Nogueira Cements His Legacy

When Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis finally fought, it became clear that while Lennox Lewis had been aging like a fine wine, the blazing fire that was Mike Tyson had nearly burnt itself out. When GSP fought BJ Penn for the second time, it turned out that weight classes actually do matter. Very often in life, things don’t live up to expectations. Couture vs Nogueira did.

Couture vs Nogueira was undoubtedly the fight of the night, and should go down as a UFC classic. But when people say that the fight between Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira “lived up to the hype,” some of them are forgetting the way that they felt only days earlier.

Years ago, when both Couture and Nogueira were at the top of the sport, the interest in a fight between the two legends would have been much larger than it was a few days ago. And while both fighters are still near the top of most heavyweight rankings, a lot of that has to do more with respect for their records on paper than it has to do with respect for their current fighting abilities.

Nogueira’s abilities especially had been questioned in the lead-up to his fight with Couture. Even though Nogueira insisted that his poor performance against Frank Mir was influenced by a staph infection and a torn meniscus, many people didn’t believe that was the full story. Most attributed his decline simply to having taken an exorbitant amount of punishment over his fighting career.

Furthermore, there were rumors floating around that he had been knocked out during his training camp, and that his training was not going well. ESPN’s MMA analyst Jon Anik had reported seeing Nogueira limping around at UFC 100, showing that even some mainstream media outlets were refusing to buy into the UFC’s latest headliner.. So while some people still clung to hopes that Nogueira would come out with a good performance, the popular general expectation was actually not very high.

Some assumed that Nogueira didn’t even expect to compete, and was simply coming in to collect a paycheck.

Nogueira proved most people wrong with his performance on Saturday. All of the questions, surrounding his movement, his hands, and his chin were put to rest. During the fight, Nogueira looked a lot like the Minotauro of old, showing good boxing that was simply absent in his fight against Mir. And when he did get hit, he remained unfazed, continuing to move forward.

Randy Couture also acquitted himself quite well in a losing effort, and showed once again that he can fight as long has he continues to have the desire. While he was knocked down multiple times by Minotauro, Couture dished out his share of punishment, landing repeatedly with his left hook and uppercuts, and also employing his clinching and dirty boxing skills that have worn down many an opponent.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Couture’s performance, however, was his resiliency. His incredible will and determination were on full display when he survived being knocked down multiple times. He also showed that he could grapple with Nogueira, by fighting off multiple submission attempts, and managing to get back to his feet or reverse his position.

In my opinion, this fight is the fight of the year to this point. There may have been other fights that were crazier, or fights that had more relevance to the current rankings, but taking into consideration the historical significance and the skill level at which this bout was contested, this one is the best.

By turning back the clocks, Nogueira and Couture gave us a good indication of what a fight between the two would have been like had they both fought in their primes. Nogueira showed that he is indeed the better fighter, if not by much.

In the end, this fight has a positive outcome for everyone involved.

While Nogueira’s legend in Pride was already secure, a victory over Couture allows him to cement himself also as one of the UFC greats as well. As a bonus, he may get to fight for a UFC title once again.

Couture’s legend will also grow, despite the loss. He got himself involved in another epic fight, and showed that he can still compete at an extremely high level.

Dana White and the UFC will be happy, because Couture’s performance guarantees that he will remain a big draw, while Nogueira’s performance may finally have allowed him to cross over from being a Pride star, to being a UFC star and contender.

Fedor Emelianenko’s fans will be happy because they will argue that if Nogueira could beat Couture, than so could Fedor.

Fight fans will be happy because they saw a great fight.

Fans of Couture and Nogueira will be happy because their fighters showed they still have what it takes.

It is extremely rare, even among legends, when the best of all possibilities comes to fruition. Like Couture said after the fight, this is a sport where anything can happen.

It is worthwhile to be inspired when two humans like Couture and Nogueira take something as crazy and unpredictable as Ultimate Fighting, and make everything seem like it is nothing less than destiny.

 by Darren Wong for FightMania.com

Tags: Dana White, Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Mir, Randy Couture, UFC