Mammoth Blog

UFC 102 was an interesting show, to say the least. Some incredible knockouts and some interesting changes in several different weight classes and we got one of the better main event bouts in some time.

Antonio Nogueira may have handled Randy Couture at times but it was a hell of a fight and Couture impressed, especially since he was able to hang in there and make it interesting. You really can't count him out. There were at least five times during the fight that I leaned over to someone I was watching with and said "that's it, he's not getting back up from this," and he did.

I'm surprised to see Couture signed a new six-fight deal though, especially at his age, but I'm definitely looking forward to watching him fight again. I'd like to see him move down to light heavyweight, at least for a few fights. I think pairing him with Frank Mir at heavyweight could be intriguing as well. The guy will always be a draw, no doubt about that.

AP photo
As for Nogueira, he certainly made people forget about the Mir debacle. He wasn't 100 percent healthy and I'd love to see a rematch with Mir when he is. For now, though, I hope he's next in line for Brock Lesnar. If he looks like he did Saturday it could make things interesting for Lesnar, especially since Nogueira is very good on the ground.

And perhaps the most important part of UFC 102 was having Jardine knocked out of the co-main event status by Thiago Silva. He's a fine fighter but he's not co-headlining material, at least not when the roster at light heavyweight is as deep as it is.
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