"Minotauro" Noguiera scratched from UFC 108 main event

The hits just keep on coming.

The replacement fight for the scratched Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin heavyweight title fight, has now been broken up as well for UFC 108 as Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera has suffered a severe staph infection and will be unable to fight undefeated Cain Velasquez in their No. 1 contender showdown.

If you're keeping score at home, that is two top heavyweights now down for the count -- Lesnar and Noguiera.

Once again, this is devastating news for the UFC which can't seem to buy a break these days.

"Nogueira got staph infection, bad, to the point now it’s in his bloodstream, and he’s probably going to have to be hospitalized and intravenously given the antibiotics," UFC president Dana White revealed at the UFC 105 post-event press conference.

"It’s crazy," White said, "In nine years of being in this business, we haven’t had this many injuries in one year."

So unless White can scrounge up some other sort of main event caliber of fight, it appears that the Rashad Evans/Thiago Silva fight will be promoted up to main event and perhaps some other fight will be put together to boost the main card.

However, this is probably more disconcerting to Noguiera. This is now the second time in just under a year in which the great Brazilian fighter has fallen victim to staph. Do they not clean the mats down there in Brazil? I don't get it. It doesn't seem to be affecting any other fighter from that camp so maybe Noguiera just doesn't like to shower?

Whatever the case maybe, Noguiera needs to recover from this and recover fully to continue to be a force in the heavyweight division. If for whatever reason he is unable to get back to 100 percent, he will be passed over by guys like Velasquez, Kongo and Dos Santos.

"Minotauro" Noguiera would like re-match Frank Mir at UFC 107

Move over Cheick Kongo says, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera after taking a unanimous decision win against Randy Couture last weekend at UFC 102. Now "Minotauro" would like to re-match Frank Mir at UFC 107 (where Mir is set to face Kongo) to redeem himself after being knocked out for the first and only time in his illustrious career at UFC 92 last December.

"Minotauro" Noguiera:

"If I was making excuses, I would have been making excuses right after the fight. I’m not making excuses, I’m giving you a reason…. If Mir feels it’s an excuse, then lets get in the Octagon and see whether it’s an excuse or a reason in December and settle it. I’d love to fight Frank Mir at UFC 107."

I'm sure you would love to face Mir at UFC 107 there Big Nog. Sadly Mir is set to face Kongo and has no reason to face you again at this time. Mir has already beaten Noguiera, why would he want to face re-match him so soon? It serves no purpose for the former Heavyweight Champ. Now if Noguiera were to earn himself another win and Mir were to lose to Kongo then that fight would make sense but right now it reeks of a desperate man trying to find a shortcut to the title.

Sorry, no takers here.

Post event analysis of UFC 102

The UFC brass can't be much more proud of how their first foray into the Pacific Northwest fared Saturday night as they displayed UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera in Portland, Oregon live from the Rose Garden.

Over 16,000 fans filled the arena, producing a gate over $1.9 million while almost every one of the 11 fights proved to be exciting. None more than the main event between the two heavyweight legends.

Randy "The Natural" Couture (16-10) entered the fight against Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera (34-5-1) as a heavy favorite but it was Noguiera's superior boxing and ground game that was the difference in the fight as Noguiera went on to scrape the unanimous decision.

It was a battle in every round with the two Hall-of-Famers going toe-to-toe while unleashing the best of their striking arsenal upon their foe's face. The heavily Couture-sided crowd rose to its feet everytime Couture landed some big strikes that had Noguiera retreating or whenever he reversed the Brazilian's efforts on the ground.

An epic battle from start to finish that will certainly find a spot in the UFC's "top 100 fights".

Noguiera's win should propel him into the discussion for No. 1 contender of Brock Lesnar's heavyweight belt where about four or five other fighters consistently reside. The 34-year-old Brazilian says he's in top form, if he can keep it up a win over a guy like Cain Velasquez or Gabriel Gonzaga down the line could further propel him.

On the other side of the coin is Couture, who announced on Sunday that he has signed a six fight, 28 month contract extension with the UFC. What's amazing is the fact that at 46 years of age, Couture believes he is in the best shape of his career. So the Hall-of-Famer will go on fighting for another 28 months which will carry him well past his 48th birthday.

God bless "The Natural". What lies ahead? We'll see in the near future but rest assured, Couture will be fighting only the best.

Outside of the main event, there were a number of important developments from undercard fights. First off was Nate Marquardt dispatching fellow middleweight contender and previously undefeated Damien Maia (11-1) in 22 seconds with a highlight reel knockout.

Marquardt joins Dan Henderson as No. 1 contenders for Anderson Silva's middleweight belt. Both have previously fought -- and lost -- to Silva before and both, however, have improved especially Marquardt. Who the UFC chooses still looks to favor Henderson but remains in the air.

The other action was just as compelling and noteworthy.

Thiago Silva stunned Keith Jardine with a vicious right hand and some quick ground-and-pound for a TKO victory in under two minutes of their fight. Silva bounced back nicely with the win after the KO loss to Lyoto Machida, inserting himself right back into the picture while Jardine continues his trademark one step forward and one step backward march through the elite of the division. It leaves Jardine in a precarious position. He's a top 7 or 8 guy in the division but firmly set there -- no better and no worse.

Jake Rosholt took "submission of the night" honors and a $60,000 bonus for his choke out of Chris Leben. Gabriel Gonzaga finished Chris Tuchscherer impressively in one round with strikes and another heavyweight, Todd Duffee, continued bolster the division's depth by scoring a very impressive, seven second KO which set the UFC record.

The other nightly honors:

Fight of the night: Couture vs. Noguiera
Knockout of the night: Nate Marquardt

UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera interest lies beyond main event

At first glance the UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera card looks rather unspectacular, disappointing is a word I would use. In the main event, we have two fighters in the twilight of their careers looking to prove that they still have it against a similar past-his-prime fighter.

Randy Couture (16-9) will take on the legend Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (31-5-1) in the consolation bracket of the heavyweight tournament that began almost a year ago at UFC 91 with Couture facing Brock Lesnar. As far as implications to the division, this fight is about as interesting as watching a tournament on the Nationwide Tour.

Other than seeing a tactical fight between a great wrestler and the ultimate gameplanner in Couture against the world class jiu-jitsu of Noguiera, the main event offers little in the way of excitement.

But if you look further, beyond the main event you see four fights that are much more intriguing. The first of which is what appears to be a No. 1 contender match-up in the middleweight division between Nate Marquadt (31-8-2) and Demian Maia (11-0).

Both fighters are on impressive winning streaks. Obviously Maia has never lost, winning against former WEC middleweight champ Chael Sonnen and contenders Nate Quarry and Jason MacDonald most recently. Meanwhile, since losing a split decision to Thales Leites at UFC 85, Marquadt has gone on to impressive wins over Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia via TKO stoppages.

This fight has exciting written all over it.

Then there is the light heavyweight clash between top 10 contenders Keith Jardine (14-6-1) and Thiago Silva (13-1). Both fighters are coming off of tough losses that knocked them back out of the title discussion -- to "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida respectively.

The fighter who can bounce back on Saturday night will find himself right back in the mix while the other will have some searching to do after two straight losses to guys now ahead of him.

Two other fights also have my interest piqued. Another light heavyweight clash between two guys that are right on the edge of the top 10: Brandon "The Truth" Vera (10-3) and Krzysztof "The Polish Experiment" Soszynski (19-9-1). Soszynski has been extremely impressive since breaking into the UFC after The Ultimate Fighter season seven while Vera has been inconsistent since making the drop to 205 lbs.

The last fight I've got on my radar is a clash between former heavyweight title contender Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4) coming off a loss against Shane Carwin, and UFC newcomer Chris Tuchscherer (17-1). Gonzaga has been said to be in the best shape of his life, with a new determination in the sport since the knockout loss to Carwin.

In a division that has suddenly found some much needed strength at the top and depth in the middle, Gonzaga will need a big win to get himself back into the fray with the heavyweights. It is perhaps this fight, rather than the losers battle between a couple of past-their-primers in the main event, that could have greater implications to the future of the heavyweight division in the UFC.