Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 73 drew 1,159,000 viewers, the sixth-largest Fight Night numbers in station history, and the prelims, on FS 2, drew 306,000 viewers, the fourth-highest numbers for any show in that station’s history.
It appea…
Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 73 drew 1,159,000 viewers, the sixth-largest Fight Night numbers in station history, and the prelims, on FS 2, drew 306,000 viewers, the fourth-highest numbers for any show in that station’s history.
It appears all the UFC media coverage and talk in the wake of Ronda Rousey’s win over Bethe Correia seemed to be the wave that led a higher tide, as Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night from Nashville posted big numbers, even with a lack of big-name fighters.
Saturday’s main card, headlined by a light heavyweight battle of top contenders, where Glover Teixeira finished Ovince Saint Preux in the third round, airing from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET on FS 1, did 1,159,000 viewers. It was the sixth-biggest Fight Night audience in the history of the two-year-old station. While not in the league of the record-setting Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver show in January, which did 2.75 million viewers, only one other fight night this year was in the same range. The Feb. 22 show, headlined by Frank Mir vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, did 1,212,000 viewers, but that also aired two hours earlier, a significantly more favorable time slot, and Mir’s name value to the public is far stronger than anyone on Saturday’s show.
The audience grew throughout the night, peaking between 12:45 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET, for the finish and post-match of the main event, which did 1,356,000 viewers. The lead-in, a major league baseball game with the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers, did less than half the UFC’s audience, with 519,000 viewers.
Although the show featured several ranked fighters, there was no fighters with a history of moving ratings on the show. Throwing out the McGregor fight which greatly skews the average, the UFC live events, not including pay-per-view prelims, that have aired in prime time on FS 1 so far this year, are averaging 896,000 viewers. Saturday’s show was 29 percent above usual for a show that on paper had no reason to do above average numbers.
The prelims on FS 2, headlined by Uriah Hall’s firs round finish of Oluwale Bamgbose did 306,000 viewers. It was the most viewers for any UFC event ever on the station. It was the fourth most watched show in the history of FS 2, trailing only two NASCAR events and a Women’s World Cup soccer game. .
The company is on a strong run with two consecutive pay-per-view successes, and the highest rated FOX summer special to date since July 11. The prior Fight Night show on FS 1, airing on July 15, headlined by Mir vs. Todd Duffee, did 801,000 viewers, although that was on a less familiar Wednesday night. .
Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 73 drew 1,159,000 viewers, the sixth-largest Fight Night numbers in station history, and the prelims, on FS 2, drew 306,000 viewers, the fourth-highest numbers for any show in that station’s history.
It appea…
Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 73 drew 1,159,000 viewers, the sixth-largest Fight Night numbers in station history, and the prelims, on FS 2, drew 306,000 viewers, the fourth-highest numbers for any show in that station’s history.
It appears all the UFC media coverage and talk in the wake of Ronda Rousey’s win over Bethe Correia seemed to be the wave that led a higher tide, as Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night from Nashville posted big numbers, even with a lack of big-name fighters.
Saturday’s main card, headlined by a light heavyweight battle of top contenders, where Glover Teixeira finished Ovince Saint Preux in the third round, airing from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET on FS 1, did 1,159,000 viewers. It was the sixth-biggest Fight Night audience in the history of the two-year-old station. While not in the league of the record-setting Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver show in January, which did 2.75 million viewers, only one other fight night this year was in the same range. The Feb. 22 show, headlined by Frank Mir vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, did 1,212,000 viewers, but that also aired two hours earlier, a significantly more favorable time slot, and Mir’s name value to the public is far stronger than anyone on Saturday’s show.
The audience grew throughout the night, peaking between 12:45 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET, for the finish and post-match of the main event, which did 1,356,000 viewers. The lead-in, a major league baseball game with the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers, did less than half the UFC’s audience, with 519,000 viewers.
Although the show featured several ranked fighters, there was no fighters with a history of moving ratings on the show. Throwing out the McGregor fight which greatly skews the average, the UFC live events, not including pay-per-view prelims, that have aired in prime time on FS 1 so far this year, are averaging 896,000 viewers. Saturday’s show was 29 percent above usual for a show that on paper had no reason to do above average numbers.
The prelims on FS 2, headlined by Uriah Hall’s firs round finish of Oluwale Bamgbose did 306,000 viewers. It was the most viewers for any UFC event ever on the station. It was the fourth most watched show in the history of FS 2, trailing only two NASCAR events and a Women’s World Cup soccer game. .
The company is on a strong run with two consecutive pay-per-view successes, and the highest rated FOX summer special to date since July 11. The prior Fight Night show on FS 1, airing on July 15, headlined by Mir vs. Todd Duffee, did 801,000 viewers, although that was on a less familiar Wednesday night. .
As long as there are close fights, MMA is going to be faced with cries of robberies.
Most of those times those cries are about judgment calls that could have gone either way. Outright robberies do exist, such as the Ross Pearson loss las…
As long as there are close fights, MMA is going to be faced with cries of robberies.
Most of those times those cries are about judgment calls that could have gone either way. Outright robberies do exist, such as the Ross Pearson loss last year to Diego Sanchez, a decision simply impossible to justify. But usually what seems to be bad calls are a result of a flawed scoring system grandfathered in by boxing commissioners, a points system that doesn’t even work all that well in boxing.
Saturday’s Michael Johnson vs. Beneil Dariush bout from Nashville was not based on a systematic issue. This decision was on the judges themselves.
Dariush’s shocking win had all three judges, Richard Bertrand, Sal D’Amato and Douglas Crosby, in agreement that Johnson won the first round and Dariush won the third. Most watching agreed with that assessment, although round three was close enough that you could argue Johnson won it.
So the decision came down to round two. Bertrand and Crosby gave the round, and the fight, to Dariush. After repeated watching of the round, while Johnson did not blow Dariush away, he also clearly won the round. He landed 35 significant strikes to 22 for Dariush based on fightmetric.com numbers. His strikes were also harder and did more damage. He also stuffed every attempt by Dariush to take the fight to the ground.
While blocking takedowns is not scoring under the current judging criteria, Octagon control, clearly in the favor of Johnson, is. He was also the aggressor for most of the round.
But when you deal with the human element, these things will happen. Judging from media scorecards, everyone of which went for Johnson, it was a significant minority viewpoint that Dariush took the fight, but two of the judges had it for him.
Having judged fights in the past, there are a number of things to note. First, the judges don’t have any access to statistics. Second, there are line of sight issues at cage side, and sometimes the television viewer has a better viewpoint then a judge, although in states where judges have monitors, that helps. The big advantage judges have over television viewers is they are right there, and they can see visual damage with a better perspective, and they can hear the sound of the blows with more clarity than a television viewer. But in this case, when it’s clear that Johnson’s blows were harder and did more damage, that only makes the final verdict even more confusing.
There is also an elephant in the room regarding Crosby.
Back in April, he was the subject of significant controversy during a fight with Al Iaquinta against Jorge Masvidal. Iaquinta won a split decision, although Crosby’s card was 30-27 for Masvidal. Ironically, a lot of people, myself included, felt he was the lone judge to have the right winner. But the issue went deeper. Iaquinta noted that Crosby has had issues with Iaquinta’s camp, and in particular, his trainer, Ray Longo. In an interview on the MMA Hour, Iaquinta felt when he saw Crosby judging his fight, that he was already one judge down.
Crosby had no business judging the Iaquinta vs. Masvidal fight. This is not meant to say he is a good or bad judge overall, as, like any veteran judge, you have your ups and downs but overall his record is closer to the high end than the low end. But he should have excused himself because of past issues with the trainer of a fighter on the show. He didn’t do that, but given that Iaquinta won the fight, it wasn’t a major issue, as it was here. But if the fight had been even closer, and his opinion decided the verdict, it would have created a far more embarrassing situation.
The problem is that wasn’t the end of it.
Crosby later went on Chael Sonnen’s podcast and did what appeared to be an Andy Kaufman routine of playing a character, while Sonnen, working with him, went off on how he was the worst guest in the history of his show, as the show was going on. Clearly Sonnen didn’t mean it, since Sonnen had him back on. But during the show, Crosby made fun of Longo on several occasions. Again, whether he’s competent as a judge or not, a judge probably shouldn’t be playing a role on a podcast, and he surely shouldn’t be insulting a well-known trainer of a fighter that he had just judged after it had already come up that there were past issues between the two of them.
Since that incident, his name seemed to have disappeared. He hadn’t rendered a decision in a UFC fight since that show. It was hard to believe a commission would bring him in, but there he was and in the center of controversy. Again, this isn’t saying there was any bias involved in this specific decision, but a judge shouldn’t be a guy publicly cutting promos on people involved with the sport in the position of Longo.
The positive out of all this is Dana White made it abundantly clear he believed Johnson won the fight.
“OMFG!!! That is HORRIBLE!!! That’s why u can’t leave it to these judges!!!!” he wrote after Johnson’s four fight win streak was shockingly over in.
Then he wrote, “The main event better be ready if they leave those 2 judges in there!!! Hopefully they are being sent packing RIGHT NOW.”
There was nothing said about Johnson getting his win bonus. White has given fighters win bonuses in the past when he felt they had won a fight that judges ruled against them. But in the position Johnson is in, a division with a long line of title contenders, if the company treats this as a loss, can derail his career.
The ratings themselves will be interesting. Johnson came in as the No. 5 ranked contender. Even had he won, he was not going to leapfrog Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone or Khabib Nurmagomedov for a top three spot, but he could have beaten out Eddie Alvarez was No. 4.
But he didn’t win. As a loss, it would drop him down and bring Dariush, who was No. 12, into the top ten as he would normally be elevated for beating No. 5? That’s an issue right there, because if you rate based on who was judged the winner of the fight, Dariush has to go way up, and Johnson has to go down. But one would think most voters would disagree that the decision on who won.
If he is booked by UFC as if he was the No. 5 ranked contender who has won his fifth in a row, he should be in line for a big name and not be far from title contention. If they book him like he’s coming off a loss, and put him in with a lower ranked fighter, it will take a number of wins to make up for this loss.
Let’s look at how Fortunes Changed for Five stars of Saturday’s show.
GLOVER TEIXEIRA – Teixeira (23-4) finished Ovince Saint Preux in the third round in his most impressive performance since knocking out Ryan Bader two years ago. With everyone ranked ahead of him already scheduled to fight, he may have to sit and wait for Oct. 3 to roll around, with Daniel Cormier’s title defense against Alexander Gustafsson and the Rashad Evans vs. Bader top contenders match.
He’d have to face one of the two losers since the winners would likely go against each other. If he’s looking for a fight now, his best bet would be Mauricio Shogun Rua (23-10) or Patrick Cummins (8-2), both coming off wins the previous week in Rio de Janeiro.
OVINCE SAINT PREUX – Saint Preux (18-7) looked like a rising star with stoppages of both Rua and Cummins in his previous two fights.
But at 32 years old, Teixeira exploited a significant weakness, in that he can be taken down, and the top people in the division, with strong wrestling and fighting backgrounds seem out of his reach.
If he’s a lucky man, he can get Rampage Jackson (36-11), which would be a big name potential television main event that will allow Saint Preux a shot at a major rebound. But Jackson didn’t want to fight him on this show, so a more likely opponent would be Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-7).
MICHAEL JOHNSON – If Johnson (17-9) is booked as if he won his last fight, he’d be in line next for big names, like Anthony Pettis (18-3), Benson Henderson (22-5) or Eddie Alvarez (26-4). By all rights he should get one of those three.
If booked like he lost the fight, his next opponent could be Al Iaquinta (13-3-1) or Tony Ferguson (19-3).
BENEIL DARIUSH – Dariush (12-1) is in a similar situation. Coming off his performance with Johnson, he’d look like a good next opponent for Iaquinta, Ferguson or Edson Barboza (16-3). Getting the win can’t hurt him, as he does have an official five-fight winning streak. Dariush looks like he’s a solid opponent for anyone in the division, but didn’t show signs of being a top five fighter on Saturday.
AMANDA NUNES – In stopping No. 4 ranked Sara McMann in just 2:53 of the first round, Nunes should come out of it as the highest ranked woman’s bantamweight that hasn’t yet faced and lost to Ronda Rousey.
The win makes her a strong title contender, and one would argue, the logical next in line after Miesha Tate provided the Cris Cyborg fight doesn’t materialize.
The best opponent would be Cat Zingano (9-1), who beat Nunes on Sept. 27 in an exciting fight. Short of that, Sarah Kaufman (17-3) would be a potential opponent as far as someone who would be a strong win, if he were to do so, in earning a title fight. There are also two other women who have been mentioned as future contenders, Holly Holm (9-0) and Julianna Pena (6-2). A win over any of those four would put Nunes in the discussions for a title bout.
Tito Ortiz, the wrestling coach and former manager for Cris “Cyborg” Justino, said that the UFC has offered Justino a title fight with Ronda Rousey on the Dallas Cowboy’s home field and said he encouraged her to take it.
While not officially announced, UFC President Dana White has talked of a potential mega-event at AT &T Stadium in Dallas on Dec. 5, hinting of title matches involving the company’s two biggest drawing cards, Rousey and Conor McGregor.
While White had talked of Rousey’s next opponent being Miesha Tate, he also said they would promote a Rousey vs. Justino fight immediately if Justino can make the 135-pound bantamweight limit. White predicted that a Rousey (12-0) vs. Cyborg (14-1, 1 no contest) battle of the two most dominant female fighters of all-time would do 2.5 million pay-per-view buys.
Only one event in pay-per-view history has topped 2.5 million buys, which was the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight in May. Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya in 2007 came in just under that number. The UFC has only had one event in its history, UFC 100, which has even done half that number. While the predicted number on the surface sounds outrageous, Rousey’s drawing power and popularity have greatly increased over the past year, to the point her fight with Bethe Correia on Aug. 1, which was not expected to do anywhere near the business the July 11 McGregor vs. Chad Mendes fight did, is now believed to have topped that events’ estimated 800,000 buys and been the most purchased UFC pay-per-view fight this year.
A fight with Justino would likely garner more mainstream media interest than any UFC fight in history.
The key to the fight has always been Justino’s ability to make 135 pounds, which Ortiz, who said Justino was one of his best friends, said on Friday night’s edition of Inside MMA that she would do.
“Will she make 135? Yes. Before I had doubts. I’ve talked to her over the last couple of months and she’s said she has to make the weight because Ronda keeps talking about her.”
“I’ve heard from Cris actually that the fight that’s supposed to be happening at the Cowboys’s Arena. They offered the fight to Cris,” Ortiz said. “I know her management said yes and I’ve told her, `Let’s do it.’ So I guess the ball’s all in Ronda’s corner and Ronda wants to do it. Dana said if Cris came down to 135, they’ll make the fight happen. So let’s see if Ronda accepts the fight.”
“It will be the biggest pay-per-view ever and Ronda will not have her hand raised.”
Ortiz, 40, will challenge Liam McGeary for the Bellator light heavyweight title on Sept. 19 in San Jose in the main event of Bellator’s next heavily promoted event.
He said his goal would be to become the first person to hold both a UFC and Bellator championship.
“At the age of 40, I feel better than I did at 30,” he said, crediting having a peaceful mind and a great companion, former UFC ring girl and model Amber Nicole Miller.
“It’s not just wanting the belt, but to show people you can bounce back and defy all odds.”
Ortiz also said he would love to face Fedor Emelianenko, but would want the fight at 205 pounds.
“Please, I’d love it, if he can get down to 205 pounds, come on down ” he said when asked about a proposed fight now that Emelianenko, 38, is being shopped around for a comeback fight.
Ortiz also claimed that he suffered a detached retina prior to his most recent fight with Stephan Bonnar on Nov. 15 in San Diego.
He said the injury took place after he was cleared for the fight, and decided to do the fight anyway.
“That’s how bad I disliked Bonnar,” he said.
Tito Ortiz, the wrestling coach and former manager for Cris “Cyborg” Justino, said that the UFC has offered Justino a title fight with Ronda Rousey on the Dallas Cowboy’s home field and said he encouraged her to take it.
While not officially announced, UFC President Dana White has talked of a potential mega-event at AT &T Stadium in Dallas on Dec. 5, hinting of title matches involving the company’s two biggest drawing cards, Rousey and Conor McGregor.
While White had talked of Rousey’s next opponent being Miesha Tate, he also said they would promote a Rousey vs. Justino fight immediately if Justino can make the 135-pound bantamweight limit. White predicted that a Rousey (12-0) vs. Cyborg (14-1, 1 no contest) battle of the two most dominant female fighters of all-time would do 2.5 million pay-per-view buys.
Only one event in pay-per-view history has topped 2.5 million buys, which was the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight in May. Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya in 2007 came in just under that number. The UFC has only had one event in its history, UFC 100, which has even done half that number. While the predicted number on the surface sounds outrageous, Rousey’s drawing power and popularity have greatly increased over the past year, to the point her fight with Bethe Correia on Aug. 1, which was not expected to do anywhere near the business the July 11 McGregor vs. Chad Mendes fight did, is now believed to have topped that events’ estimated 800,000 buys and been the most purchased UFC pay-per-view fight this year.
A fight with Justino would likely garner more mainstream media interest than any UFC fight in history.
The key to the fight has always been Justino’s ability to make 135 pounds, which Ortiz, who said Justino was one of his best friends, said on Friday night’s edition of Inside MMA that she would do.
“Will she make 135? Yes. Before I had doubts. I’ve talked to her over the last couple of months and she’s said she has to make the weight because Ronda keeps talking about her.”
“I’ve heard from Cris actually that the fight that’s supposed to be happening at the Cowboys’s Arena. They offered the fight to Cris,” Ortiz said. “I know her management said yes and I’ve told her, `Let’s do it.’ So I guess the ball’s all in Ronda’s corner and Ronda wants to do it. Dana said if Cris came down to 135, they’ll make the fight happen. So let’s see if Ronda accepts the fight.”
“It will be the biggest pay-per-view ever and Ronda will not have her hand raised.”
Ortiz, 40, will challenge Liam McGeary for the Bellator light heavyweight title on Sept. 19 in San Jose in the main event of Bellator’s next heavily promoted event.
He said his goal would be to become the first person to hold both a UFC and Bellator championship.
“At the age of 40, I feel better than I did at 30,” he said, crediting having a peaceful mind and a great companion, former UFC ring girl and model Amber Nicole Miller.
“It’s not just wanting the belt, but to show people you can bounce back and defy all odds.”
Ortiz also said he would love to face Fedor Emelianenko, but would want the fight at 205 pounds.
“Please, I’d love it, if he can get down to 205 pounds, come on down ” he said when asked about a proposed fight now that Emelianenko, 38, is being shopped around for a comeback fight.
Ortiz also claimed that he suffered a detached retina prior to his most recent fight with Stephan Bonnar on Nov. 15 in San Diego.
He said the injury took place after he was cleared for the fight, and decided to do the fight anyway.
The Ronda Rousey effect was strong for UFC programming on FS 1 all weekend, with various shows pulling some of their best numbers in the history of the station.The prelims prior to UFC 190 did 1,322,000 viewers, making them the third most-wa…
The Ronda Rousey effect was strong for UFC programming on FS 1 all weekend, with various shows pulling some of their best numbers in the history of the station.
The prelims prior to UFC 190 did 1,322,000 viewers, making them the third most-watched pay-per-view prelims in history, behind the prelims of UFC 168 and UFC 183. Both of those numbers were helped by having legitimate drawing cards anchor the prelims, Chris Leben at 168 and Miesha Tate at 183, as opposed to Demian Maia and Neil Magny on Saturday.
The show peaked at 1,599,000 viewers for the Patrick Cummins win over Rafael Feijao.
The prelims for UFC 184, Rousey’s last pay-per-view headliner, did 1,205,000 viewers, while the prelims three weeks earlier for the Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes show did 847,000 viewers.
The prelims beat the Danny Garcia vs.. Paulie Malignaggi fight on ESPN, that did 1,073,000 viewers.
Rousey also led to a strong showing in pre-and-post shows. The prefight show at 7 p.m. did 518,000 viewers, ranking No. 3 in the history of FS 1 pref-ight shows. The post-fight show, even with a 1:42 a.m. start time on FS 1, did 438,000 viewers, the second most in FS 1 history.
Two other records were set on Friday. A replay of the second Rousey vs. Miesha Tate fight from UFC 168, that aired at 9 p.m. did 388,000 viewers, making it the most-watched episode ever of UFC Main Event. That followed at 10 p.m. with a UFC Tonight episode focusing on Rousey that did 396,000 viewers, the most-watched episode in the history of that show.
All indicators are that the pay-per-view numbers exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. It was thought that with the show being from Brazil, it would be difficult to top the UFC 184 estimated figure of slightly more than 600,000 buys. While it is too soon to get accurate estimates on the pay-per-view numbers, all trending figures that are usual good indicators are not only far ahead of that show, but also ahead of UFC 189, headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes, which had far more promotional muscle behind it.
World Series of Fighting’s show head-to-head with the UFC pay-per-view, built around Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields for their welterweight title, did 244,000 viewers. Given the competition, and the later than usual start time (the show aired from 10:40 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. on NBC Sports Network), the number has to be considered a success, as it was above the usual 200,000 or so viewers they usually do in a better time slot without anywhere near as strong competition.
It’s almost a shame that the not-so-sudden transformation of Ronda Rousey from UFC champion to cultural figure totally obscured what looks to be the end of the career of one of the legends of a very different era.
When asked abo…
It’s almost a shame that the not-so-sudden transformation of Ronda Rousey from UFC champion to cultural figure totally obscured what looks to be the end of the career of one of the legends of a very different era.
When asked about the future of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 39, who suffered his third consecutive loss on Saturday night, UFC President Dana White suggested that we’ve seen the first Pride heavyweight champion compete in the cage for the last time.
“I don’t want to see Nogueira fight ever again,” said White.
“I love Big Nog, and I think everyone loves Big Nog. He’s such a good guy. He’s respected by everybody, and he and I actually talked tonight. I’m done. I don’t want to see him fight anymore. He doesn’t disagree. He and I are going to get together, and we’re going to talk. I’m probably going to give him the Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and Forrest Griffin deal. I’m going to bring him in and make him an employee.”
Nogueira’s loss at UFC 190 to Stefan Struve was his 46th pro fight in a career that dates back to small shows in the U.S. in 1999, and almost immediate stardom as the largely acknowledged best heavyweight in the sport during its infancy.
Nogueira became a star in Japan in the old RINGS promotion, and a far bigger star as one of the big three heavyweights, with Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop, of the Pride era. Known for his submission skills and durability in his heyday, he was realistically past his prime when he first came to UFC in 2007 with a 29-4-1, 1 no contest record, but still won a championship and had eight more years of high-profile fights.
Nogueira was largely considered the best heavyweight in the sport after a 2001 win over Mark Coleman. Coleman had won Pride’s 16-man Open Weight Grand Prix tournament, a monumental event in the sport’s history, the year before. That win made Coleman “the man” on the Japanese scene. Nogueira submitted him in 6:10 of a 10-minute first round with a triangle from the bottom.
Beating the guy who had just won the tournament acknowledged Nogueira as unofficial champion. It was in his next fight, on Nov. 3, 2001, where he defeated Heath Herring, where he officially became Pride’s first world heavyweight champion.
He was considered No. 1 in the world until his loss to Fedor Emelianenko on March 16, 2003, at the Yokohama Arena in Japan. Pride was a Wild, Wild West style of fighting, unregulated, and with a different rule set, but acknowledged to have most of the best heavyweights in the sport at that time. From 2003 until 2008, Emelianenko was considered the king of the heavyweights, but a strong argument can be made Nogueira was No. 2 for that entire period.
During his heyday, Emelianenko was the one obstacle he was never able to overcome. A strong favorite against the widely unknown Russian when they fought the first time, Emelianenko was able to beat on Nogueira and maintain top position on the ground for 20 minutes in their first meeting. It was the first time Nogueira had faced someone with that level of takedown ability combined with that level of submission defense.
A rematch on Aug. 15, 2004, the finals of a 16-man tournament held over four months, was ruled a no-contest in 3:52 when the two bonked heads and Emelianenko suffered a deep cut. The fight had to be stopped. Nogueira in later interviews claimed he felt that was the night he would have beaten his biggest career rival, as he was threatening him from the bottom with submissions.
But Emelianenko clearly won another decision in their Dec. 31, 2004, rematch with both the Pride title and the 2004 Grand Prix tournament championship at stake.
It was a career that saw Nogueira first gain fame by winning a 32-man tournament in RINGS that took place from late 2000 and finished in early 2001. That led to a Pride deal, a run that included both a Pride heavyweight and interim heavyweight title, as well as a UFC interim heavyweight title.
His Japan run included one of the more amazing spectacle fights in history, against 360-pound Bob Sapp. While Sapp later became a joke as a fighter, as he stopped training after becoming a major celebrity in Japan, he was a muscular monster with surprising agility for his size and a one-time college football star at the University of Washington.
Nogueira was the Pride champion when the two met on Aug. 28, 2002, at Tokyo National Stadium, before what is still the largest crowd to witness an MMA event, approximately 71,000 fans in an 80,000-seat stadium. It was one among the most memorable fights of the Pride era. Nogueira charged after Sapp, who picked him up and spiked him, almost like a pro wrestling piledriver. For the next nearly 14 minutes, Nogueira was on his back taking blows, until Sapp tired, and fell victim to an armbar.
While a strong guy getting tired and losing in come-from-behind fashion happens every weekend in modern MMA, in those days of usually quick and explosive fights, those type of comebacks after a prolonged beating were the exception. And today, with weight restrictions, you aren’t going to see a fight with a 130-pound weight differential. But that set the template for many of Nogueira’s biggest wins, including his Mirko Cro Cop win in 2003 and his UFC interim title win over Tim Sylvia in 2008.
Unfortunately, having a reputation for being able to survive major beatings and find the opening for a late submission may be great for short-term popularity, but it catches up with everyone. With Nogueira, it seemed like he got old right in front of everyone’s eyes instantly.
It was at the time considered a shocking loss on Dec. 27, 2008, when he dropped his UFC interim title to Frank Mir, a heavy underdog. Nogueira was not himself, as he was moving in slow motion, being nowhere near fully recovered from a staph infection. At the time, at 32, he appeared to be a shot fighter. But he rebounded with a win over Randy Couture in a thrilling fight. But age clearly caught up to him when he was knocked out in the first round by next era star Cain Velasquez, and won only two of his final seven bouts.
Let’s look at how Fortunes Changed for Five of Saturday night’s stars:
RONDA ROUSEY – There isn’t much left to say about Rousey past the point that more than any fighter of this era, if this sport is around in another century, people who look back on her like this era’s version like a modern day Babe–that is, Babe Ruth, the enduring baseball legend whose power game was decades ahead of its time, or Babe Didrickson Zaharias, arguably the greatest American female athlete of all-time.
The record speaks for itself, not just 12 fights and 12 finishes, but winning nine of those fights in 66 seconds or less.
As a fighter, she came in as the champion, was expected to leave as champion in a quick fight, and did just that. But as a mainstream sports star and cultural figure, she seems to have taken a major step upward.
Her next fight with Miesha Tate should be even bigger, and the sky is the limit for a fight with Cris Cyborg Justino, if that fight is ever to happen. As big as that fight looked in 2012 when UFC first started working on it, from a business standpoint, it’s probably for the best it hasn’t happened yet. When Dana White threw out a prediction of two million pay-per-view buys if they fight, people largely thought he was either crazy or it was just promoter hyperbole. Now he’s upped that prediction to 2.5 million, a number that only one event in history, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, has ever done.
While that still sounds awfully high, after four years in this sport, it’s well established that when it comes to fight outcomes, or business success, you’ll go broke betting on Rousey to fail.
BETHE CORREIA – Rousey’s latest B-side victim fell to 9-1, but in her position, there is no end to prospective opponents. The name of fellow Brazilian Jessica Andrade (13-4) came up in the press conference, but Correia has enough name recognition to be in a main card fight against other former Rousey victims like Cat Zingano (9-1), Alexis Davis (17-6), Liz Carmouche (10-5) or Sarah Kaufman (17-3).
But this past week will almost surely be her five minutes of fame, because it’s almost impossible to conceive of a Rousey vs. Correia rematch.
MAURICIO “SHOGUN” RUA – Rua (23-10) took a close decision over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the twin brother of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in a rematch of a classic 2005 fight in Pride. In those days, they were two of the most amazing fighters of the era. Today, Rua was coming off two knockout losses, and this was only his second win in his last six fights.
Even in a light heavyweight division that lacks depth right now, Rua’s role is as a familiar name who will either be fed to people on the way up, or put with contemporaries. In the post-fight press conference, the name Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (36-11) came up, and it’s really the right fight for both men at this stage of their careers. Like with Nogueira, this would be a rematch of a 2005 fight that Rua won in the first round of the Pride middleweight (205 pound) Grand Prix tournament. It was that tournament win, a decade ago, that with hindsight is going to be one of Rua’s two crowning achievements, along with his 2010 UFC light heavyweight title win over Lyoto Machida.
CLAUDIA GADELHA – Gadelha (13-1), scored a clear win over former World Series of Fighting champion Jessica Aguilar (18-5) in what was a battle for the No. 1 contender spot in the women’s strawweight division.
This sets up a title match with champion Jonna Jedrzejczyk (10-0) next, a rematch of the Dec. 13, 2014 fight that ended up as a very disputed split decision loss for Gadelha. Right now it appears these two women are a step above everyone else in the division, and could end up being career rivals. It’s the classic grappler vs. striker battle, but things have changed since their first meeting. Gadelha’s striking has improved, although she doesn’t appear to be at Jedrzejczyk’s level. Jedrzejczyk’s takedown defense has improved as well, so we may be in for a different style of fight.
DEMIAN MAIA – At nearly 38, Maia likely doesn’t have much time left, but he completely dominated Neil Magny (15-5) on Saturday, breaking Magny’s seven-fight winning streak.
Maia is either the bottom guy on the top rung, or the top guy on the second rung, positioned behind champion Robbie Lawler and the key contenders, Johny Hendricks, Carlos Condit, Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley.
He’s already fought and lost to MacDonald via decision, and the other four names look to be facing each other later this year.
Given the situation with none of the top contenders open for him, the best bet may be to put together a test for hardcore fans, against Gunnar Nelson (14-1-1). If that fight goes to the ground, the level of Jiu Jitsu would be some of the highest-level in modern UFC. If Maia can win that, hopefully for him he can get a top contender fight next.
