Couture vs Nogueira: Legends Collide

Randy Couture and Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira are both legends in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Yet while Randy Couture’s age-defying heroics and underdog victories are known and celebrated by all but the most casual of UFC fans, fewer UFC fans recognize the achievements of Nogueira. That’s because while Couture was busy collecting UFC gold, Nogueira spent most of the last decade building his reputation in Japan, within the now-defunct Pride FC organization.

And what a reputation it was.

When Minotauro Nogueira was eleven years old, he was run over by a truck. Nogueira spent the next 20 years proving that if a truck couldn’t stop him, than nothing would.

Among his most memorable fights are his victories over Bob Sapp, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, and his last victory over Heath Herring.

When Nogueira fought Bob Sapp, he was slammed and manhandled all over the ring by the much larger and stronger Sapp. Yet despite being slammed on his head repeatedly, Nogueira persevered, and eventually wore down Sapp, securing an armbar for the victory.

Cro Cop, known for his devastating head kicks, was able to showcase them for ten minutes against Nogueira. Throughout the ten minute first round, Cro Cop was able to keep the fight standing, while delivering brutal kicks and punches.

By the end of the first round, even the commentators had given up on Nogueira.

Yet when the bell sounded to begin the second round, Nogueira immediately got the take-down, and quickly locked on an armbar for yet another submission victory. The entire arena, and everybody watching on TV went nuts.

When Heath Herring knocked Nogueira down with a head-kick, it seemed like Nogueira might finally not make it to the final bell. Instead, Nogueira came back to win the final two rounds, securing the decision victory.

But for those of you who still think that Nogueira couldn’t have beaten the best fighters in the UFC, it is worth mentioning that Nogueira has beaten three former UFC champions in Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez, and Tim Sylvia.

Actually, Nogueira holds victories over four different fighters who have beaten Couture.

Despite these impressive accomplishments, and a 13 year age difference, Nogueira is currently a betting underdog against Randy Couture.

Last December, Nogueira was stopped for the first time in his career by Frank Mir in a rough performance that Nogueira’s camp attributes to a knee injury and a staph infection.

Nevertheless, the loss shattered Nogueira’s aura of invincibility.

Couture’s recent outing was perceived as a much better performance. He was putting up an impressive fight against the juggernaut Brock Lesnar before he was hit behind the ear by a lunch box otherwise known as Brock Lesnar’s right fist.

So by looking back at their form from their previous fights, Couture seems to have the advantage.

Furthermore, Couture has proven over and over again that age has not taken a toll on his body, and that his chances can never be discounted. Nogueira is in uncharted territory. He has never before had to rebound from a loss in which he was stopped.

Nogueira says that his recent loss has only motivated him to train harder. He claims that he is now in better shape than he has been in years, now 10 pounds lighter, and with a fully-recovered knee.

He knows the significance of his upcoming fight.

With an impressive victory, the winner may just earn another shot at the UFC heavyweight title, but the more than that, his legend will be greatly enhanced.

For years people have debated on who would win a possible match between the two. Ultimately this fight could determine the way in which people look back upon the last decade of heavyweights.

If Couture wins, some people will say that the heavyweights from Pride FC were all overrated. If Nogueira wins, it will serve to validate Nogueira’s career as well as Pride FC, and the legends of those fights in Japan will continue to grow.

Stylistically, this fight has the potential to be one of the greatest fights of all time.

Couture and Nogueira are both good boxers capable of winning the fight if it remains standing, but Couture’s wrestling against Nogueira’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu combine in perhaps the most obvious stylistic clash, but not the only aspect of the match.

Couture usually wins by clinching and wearing down his opponents, and breaking their wills. That may not work against Nogueira, who answered all questions about his will-power by the age of twelve, and is also adept at working from the clinch.

For me, the most interesting part of this match is its timing. A lot of people say that this is a match that should have happened six years ago. That, for me, simply isn’t true.

Six years ago, Randy Couture was still a novice at the submission game, and was getting submitted early by fighters who in turn would tap simply by looking at Nogueira. Nogueira would likely have submitted Couture easily at that time.

Since then, Couture has made great improvements in his submission defense, even neutralizing BJJ black belts like Gabriel Gonzaga. Make no mistake though, as Nogueira is a lot tougher than Gonzaga.

Here we have a fight with so many intriguing aspects, and so many questions to be answered.

The only other time a Pride FC legend fought a UFC legend was when Wanderlei Silva fought Chuck Liddell, producing one of the greatest fights in MMA history.

Couture and Nogueira are indeed both legends. As a fan of both fighters, I hope that on August 29th, history is made once again inside the Octagon.

by Darren Wong for FightMania.com

Tags: Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga, Josh Barnett, Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, UFC, Wanderlei Silva