The bonuses were announced at the UFC 102 postfight press conference and frankly UFC rookie Todd Duffee was robbed. He sets a UFC record with a seven second knockout and he doesn't get the $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus or even a piece? That award went to Nate Marquardt, who finished Demian Maia in just 21 seconds. Fight of the Night went to Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Jake Rosholt got Submission of the Night. Rose Garden Arena filled up pretty nicely by the end of the night with 16,088 and a $1.92 million gate. Although by the numbers, it appeared the promotion did some heavy "papering" of the joint to try and fill it up.
MMAConvert did a nice job of logging notes from the presser:
Dana: Thought they should have sold more tickets and wanted to sell out, but still a great night with great energy in the main event. Plans on coming back to Seattle first, then back to Portland.
It sounds like Vancouver will be next for the region, most likely next June.
Dana: Todd Duffee pulled me aside and told me he wants to fight again, soon. He wants the fast track and is eager to fight. I like that in guys so…I like him.
Can anyone say Junior Dos Santos? This guy looks like the American version. He'll find his way onto one of the November cards.
Randy: Never thought I was close to being done, but definitely got knocked on my ass a couple times. He had good positions, but I felt comfortable, knew where I was at. Fight hit all the positions we trained for. We did everything in this fight. Thought I did things well, but got caught a few times. Nogueira fought a great fight.
Couture was planted more than a few times. The power difference between a small and legit heavyweight was obvious throughout.
Randy: We signed a new contract today. 28 months, 6 more fights.
Good news for UFC fans. It means Couture will finish his career with the promotion. Bad news for fans of MMA, no Fedor Emelianenko versus Couture fight anytime soon.
Dana: Would love to see Randy at light heavyweight, but proved he can hang with the heavyweights. Randy can fight where he wants. Not sure anyone wants to see Randy-Chuck IV. Chuck texted me all night wanting to fight. So when he’s done dancing, he’s going to be looking for me.
Uh oh, sounds like Cagewriter was right back at UFC 97 when he told White, Liddell would be back. You can't stop Liddell from climbing back into the Octagon.
Nogueira: Was in hospital for seven days with staph infection twenty days before the fight. Tore my meniscus in my knee, wasn’t prepared for Mir fight. Staph made me weak, gave me fever for a few days.
You have to wonder how this makes Frank Mir feel. The Big Nog injuries are making Mir's win at UFC 92 look less significant by the day.
Dana: Don’t know if Nogueira will get Brock/Carwin winner.
It's the fight that makes sense. But that's a long time to wait for Nogueira. Unless Lesnar or Carwin win via destruction, the champ probably wouldn't fight again until March 2010 at the earliest
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are the only thing that motivates us. Please leave comments. Thank You!