No Revenge in Sao Paulo
It was a busy day for the UFC as two cards were ready to go on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean with plenty of fighters looking to make their mark.
It was also a day of rematches with UFC Fight Night 99 featuring the second fight between Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall.
In that fight, Mousasi got his revenge on one loss that had haunted him while he continued his rise through the middleweight division.
In Brazil Antonio Rogério Nogueira was looking to do the same against Ryan Bader although in a slightly different way.
In the first fight of the day, the loss for Mousasi was only a year ago while at UFC Fight Night 100 the fight was six years ago.
That made things a little bit interesting for this rematch as it meant that these two fighters had evolved in a major way since the last time they faced off.
Generally, rematches are about settling a score but this much distance in between the fights lead to plenty of experience and octagon time in between with neither fighter really considering a rematch.
Nogueira might have wanted it more as the last time these two fought it was Bader who came out on top via Unanimous Decision.
In that card, they were simply another fight but this time around they were the main event in Brazil with a little more on the line.
It had been a long time since they entered the octagon together and that can make things more difficult in training.
On one hand, these fighters have already faced off and they have experienced what the other has to offer in a fight.
On the other hand, these two fighters had not stayed the same since 2010 with both evolving and finding new parts to their game.
After his win, Bader moved on to fight some of the biggest names in the division but dropped many of them losing to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz.
He then went on to put together a great few years of fights where he won more than he lost but did lose in some of his most important fights.
For Nogueira, it hasn’t been as active with injuries cancelling many of his fights after his loss to Bader.
He also has not had as much consistency in the octagon with long streaks regularly being snapped.
Heading into UFC Fight Night 100 Nogueira had a win and was looking to start a streak towards the light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson.
The fight was cancelled and Nogueira instead got his chance to avenge a loss against Bader and string two wins together.
The fights in between their two matchups brought plenty of growth for both fighters who learned how to adjust and get better.
Bader was surely the more evolved fighter as he came into the fight winning six of his last seven fights with the only loss coming at the hands of the top contender, Anthony Johnson.
He had the chance to continue a bit of momentum and put his name into the conversation for the light heavyweight title.
All he needed to do was improve on his first outing against Nogueira and show his new skills and his development.
If he could do that the title shot was in his sight even with his history of losing big fights.
For Nogueira, it was a chance for him to get back into the title conversation after years of fighting.
He remained outside looking in and with his recent consistency issues but a win against someone fighting as well as Bader would surely put him closer.
When the fight started things weren’t looking promising for Bader as Nogueira began landing some big shots in what seemed like the beginning of the end for Bader.
Then the wrestler took over as Bader brought the fight to the mat and stayed active on top throughout the rest of the round.
The next two rounds saw the exact same as Bader continued to take the fight to the ground and continued his ground and pound.
Eventually, in the third, it was too much to take for Nogueira as the shots started to land and those shots caused the fight to be stopped.
The loss was a bad one for Nogueira and should likely be one of the last as he continues to lose and might want to consider joining his older brother as a retired fighter.
For Bader things just seem to be getting better and that is a good thing as he will move up the rankings and begin taking on tougher competition.
As he does he will look to continue to win and could be only a few fights away from a title shot.
The Sport Addiction 