UFC 102 Results: Nogueira, Marquardt, Silva, & Duffee The Big Winners!

Always go with your 1st instinct people. UFC 102, which was panned by critics as lackluster event, delivered on exciting fights and a stellar Main Event many thought would be drab considering the age and supposed condition of the fighters. MMAFO will go over the results, Mondays probable cut list, and the important notables within the event.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeats Randy Couture in a spirited "Fight Of The Night" style bout via hard earned decision. Around 73% of the polled UFC fans thought "The Natural" would overcome the old too soon staff riddled "Minotauro." They would be wrong as "Big Nog" pulled the upset win in "Captain America's" hometown! Antonio took an early punch from Couture that cut his right eyebrow (shocker; he bled) but stormed back taking over on the feet and even dropping Couture to the canvas and came oh so close to submitting him with the D'arce choke. Randy showed the heart he is known for fighting through it as Nogueira was forced to relinquish the hold or burn his arms out. Still the round was all Rogerio though Randy came back with some good striking and a takedown in the 2nd. I sensed danger for Tony when he pulled a beautiful sweep to put himself back on top of Couture though he once again could not tap him out with a nice looking Arm-Triangle choke. In the final stanza, Couture would again show his resolve coming out with some great striking, but Antonio stood in the pocket with him as they brought the crowd to their feet with a punching melee. It would be Nogueira again who landed a shot that sent Randy crashing to the canvas though he could not finish him. "Captain America" had one last gasp in him sweeping "Big Nog" but unable to finish him bringing the inevitable unanimous decision win for Minotauro.

After the fight, Nogueira expressed his desire to face Champion Brock Lesnar and Mr. Couture said he wants to continue on with "interesting fights." A great Main Event and two class act legends the rest of the card could learn from. Just a side note, Brock Lesnar was cage side cheering on Couture hoping for a rematch and the dollars that would generate.

Thiago Silva put Keith Jardine to sleep in the very 1st round. The "Dean Of Mean" looked good backing up Silva early as the fight started fast. It would be a stiff left hook that floored Keith and the follow up barrage of strikes that left the "Dean" unconscious and flattened out. Thiago looked very impressive putting himself back in the Light Heavyweight title scene and we are left to wonder if Jardine's questionable chin will keep him from ever factoring into the top of the UFC heap ever again. Chute Boxe is not going away people!

Nathan Marquardt took 20 seconds and 1 punch to put the Demian Maia hype to sleep, literally. Maia went to throw a kick and Nate just turned his lights out with a right hand and graciously pulled up before inflicting more unnecessary damage. Royce Gracie 2.0 my ass.

Brandon Vera looked off yet again but did enough to outpoint Krzysztof Soszynski in a decent but a bit of a let down fight. Vera just doesn't look to have that offensive killer instinct he possessed at Heavyweight. Brandon lives to fight another day while Krzysztof didn't look bad and taking 3 fights on short notice for the UFC keeps him in good standing as well.

Jake Rosholt seemed like a bit of an asshole as he put Chris Leben, another asshole, to sleep with a deep Triangle Choke. Neither guy looked like a world beater and this fight should not have been on the PPV in my humble opinion.

Gabriel Gonzaga got the expected TKO win over Brock Lesnar's training partner Chris Tuchscherer, but not without controversy in just an odd fight. Napao came out with a powerful inside leg kick that caught no leg and all testicles. It was so strong that Chris hit the floor and found himself coughing and almost vomiting his insides onto the Octagon floor. The doctors wanted to stop the fight which would have given Tuchscherer the DQ win, but he threw a fit and summoning up some real guts, convinced them to let him fight after a lengthy delay. You can't tell me that didn't affect his performance, or that he would have won the fight had the foul not occurred. Things happen and the fight resumes with Gabe landing a big Cro Cop sized head kick followed by some good old fashioned G&P that bloodied Chris and ended the fight. The strange goings on may have kept Chris from the dreaded Monday morning UFC cut list, but credit the guy for not packing it in and giving the fans the fight they wanted.

Aaron Simpson and Ed Herman went to war in what would have been the fight of the night had "Short Fuse" not injured his knee toward the end of the 1st round. It was a really good back and forth fight with Simpson pulling ahead when during a takedown Ed screamed out in pain and grabbed his knee. The Team Quest stalwart hung in there and made it to the 2nd round. Warned by the referee to protect his knee or the fight would be stopped, Herman gave it the college try but collapse in pain halting the fight via TKO injury. I would really like to see this bout again and hopefully the Zuffa brass will give Ed the chance.

Todd Duffee is frightening as hell and the Heavyweight division had better watch out. Todd set a UFC record (fastest KO) by starching Tim Hague a mere 7 seconds into their bout and in Duffee's debut for the organization. Todd is so big and scary that he has to have an impact on the division as he called out to Dana White to give him "something to eat."

Evan Dunham had a good showing winning the Split-Decision over Marcus Aurelio though the fight should have been scored 29-28 for the Xtreme Couture upstart. "Maximus" showed his toughness taking the fight on short notice and even won the final round though it would not be enough for the win. Dunham just came off like a spoiled cocky prick.

Mark Munoz had more trouble than was expected taking a Split-Decision win over Nick Catone as they fought the full 15 minutes.

Finally and thank your fake god, Mike Russow defeated Justin McCully by decision to send the Team Punishment bitch packing on his way to a smaller promotion, or if we are lucky, retirement.

8-3 on the picks but if not for the false last minute information and second guessing myself, it would have been 9-2. Oh well, great night of fights and more to come as the UFC brings its next event to us for free on Spike TV. Expect Nick Catone, Marcus Aurelio, and mercifully Justin McCully to head for the unemployment line Monday. Bet.