MMA Hot Stuff

UFC 102 Results

OFFICIAL EVENT RESULTS:

Fight Honors:

"Fight of the Night" - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture

"Knockout of the Night" Nate Marquardt

"Submission of the Night" Jake Rosholt

This was probably one of the best and yet under rated cards this year! Here are the final results...

Winners in GREEN

Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Unanimous Decision in the 3rd Round

Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva by Knock Out in the 1st Round

Chris Leben vs Jake Rosholt by Submission (choke) in the 3rd Round

Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia by Knock Out in the 1st Round

Brandon Vera vs Krzysztof Soszynski by Unanimous Decision in the 3rd Round

Ed Herman vs Aaron Simpson by Techncial Knock Out in the 2nd Round

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Chris Tuchscherer by Technical Knock out in the 1st Round

Junstin McCully vs Mike Russow by Unanimous Decision in the 3rd Round

Tim Hague vs Todd Duffee by Knock Out in the 1st Round (UFC RECORD of  7 seconds)

Nick Catone vs Mark Munoz by Split Decision in the 3rd Round

Marcus Aurelio vs Evan Dunham by Split Decision in the 3rd Round

UFC 102 in Portland - Rose Garden

I think every time there's a new UFC event announced I say "wow this is going to be one of the best cards ever." Well I'm saying it again. UFC 102 will take place in Portland Oregon (my home state) August 29th at the Rose Garden! And Mr Joe Silva has done it again. He's bringing us some outstanding match ups.

As I previously announced, the main event will be Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Keith Jardine will face Thiago Silva as the co-headliner.

Also on the main card, Chris Leben vs Jake Rosholt, Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia (MAKINGS OF A GREAT MATCHUP), Matt Hamill vs Brandon Vera.

Preliminary Card:
Wilson Gouveia vs James Irvin
Junior Dos Santos vs Justin McCully
Nick Catone vs Mark Munoz
Evan Dunham vs Matt Veach

It's nice to see some of my "Dream UFC MatchUps" are coming to fruition.

Ticket Sale information:
UFC Fight Club Presale  Thursday, June 18 at 10am pacific time
UFC Newsletter Presale Friday  June 19 at 10am pacific time
Public On-Sale Saturday June 20 at 10am pacific time

UFC 102 Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira In Portland

 HEAVYWEIGHT LEGENDS TO HEADLINE

FIRST-EVER UFC^® EVENT IN PORTLAND

 

LIVE FROM THE ROSE GARDEN – SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2009

 

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – The Ultimate Fighting Championship^® (UFC^®) is headed to Portland for the first time ever and it’s bringing a couple of true heavyweight heroes. Mixed martial arts legends and former UFC champions Randy “The Natural” Couture and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira will face off for the first time in their storied careers at UFC 102: COUTURE vs. NOGUEIRA, live from Portland, Oregon’s Rose Garden on Saturday, August 29, 2009.

“We’re extremely excited to be heading to Portland,” UFC President Dana White said. “When you get two mixed martial arts legends that are all heart and have wanted to fight each other for years, plus the fact that Randy has roots in Oregon, that tells me that not only will the crowd be electric but it’s also a night where the fighters will be looking to cement their legacies.”

Tickets for UFC 102 will go on sale Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m. PT and will be priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets can be purchased at the Rose Quarter Box Office (M-F 10 a.m.-5 p.m.), all participating Safeway/ TicketsWest outlets, by calling 877.789.ROSE (7673), or at ComcastTIX.com. For more information please visit RoseQuarter.com. Prices do not include service charges.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Thursday, June 18 starting at 10 a.m. PT via UFC.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Friday, June 19 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

A UFC Hall-of-Famer and five-time UFC champion, Randy “The Natural” Couture (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) has a mixed martial arts resume that truly stands out from the rest. The Everett, Washington native has registered a series of wins over big names that include Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia, Pedro Rizzo, Vitor Belfort and Gabriel Gonzaga. On August 29^th, Couture returns to Oregon after coaching wrestling at Oregon State University, and the 45-year-old former three-time UFC heavyweight champion and two-time UFC light heavyweight champion will be looking to give his legion of fans yet another reason to cheer when he takes on Nogueira.

“Nogueira is the type of fighter that is dangerous everywhere,” Couture said. “He’s difficult to knock out and he’s a world class jiu-jitsu player. I will have to train very diligently and very specifically for him. Also, the fact that I’m fighting in Oregon makes me want to put on a great show and win for these fans.”

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo black belt and the only man to hold the PRIDE and UFC heavyweight championship belts, “Minotauro” Nogueira (fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has the experience and the world-class talent to take out anyone who opposes him in the Octagon. With UFC wins over Heath Herring and Tim Sylvia in his first two UFC bouts, the revered Nogueira quickly made his presence felt in the ultra-competitive heavyweight division. Now the 6-foot-3, 240-pound former interim UFC heavyweight champion looks to get the gold back around his waist.

“I’m honored to face such a great fighter as Randy Couture,” Nogueira said. “I wanted to fight him for some time now and I know to become a legend you have to beat a legend.”

For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com, UK.UFC.com, GERMANY.UFC.com or UFCEspanol.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

UFC: Randy Couture rumor mill running wild!

Well, if you've been paying attention at all over the past few days you've noticed the rumors flying around left and right that Randy Couture and the UFC are in discussions for his return to the Octagon. The latest rumors as of now include a report by MMAJunkie.com that:

• Randy is in negotiations to return to the Octagon on November 15th at UFC 91 in Portland, Oregon

• Randy will likely be facing Brock (Nacho Libre)Lesnar in his return

• The UFC is in negotiations with both Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko to set up a fight between the two on a February 2nd card in Las Vegas (which doesn't make much sense seeing that February 2nd is a Monday)

• Randy Couture is currently "training for a fight"

• Randy Couture has arranged travel for several "large heavyweights" to fly in as sparring partners

First let's talk about how realistic this whole thing is. First, Randy has been in a litigious stalemate with the UFC ever since he "resigned" from his contract after beating Gabriel Gonzaga. He walked away in hopes of being able to face Fedor after it became clear that Fedor was not coming to the UFC. He probably realizes that Zuffa could keep him wrapped up in court well beyond his remaining years of competitive fighting, so he might as well find a way past this whole thing if he wishes to fight Fedor before he has to retire.

Zuffa probably realizes that keeping Randy tied up in court is not as economically beneficial as having him locked in the Octagon with Fedor, and they probably also realize what a HUGE pay per view event it would be to have Couture VS Fedor (and hopefully on the same card as GSP VS BJ Penn). As you know the UFC always tries to throw together a big card for Super Bowl weekend.

Now how about Randy's rumored return at UFC 91 in Portland against Brock Lesnar? A return in Portland makes sense given Randy is originally from the Northwest and spent much time training out of Team Quest in Portland, along with spending some years as the Oregon State University assistant wrestling coach.

A return against Brock Lesnar also makes some good sense. First, we know that Brock Lesnar has been confrimed for UFC 91, but his opponent has not. He was rumored to be fighting Cheick Kongo, but it was recently reported that Kongo would be going under the knife for shoulder surgery and thus not able to fight at UFC 91. Brock is a rising star (it pains me to say that... because you know how I can't stand him), and has stated he wants to fight the best. It would be a wrestler VS wrestler, and Randy has experience fighting bigger fighters (see Gabriel Gonzaga). However, Brock is a different "big guy", a more athletic big guy, and a quality wrestler. This could be a dangerous return for Randy if they're viewing it as a "warm up" for a possible fight with Fedor.

But overall I would LOVE to see Randy wipe the mat with Brock Lesnar, and show the world how far Brock has left to go before he's a top contender. I'd also clearly LOVE to see Couture VS Fedor... so hopefully we'll find out that all of these rumors aren't rumors, but instead facts.

To Randy: Please, please, please tell me it's true! MMAHotStuff wants to see you take Brock Lesnar down!

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson: Possible retrun to action in November?

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Rampage may be returning to action as soon as November 15th, on the UFC 91 card in Portland, Oregon.

For his July 15th traffic "rampage" on the streets of Orange County, Jackson was charged with one felony count of evading while driving recklessly and one felony count of evading a peace officer and driving against traffic, along with three misdemeanors.

Dana White has been very outspoken in his support for Rampage, who was suffering from apparent delirium at the time. "Of course he'll fight," White stated, "If he was doing drugs, if he had been drunk, if he had gone out there and done what he did because he was pissed off at someone, that would be a completely different story. But he was ill. And in this company, we support our friends and anyone who works for us when they're ill and have problems. He was ill, the incident occurred, and now he's fine."

There has been speculation that Rampage's next fight would be another battle against Wanderlei Silva, who owns two wins over Rampage from their days in PRIDE. But rumors are that is not his opponent. So we will have to wait and see, but we anxiously await Rampage's return to the cage.

UFC: Dana White announces upcoming events!

The UFC has been to Minnesota, California, New Jersey, Ohio and the UK, they're going to Atlanta and Nebraska in September, so what's next?

Today, Yahoo! Sports reported that Dana White has confirmed that UFC 91 will take place in Portland, Oregon on November 15th. Apparently he also confirmed that we will get to see lightweights Kenny Florian and Joe "Daddy" Stevenson go to war on that card.

After UFC 91 in Portland, they'll head to Las Vegas for UFC 92 on December 27th, then UFC 93 on January 31st, also in Las Vegas. Also, The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Finale will take place on December 13th from Las Vegas.

Rumors of a GSP VS BJ Penn fight on the UFC 92 card may have been premature as White stated he thinks that fight will likely be moved back to UFC 93, the "Super Bowl weekend card". We may also see light heavyweight Wanderlei Silva on that card.

All in all, there's a whole lot of UFC action headed our way!