury to Henderson caused the delay. Whether that may be true or not, I'd wonder whether the Ohio Athletic Commission's promise of same-day weigh-ins for the fights scared WEC officials off or another outside force. Ohio weighs fighters the day before and then the day of the fights and does not allow more than 13 pounds to be gained within that 24-hour period. Needless to say, if Ohio insisted on that process for a UFC event, let's just say I doubt the UFC would be running to hold a show in the buckeye state.


- Speaking of interim championships, it seems as though Jason Mayhem Miller and Jake Shields will compete for the Strikeforce interim-middleweight championship in the near future. Miller broke the news on his Twitter account but did not list a specific date or location for the bout. This means Strikeforce officials are of the mind that they rather not continue waiting for reigning champion Cung Le to return from Hollywood and try and kick start their 185-division. This is especially interesting, the inclusion of Shields, because in my mind, it shows the lackluster welterweight class for Strikeforce. Not to say Jay Hieron is not talented, but there are more potential money fights for Shields at middleweight, and not to say Shields is a draw. However, Shields has talked of wanting to fight guys like Le, Frank Shamrock and bigger names than he would find at welterweight. Plus, his training partner is Nick Diaz so it makes sense if they don't want to fight one another, for one to move up in weight.


- Karo Parisyan is returning to action at UFC 106 in November when he meets Dustin Hazelett. Parisyan has not seen UFC action since his win over Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94 was overturned and ruled a No-Contest for a failed drug test. Hazelett tore the ACL in his right knee earlier this year and is returning faster than anticipated. I doubt the ACL has healed within a few month span so it will be risky for Hazelett to fight with a bum leg. As for Parisyan, hopefully he has straightened out his life and is back in shape and ready to make a run at the welterweight championship.

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The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a champion. The fans are why we do this Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama. It is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did [Saturday] night [at UFC 100]. It doesn't matter how much money you make if you can't earn your peers respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. Every autograph I give, every hand I shake I am thankful that you give me the opportunity to be a part of your world. This is the greatest sport in the world and most of the athletes in it deserve the love and respect they get and some just don't get it.

We have no scripts in this sport, no pre-determined earning amount and no pre-determined outcomes. It doesn't matter if you win or lose; it matters how you win or lose. From leaving the venue all the way to the airport I have had fans of the sport ask me to take out Brock Lesnar for them.

-Shane Carwin on Brock Lesnar

LESNAR VS. CARWIN
Who ya got?

The UFC threw out a curveball last week with the news that Brock Lesnar's next opponent would be Shane Carwin. Not Randy Couture or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or hell, not even Fedor Emelianenko. But, Shane Carwin. The man with the gigantic, hard, powerful head who will take his 11-0 pro record into the octagon in November to try and stop the train out of Minnesota.Perhaps the UFC decided to jump while the iron was hot in the aftermath of Lesnar's post-fight antics at UFC 100. Carwin was one of the few fighters who was publicly distressed at Lesnar's antics and spoke out.

While Lesnar was making his way through Heath Herring and Randy Couture, the small group of men bandied about who may have what it takes to beat Brock included Carwin. Besides Frank Mir, that short list included Cain Velasquez and Carwin. Velasquez because of his worldly wrestling abilities and strong punching power and Shane Carwin because of his size, power and ability to take a punch.

In a fact that UFC announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan love to throw out at every turn, the only men who require custom fit gloves because their hands are too big are Lesnar and Carwin. Carwin's hands are actually larger than Lesnar's. Lesnar is likely closer to 280-pounds when he steps inside the octagon while Carwin is probably not too far behind. Their amateur wrestling credentials nearly mirror each other. Lesnar is of course the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion from the University of Minnesota. Carwin won the NCAA Division-II heavyweight championship in 1999 out of Western State. Unlike Lesnar, Carwin was an accomplished collegiate football player, being a two-time All American.

Unlike Brock, Carwin has never fought elite competition. His biggest test to date came in March at UFC 96 when he fought Gabriel Gonzaga, a former top championship contender. Gonzaga, a BJJ Black Belt rocked Carwin early until he recovered long enough to knock Gonzaga out. The fight lasted just after the first minute mark of the opening round. Carwin has never fought past the first round in any of his eleven fights and has only fought past the 90-second mark once while in the UFC. In fact, the only time he fought past the two-minute mark, was his debut fight in 2005 for one of the old WEC shows. He has five wins by submission, six by knockout and is as much a physical freak as Lesnar is.

Brock Lesnar, on the other hand, has fought top competition. He defeated Hall of Famer Randy Couture and avenged his lone defeat against former UFC champion Frank Mir. Lesnar has fought to a decision only once in five fights (a three round domination of Heath Herring last summer). We know Carwin can be rocked but he recovers so quickly that before you know it, he is back swinging those meat hooks. With Lesnar, we have never seen him dangerously rocked. His biggest weakness will be known as his submission defense.

Perhaps more than the classic wrestler versus jiu-jitsu practitioner or Muay-Thai versus boxer match-up, this fight is most interesting. Both are giant, powerful wrestlers who can end a fight at any second. Neither fighter has been knocked out and both have achieved college championships as heavyweight wrestlers. Chances are in November, you won't be seeing any sweeps into kneebars or ankle lock attempts once these two bulls square off.




Here's my right and there's my left, let's see if you can take it and swing back?~!





JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This week it's all about Randy Couture, The Natural. This official UFC video includes Randy talking about his upcoming fight, training and the first time he'll be fighting professionally in Portland, Oregon.









Thanks for reading another Juggernaut. Next week we will have all your post-UFC 102 angles and news so don't be afraid, click the link. You know you want to.



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