Author: Josh Martin

UFC 134 was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect night for the sport of mixed martial arts. The fans in the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro were boisterous and passionate, which made the show feel like an even bigger deal than it already was.

As for the show, it was one of the best events of the year. There were great fights and exciting finishes to be found up and down the card.

Saturday night was a monumental night for UFC because it was their first foray into Brazil since 1998, and given the way the country reacted to this show, it will not be that long before they make a return trip.

With that in mind, here are the three best moments from UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro.

3. Erick Silva’s Lightning Quick KO of Luis Ramos

Erick Silva and Luis Ramos entered UFC 134 largely unknown to most people watching the event, but in Brazil these two men are superstars. Both have been champions for rival promotions in the country and the crowd was on the edge of their seats when the fight started.

The crowd didn’t have time to get comfortable in their seats because Silva knocked Ramos down in about 30 seconds and shortly after that the fight was over.

2. Rousimar Palhares and Dan Miller Fight

This was a one-sided affair that Palhares dominated from start to finish, but Miller did not give in at any point. Miller’s left eye was covered in blood and the referee nearly stopped the fight at the end of the second round.

But Miller came out in the third round and gave Palhares everything he had for the final five minutes. Palhares was gassed in the third round and seemed shocked that Miller was still standing. The two men hugged after the fight as a show of respect for the war that they had just put their bodies through.

1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Is Back

“Big Nog” had not fought since a lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 110 in February 2010 because of a series of injuries that have been lingering for far longer than you would think.

But those setbacks did not prevent Nogueira from scoring his first knockout victory since 2005. He worked so hard to be able to compete on this show because it could be his last major fight on Brazilian soil.

He left the fans in attendance and watching around the world with a memory that they will never forget.

There are moments in sports that will stick with you forever. UFC 134 featured one of those moments when Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira knocked out Brendan Schaub three minutes into the first round.

Fighting in front of a partisan hometown crowd, Nogueira made his return to the octagon following an 18 month layoff due to a series of nagging injuries that seemed like they would never heal, and he left the crowd in attendance and everyone watching around the world with a moment that they will never forget.

“Minotauro” will go down in history as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time. And he is unquestionably the greatest submission fighter of his generation. But he had a lot of questions that he had to answer against Schaub and he was able to do that.

It is no secret that Nogueira’s days in mixed martial arts are numbered. At age 36 and with 41 professional fights under his belt, his body has taken a pounding and he has become a shell of his former self.

But he came into this fight in the best shape that he has been in in years, which is remarkable considering that he said he ended his rehab early to train for this fight, and ended up knocking out one of the rising stars in the heavyweight division.

This victory by Nogueira will stand alongside Tito Ortiz’ submission win over Ryan Bader at UFC 132 as the most surprising result from 2011, but what made this victory special was the crowd.

Everyone in the HSBC Arena treated Nogueira like a returning hero and wanted to see him win so badly that when the referee stopped the fight, the emotion came pouring out of every fan in the arena and Nogueira was clearly overwhelmed by it.

Defining a perfect moment is impossible because “perfection” means many things to many different people, but Nogueira’s victory over Schaub was, for all intents and purposes, as close to a perfect moment as you can get in sports.

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua proved why he is one of the most dangerous fighters in the world at UFC 134 by dominating Forrest Griffin en route to scoring a first round knockout.

Following Rua’s devastating loss to Jon Jones earlier this year, his career could have gone in one of two ways: It could have ruined him for the rest of his career or served as motivation to get better to earn another title shot.

Given the way that he dismantled Griffin on Saturday night, it is clear that Rua followed the latter path. The win was extra sweet for Rua, who lost to Griffin at UFC 76 when he made his debut with the promotion following the Zuffa acquisition of PRIDE.

In that fight, Griffin scored a submission victory late in the third round and he was able to parlay that victory into a light heavyweight title shot against Quinton Jackson, a fight which Griffin would go on to win.

On the UFC Countdown special that aired on Spike TV this week, Rua said that he wasn’t mentally prepared for that first fight and took it lightly.

There was no doubt that he was prepared to fight this time around, and those nagging injuries that kept him out of action for 10 months between May 2010 and March 2011 are completely healthy now.

Rua made Griffin, who is still a top 10 light heavyweight, look like a sparring partner. He connected with a right hand that sent Griffin down to the mat and Rua pounced on him right away with hammer fists. Griffin was on Dream Street after the fourth one and the referee called a stop to the fight.

It was a huge victory for Rua, who needed the win to stay close to title contention – though he will likely need to win at least one more fight before he earns a shot – and he was able to avenge his first loss as a UFC fighter in the process.