UFC 102
| UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 29, 2009 | |||
| Venue | Rose Garden | |||
| City | Portland, Oregon | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on August 29, 2009 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.[1] It will feature former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, facing off against former PRIDE Heavyweight champion and former UFC Interim Heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Background
Randy Couture was originally offered a title defense against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81, however turned the fight down after his resignation from the UFC in October 2007.[2] While Couture and the UFC sorted out their legal issues,[3] Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship becoming the first fighter to hold both PRIDE and UFC title belts.[4] Nogueira was then set to coach against Frank Mir on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter with the two facing off for the Interim Championship after the season aired.[5]
In the meantime Couture and the UFC reconciled and it was announced that he would return to the Octagon to defend his title against Brock Lesnar at UFC 91.[6] Neither Couture or Nogueira were successful in their defense efforts[7][8] and will now face each other in what amounts to the losers bracket of the UFC's mini heavyweight tournament.[9]
Fight card changes
A previously announced bout between Kyle Kingsbury and Razak Al-Hassan has been moved to UFC 104 in Los Angeles, California on October 24, 2009.[10]
Matt Hamill pulled out of a bout with Brandon Vera due to injury. Krzysztof Soszynski has taken his place.[11]
A knee injury has forced James Irvin out of his bout with Wilson Gouveia and will be replaced by Ed Herman.[12] On August 7, 2009 it was reported that Gouveia was also off the card due to a back injury.[13]
Marcus Aurelio will be replacing an injured Matt Veach.[14]
Official fight card
Main card
- Heavyweight bout:
Randy Couture vs. 
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira[1] - Light Heavyweight bout: Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva[1]
- Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia[1]
- Marquardt defeated Maia via knock out (Falcon Punch) at 0:21 of the first round
- Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt[1]
- Rosholt defeated Leben via Arm Triangle Choke in the third round
- Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs.
Krzysztof Soszynski [1]
- Vera defeated Soszynski via Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-100)
References
- ^ a b c d e f "UFC 102". Ufc.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
- ^ "RANDY COUTURE TURNS DOWN TITLE DEFENSE - MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more". Mma Weekly. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ "Couture is target of UFC lawsuit - Sports - ReviewJournal.com". Lvrj.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Nogueira Becomes First to Hold UFC, PRIDE Belts". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ "UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®". Ufc.com. 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ Nate, Kid. "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Randy Couture Returns to UFC; UFC 91: Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar in Las Vegas". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ November 16, 2008 (2008-11-16). "UFC 91: Results And Recap". Five Ounces of Pain. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/12/28/ufc-92-quick-results/
- ^ Meltzer, Dave. "Breaking down the UFC heavyweight tourney - UFC - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ "Kyle Kingsbury vs. Razak Al-Hassan bout moved from UFC 102 to fall". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
- ^ "Injured Matt Hamill replaced by Krzysztof Soszynski in UFC 102 bout with Brandon Vera". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ Roling, Leland. ""James Irvin has suffered another massive setback, this time with a knee injury. He will obviously..." Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Morgan, John. "Back injury forces Wilson Gouveia off of "UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira" preliminary card". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ Morgan, John. "Marcus Aurelio replaces injured Matt Veach and fights Evan Dunham on UFC 102 prelims". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
