Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira are both legends of the sport and will each look to prove that they still have gas left in the tank.Both fighters are coming off of losses, but both are still very competitive fighters with some significance in t…
Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira are both legends of the sport and will each look to prove that they still have gas left in the tank.
Both fighters are coming off of losses, but both are still very competitive fighters with some significance in their division.
Tito Ortiz recently secured a submission victory over Ryan Bader after hurting him.
Little Nog has lost his last two bouts, but he was competitive in each of them and showed remarkable takedown defense in his most recent fight against Phil Davis, the most credentialed wrestler at 205.
This is a fight that could have happened years ago, when both fighters were two of the world’s top-five light heavyweights. But even with the delay, this promises to be a competitive and exciting bout worth watching.
The Nogueira brothers, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Antônio Rogério Nogueira, are the best pair of brother-fighters in mixed martial arts history. They’re the only pair of identical twins to both post highl…
The Nogueira brothers, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Antônio Rogério Nogueira, are the best pair of brother-fighters in mixed martial arts history. They’re the only pair of identical twins to both post highly successful MMA careers.
Not only do they look exactly alike, but their parents apparently thought it would be amusing to name them both after their father Antônio. With only the subtlest of differences in their given middle names, there is no way to differentiate between the two by using their given names. They even have the same moniker—Minotauro.
For those who are unfamiliar with the brothers, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira has been dubbed “Big Nog” because he fights at Heavyweight. Antônio Rogério Nogueira fights at Light Heavyweight, so he’s “Little Nog.” That way, MMA fans can keep track of which Nogueira their talking about.
There is also one important thing that almost nobody knows about the Nogueira brothers: They’re both going to win and win decisively this coming Saturday at UFC 140.
Big Nog will be facing Frank Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion with a ton of momentum. Frank Mir is coming into this fight overconfident and slightly under-prepared. He beat Big Nog a little so easily in their first fight that he just can’t help it: He views Big Nog as an over-rated under-skilled fighter who is way past his prime.
Come fight night, we’re going to see the larger Nogueira brother come in more determined than we’ve ever seen him. He is on the brink of being released from the UFC and fading into irrelevance.
Also consider that coming into their first fight, nobody ever heard of “Frank Mir the knockout artist.” I think that fight is where Mir realized that he actually might be a lot better striker than anyone thought he was. Being the 38th fight to face Big Nog and the first to knock him out is a huge confidence builder.
Big Nog didn’t know that Frank Mir was a one-punch knockout threat back then. Nobody did. This time around, Mir has no new surprises to bring to the table. He knows very well how to nullify power strikers and he will nullify Frank’s stand-up game this time.
At UFC 140 we’re going to see the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu clash of the titans we all thought we were going to see at UFC 92 and Big Nog is going to win that chess match by submitting Frank in the third round.
Little Nog is also on the brink, but he’s got an even bigger reason to put on the best fight of his career this Saturday. Unlike his larger brother, Lil Nog has always been a step or two shy of becoming a world champion but he’s never been able to seal the deal. The saying, “It’s now or never” was never truer than it is now with Lil Nog.
So how will he beat Tito Ortiz? It’s a lot simpler than you might think. Since his recent return to the octagon, Tito has been very consistent at one thing: Being inconsistent. After having his career resurrecting moment against Ryan Bader, he put on another disappointing performance against Rashad Evans.
The trouble is, Tito is already a living legend in the UFC and mixed martial arts. He doesn’t really have anything else to prove at this point. And Rogério has all the skills to equal Tito across the board. At any stage of both fighters’ careers, this would have been a close fight.
A very motivated and hungry Little Nog is going to light Tito up with punches all night and Tito won’t be able to keep the fight on the ground where he is safer. “Nogueira-light” wins this fight by unanimous decision.
There is one thing that I can’t for the life of me sort out: Why on earth is this card booked to happen in Canada?? When you have the most famous pair of brothers in MMA history on the same card, if you have any common sense at all, you put that card where it does the most for your bottom line. So why on earth are these two fights happening in Brazil?
Little did the fans watching UFC 13 on May 30, 1997 know they were witnessing the beginning of a legendary career.Tito Ortiz (16-9-1 MMA, 15-9-1 UFC) made his professional debut and outclassed Wes Albritton to earn his first career technical-knockout v…
Little did the fans watching UFC 13 on May 30, 1997 know they were witnessing the beginning of a legendary career.
Tito Ortiz (16-9-1 MMA, 15-9-1 UFC) made his professional debut and outclassed Wes Albritton to earn his first career technical-knockout victory.
Ortiz went on to collect three additional victories, which earned him the opportunity for championship gold by facing Wanderlei Silva, who had twice as many fights as Ortiz did at the time.
Five grueling rounds later at UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3 in April 2000, Ortiz became the UFC light heavyweight champion, and a star was born.
The outspoken and confident Ortiz went on to defeat Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic and Vladimir Matyushenko. Three of those bouts ended in the opening round, courtesy of Ortiz’ vicious ground-and-pound.
A five-fight win streak led him to UFC 40, where he faced Ken Shamrock in one of Ortiz’ most highly-anticipated fights of the year.
Three years prior, Ortiz defeated Shamrock’s teammate Guy Mezger at UFC 19 by technical knockout in the first round. Shamrock wasn’t pleased with Ortiz’ victory or post-fight celebration, and the rivalry was born.
However, on November 22 inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on an card that featured Hall of Famers Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell, Shamrock had little to offer Ortiz in terms of punishment for the actions the elder Shamrock felt were inappropriate.
For 15 minutes, Ortiz battered his foe with heavy strikes both standing and on the mat. It was Ortiz who dished out the punishment, and after three rounds of being on the receiving end of a one-sided beatdown, Shamrock’s corner called a stop to the action.
Ortiz’ career was in full swing, and he was the most polarizing athlete in the sport by 2002.
Next came the unexpected with back-to-back losses to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, but Ortiz pulled himself together like champions do and won five consecutive fights.
He defeated former champions Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin, Patrick Cote and Ken Shamrock two additional times by first-round technical knockout.
Whether they loved him or hated him due to his pre-fight hype, fans loved to see Ortiz compete, and “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” delivered once he stepped inside the Octagon.
After a career full of positives filled with championship fights, Ortiz fell on hard times and didn’t collect another victory for five fights.
He lost to bitter rival Chuck Liddell, fought to a draw with Rashad Evans and lost on the judge’s scorecards to Forrest Griffin and Lyoto Machida.
With the exception of his loss to Liddell, Ortiz’ losses to the three aforementioned men were close contests.
However, it was a loss at UFC 121 to Matt Hamill that saw Ortiz at his worst. Sure, he was still “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” but he appeared to have lost his swagger and needed a positive team behind him.
A variety of severe injuries and surgeries to his knees, back and neck forced Ortiz to compete at far less than 100 percent for the later stages in his career.
That loss to Hamill was arguably the most important fight of his career as he formed a new team around him that would install the confidence fans and media alike came to know.
He was no longer the outspoken Ortiz who got into the head of his opponents for years, he returned as a confident light heavyweight that wasn’t ready to call it quits.
At UFC 132 on July 2 of this year, Ortiz faced heavy favorite Ryan Bader, who oddsmakers considered a shoe-in to defeat Ortiz and send him into retirement.
However, with coaches Jason Parillo, Michael Giovanni Rivera and Ricardo Abreu in his corner, Ortiz had plans of his own.
At the 3:19 mark in Round 1, Ortiz landed a flush right hand that sent Bader crumbling to the canvas, and after a series of strikes from top position, Ortiz quickly transitioned to a guillotine choke and Bader was forced to submit.
Months of hard work with his new coaches and training partners paid off in one minute and 56 seconds with his dominant victory over Bader.
Competing at full health with a great team behind him, Ortiz decided to accept a short-notice fight with Rashad Evans in a rematch at UFC 133 four weeks later.
While he was unsuccessful in defeating Evans, Ortiz proved that he has the heart of a champion, an attribute no fighter can take away from a man.
Four months removed from his fight this past August, Ortiz is slated to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140 live on pay-per-view this Saturday night in Toronto.
Ortiz has continued training under the tutelage of Parillo, Rivera and Abreu in preparation for his return, and there’s no doubt he wants to close out the 2011 campaign in the win column.
Win, lose or draw, if it holds true that Ortiz is considering calling it a career on May 30, 2012 as he told Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press at yesterday’s UFC 140 open workouts, he’ll go down in the record books as a pioneer and legend of the sport.
Only time will tell what the future holds for “The People’s Champ,” but one thing is certain, Ortiz’ place in the UFC Hall of Fame should be unquestioned.
Tune in Saturday night for Ortiz’ televised main card bout against Nogueira live on pay-per-view at 9:00 pm EST. For additional information on UFC on Fox II, follow Joshua Carey onTwitter.
Just a friendly reminder that we’ll have the UFC 140 pre-fight press conference stream here starting at 1:00 pm ET. At the event, which will take place at the Toronto International Film Festival Lightbox, will be main card participants Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, Antonio Rodrigio Nogueira, Frank Mir, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Tito Ortiz.
Will Tito keep shoving his self-invented, “The People’s Champion” moniker down everyone’s throats?
Will Frank Mir tell everyone how much better he is than the Nogueiras?
Wil Jon Jones explain why he will always be the betting favorite in his future fights?
All of these questions and more will be answered after the jump at 1:00.
Just a friendly reminder that we’ll have the UFC 140 pre-fight press conference stream here starting at 1:00 pm ET. At the event, which will take place at the Toronto International Film Festival Lightbox, will be main card participants Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, Antonio Rodrigio Nogueira, Frank Mir, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Tito Ortiz.
Will Tito keep shoving his self-invented, “The People’s Champion” moniker down everyone’s throats?
Will Frank Mir tell everyone how much better he is than the Nogueiras?
Wil Jon Jones explain why he will always be the betting favorite in his future fights?
Filed under: UFC, NewsTORONTO — When you get to be a fighter of Tito Ortiz’s age and stature, there’s really no escaping these kinds of questions. Not for long, anyway. People see you fighting into your mid-30s with mixed success and they want to know…
TORONTO — When you get to be a fighter of Tito Ortiz‘s age and stature, there’s really no escaping these kinds of questions. Not for long, anyway. People see you fighting into your mid-30s with mixed success and they want to know, how long can he keep this up? Perhaps what they really want to know is, how long does he think he can keep this up?
In other words, it’s the kind of question where you don’t necessarily expect an honest or even realistic answer. Maybe that’s why Ortiz’s response at Wednesday’s UFC 140 open workouts was so surprising.
“May 30, 2012,” he told reporters. At first it sounded like a joke. As if he was getting intentionally overly specific to mock the idea that something like this could be planned. After all, May 30 is a Wednesday. Is he going to end his career with a sparring session?
Then he kept going, and it became clear: Tito is serious about this.
“That’ll be 15 years,” Ortiz said of the May 30th mark. “15 years has been my goal. I make it to 15 years, that’d be my second fight, finishing this contract, maybe it’s time to hang up the gloves, walk away while I’m still healthy. I don’t want to get any more surgeries. I have three boys. I have a family to take care of. I’ve made enough money to take care of my family now.”
And when you think about it, that’s the reasonable response. If anything, maybe it’s too reasonable. After some of his contemporaries have been dragged kicking and screaming from the sport, who would have guessed that Ortiz would be the level-headed one to set a date? Who would have guessed that Ortiz would be the one to realize about himself exactly what others have said of guys like Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva?
“What else do I got to prove?” Ortiz said. “I don’t have to prove anything else in this MMA world.”
But then, it’s one thing to set a date, and another thing entirely to keep it. Fighters think retirement sounds difficult in theory, but it’s nothing compared to the real thing. Many a pugilist has hung up the gloves, only to take them down and put them back on when the rocking chair didn’t prove to be as satisfying as they thought.
Ortiz says the date is “set in stone in my own mind,” and you have to admit he has some good reasons. The surgeries have piled up lately, his neck is an almost constant concern, and there’s the very real chance that he might stick around too long and do something to himself that cannot be undone. As he explained, he’d like to be able to play catch with his boys somewhere down the line, rather than grinding every last ounce of usefulness out of his body in pursuit of a paycheck he doesn’t really need at this point.
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He doesn’t expect retirement to come easy, he said, “but I don’t want to disrespect the sport. I don’t want to stay over my welcome. I want to make sure I walk away healthy. It’s a family decision for me.”
He even has an idea of how he’d like to go out between now and May 30 of next year, regardless of how Saturday night’s fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira turns out.
“My last fight I would love to be against Forrest [Griffin],” he said. “I think I deserve that. I beat him the first time. The second time we fought, I beat him and they gave it to him. Let’s do three of a kind.”
What, you thought just because he was leaving, he was going to stop being “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”? He might have the self-awareness to see for himself when the ride is over, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to start acting like the sport’s elder statesman just yet.
But you have to give him credit — or at least you will if actually sticks to his own plan. So many of his peers haven’t been able to recognize the end for what it is, even when it’s staring them in the face. Ortiz could go on, but that doesn’t mean he has to. Not after the time he’s put in, and the toll it’s already taken on him.
“15 years is a long time,” he said. “To get up and do what I do every single day for 15 years, it’s hard.”
After that long, waking up on the morning of May 31 and figuring out what to do next might not be so easy either.
The Nogueira brothers, 
TORONTO — When you get to be a fighter of 