UFC 102 Odds – Saturday, August 29, 10:00 PM ET

Randy Couture (16-9) vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1-1)

This heavyweight bout features two of the legendary fighters in MMA history, and both are coming off losses. Couture is a -180 favorite despite losing his belt to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, but that was a bad fight for him as Lesnar was too big for the “Natural” to control with his wrestling skill. Nogueira was beaten by Frank Mir at UFC 91 for the interim heavyweight title, but it was revealed that “Minotauro” had a staph infection which hospitalized him in the run-in to the fight. That, combined with being a +150 underdog, should be more than enough motivation for Nogueira to prove that he’s still a draw in the UFC. If you’re a betting management player, take Nogueira in the upset pick.

Thiago Silva (13-1) vs Keith Jardine (14-5-1)

Silva is coming off a loss to Lyoto Machida in a match for Machida’s light-heavyweight belt, as he was knocked out just before the end of the first round. Jardine, as known as the “Dean of Mean”, has lost three of his last five fights, but he can’t be counted out. Jardine has racked up wins over guys like Chuck Liddell, Brandon Vera and Forrest Griffin, which is the only reason I can come with for him being a -160 favorite against Silva, who will be hungry to make his way back up the 205-pound ladder after losing to Machida. He has devastating power, as 10 of his 13 wins have come by knockout, and he’s well versed in the ways of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. Jardine is in an unfamiliar spot as a favorite, and that could stand to hurt him in the long run. Go with Thiago Silva as a +130 underdog in your UFC sports picks next weekend.

First off I need to mention a new fighter has broken onto my “Must buy Pay-Per-View” list. We called him “Beard Guy”, but his god given name is Dustin Hazelett. He won me over by coming out to CCR’s Bad Moon Rising, then solidified his spot on my must-watch list by nearly breaking the arm of Tamdam McCroy with a reverse arm bar. Then, in the post fight interview, Hazelett told Joe Rogan his goal is to get the most “Submission of the Night” awards. This kid had me at CCR, but now I’m hooked.

In other awesomeness last night, Jeremy Stephens showed us all why HD is so important to professional fighting. The uppercut he landed on Rafael dos Anjos looked like it was straight out of a movie. The slow motion replay reminded me of that scene in Snatch where Brad Pitt’s character takes the uppercut and almost goes out for the night. Anjos’ face was whipped across his own head, the saliva flowing out his mouth while his eyes rolled a jackpot, and it showed why standard definition has no place in my UFC viewing.

While on the subject of slow motion replays, Garberial Gonzaga’s knockout on Josh Hendricks didn’t look like much until they replayed it. The near side replay it almost looks like Gonzaga’s fist hit Hendricks chin, then slid down to his shoulder and went through his body. It was sick.

Now of course, Kenny Florian fought tonight, and while he is on my “Must Buy PPV” list, it was pretty much by-the-numbers domination by Ken Flo. Nothing too spectacular about that fight.

Best fight of the night, according to my living room, saw Aaron Riley defeat Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision. This was the only fight all night which went the distance. These two pounded the snot out of eachother and put in a hell of an effort. I’m glad the UFC was able to get this on the telecast.

Now we get to the main event. Brock Lesnar Vs. Randy Couture. For those who don’t know, Brock Lesnar was an NCAA wrestling champion and he held the WWE World Title on many occasions. Couture has been something of a mutant in the world of MMA. He held the heavyweight title at the age of 45. He has retired, come back to won the belt, then fought with the UFC over contract issues (read: money), and spent the last year on the shelf. Randy Couture put in a hell of a first round, and managed to wear Lesnar down a bit. He even opened a cut above Lesnar’s eye. Lesnar’s freakishly large self was able to finally get some solid leather on Couture’s face in the second round. Randy Couture went down, Brock Lesnar pounced on him and became the first person to ever hold both the WWE World title and the UFC Heavyweight title.

Overall this was a solid event. We saw some some great jiu-jitsu, a few spectacular knockouts, and a changing of the guard. If you are at all interested in MMA I would suggest going out and finding a way to see this event.

[tags]mma, ufc, brock lesnar, randy couture[/tags]