On Saturday, August 29, 2009 at UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon, MMA fans finally got to see the legendary dream match they have been talking about for years. The venue would be the Rose Garden Arena, home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, and the main event of the evening would be between two of the sport's most accomplished trail blazers: Randy "The Natural" Couture and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. The reason this match had been talked about for years among MMA fans was the fact both men are decorated legends of the sport that served as lead figures in the once popular UFC vs. PRIDE rivalry, as well as the age-old wrestling vs. jiu-jitsu rivalry. As the sport grew and Zuffa bought PRIDE in March 2007, merging its roster with the UFC, this match up slowly became more of a reality than just mere fodder for a debate. The speculation heated up last summer, as both men held a piece of the UFC title, as Couture was the UFC heavyweight champion and Nogueira was the UFC interim heavyweight champion.

Now the fan's great debates surrounding these two living legends was finally put to the test on Saturday night, as both men entered the Octagon to face one another. Even though both men had relinquished their titles due to losses in their most recent outings, the hype surrounding this fight was still high, as we finally got to witness Couture's world-class wrestling and ground-and-pound attack clash with Nogueira's black belt jiu-jitsu skills and always aggressive submission game. They also had a lot at stake, as the winner would find themselves back in the title picture, while proving that their most recent performances were not a sign of things to come.

Both men are noted for their contrasting grappling styles, but they have formidable striking abilities as well. Since fights start standing up, it was a matter of whose style of striking would dictate this fight on the feet. Couture is notorious for his dirty boxing from the clinch, while Nogueira has more of a polished Olympic-style of boxing. About midway through the first stanza, Nogueira found his mark and floored Couture with a big right hand. Couture showed his trademark resiliency and fought back and the round ended in an absolute slug fest that had the crowd and anyone watching (with a pulse) on their feet.

The second round started out with another hard combo from Nogueira that sent Couture to the canvas. Nogueira then attempted a modified version of the D'Arce Choke from his guard, commonly referred to as a M'Arce Choke. Couture managed to work his way out of danger and dropped some elbows from inside Nogueira's guard. Nogueira then swept Couture with a basic belly-to-belly sweep and set up an Arm-Triangle Choke from the full mount, which he was unable to secure. Couture escaped and stood up and both men exchanged strikes, as the round came to a close.

The final round saw Nogueira level Couture with a huge right hand that appeared to end Couture's night. Nogueira followed Couture to the ground and began teeing off with a flurry of strikes, but somehow Couture stayed alive and wore his heart on his sleeve, refusing to be put away in front of his hometown crowd. Nogueira worked from the top position, landing shots, and took Couture's back. Couture was again able to avoid the submission machine's attack and rolled Nogueira off and worked from inside Nogueira's guard. The fight would end with Couture looking to land an elbow as Nogueira swept Couture again with a belly-to-belly sweep, as the fight came to a close.

Nogueira would go on to take a well-earned Unanimous Decision victory with scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28, but the fight meant so much more than just the outcome. It set the standard of what two modern day MMA fighters should strive to achieve when they fight each other at any level: excitement, heart, and technique. In a day and age where it's common to see a lot of young fighters more worried about fighting "not to lose" with a boring lay-and-prey blanketing scheme or fighters looking for a way out when they begin taking on a lot of damage, Couture and Nogueira showed there is a lot more to the fight game than what you learn at the gym. There is heart, character, showmanship, and the willingness to leave it all in the cage. It took two legends with nothing left to prove to bring the professionalism of this sport to the forefront of the fight that fans had been begging to see. Regardless of the result, it was a fight where both men added respect to their already storied careers.


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UFC 102 - Couture vs. Nogueira (August 29, 2009)
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Match Winner Loser Method Round Time

1 Evan Dunham over Marcus Aurelio Decision (Split) Round 3, 5:00
2 Mark Muñoz over Nick Catone Decision (Split) Round 3, 5:00
3 Todd Duffee over Tim Hague KO (Punches) Round 1, 0:07
4 Michael Russow over Justin McCully Decision (Unanimous) Round 3, 5:00
5 Gabriel Gonzaga over Chris Tuchscherer TKO (Punches) Round 1, 2:27
6 Aaron Simpson over Ed Herman TKO (Knee Injury) Round 2, 0:17
7 Brandon Vera over Krzysztof Soszynski Decision (Unanimous) Round 3, 5:00
8 Nate Marquardt over Demian Maia KO (Punch) Round 1, 0:21
9 Jake Rosholt over Chris Leben Technical Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) Round 3, 1:30
10 Thiago Silva over Keith Jardine TKO (Punches) Round 1, 1:35
11 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira over Randy Couture Decision (Unanimous) Round 3, 5:00