How easily would Prime-Big Nog have submitted Francis?

[moreorless87]

Are we just assuming Nog was 25 in pride? Idgaf what his birth certificate says he was well into his 30s .

Its tempting to think that but the Nogs came from a middle class Brazilian family, very unlikely anything dodgy with birth dates happened.

Its more just a demonstration that its not the years but the milage IMHO, especially as Nog was fighting good comp from the early part of his career not gimmie fights for years. The first Mir fight as well probably isn't a true reflection of his level then, granted I think he was on the decline but not THAT much of a decline(as we saw vs Randy) with the Staph being a significant issue.

Grappling wise back in the day Nog was one of the best at hitting sweeps ever as well, look at the Sapp fight and he reverses a 350lbs guy with that arm sweep before he's even gassed.

 

[superpunch]

Nog really struggled and could have easily lost to Bob Sapp.

I think that Ngannou is more well rounded than Bob Sapp.

It's an interesting fight. Ngannou could win.

 

[drazco]

nog actually was decent boxer at his best. l remember dat fight vs kharitonov he did really good.but not the best headmovement(great chin though) obviously so somebody as big n powerful like francis could hurt him bad.my prediction would be nog by sub late after taking a beating

 

[JayE]

He was way past his prime when he fought Couture.... fortunately, so was Couture...so the fight was competitive and entertaining.....

That said, this is actually one of my all-time favorite fights.

You're right that he was well passed his prime years by then (his speed and striking had diminished dramatically), but I never saw Nog/Couture as a particularly competitive fight.

As for Nog/Ngannou, people are fooling themselves if they think that Ngannou wouldn't have posed a significant threat. Miocic is bigger, stronger, and a much better wrestler than Nogueira was. Nog would struggle to get Ngannou down early, and Ngannou would be a very real threat on the feet even with all his technical shortcomings.

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

Nogueira armbars Ngannou 6 minutes into the first round.

It would not be easy, but not too difficult either.

Somewhere in-between Nog vs Zulu and Nog vs Sapp on the "armbarring a giant black guy difficulty meter".

 

[RJK]

Only problem is Nog from Pride didn't have the gameplanning to pull off what Stipe did, nor the wrestling to get Ngannou down. He didn't have the head movement to avoid getting hit either.

Watch his fight with Bob Sapp - he was getting tagged repeatedly. Now imagine Ngannou doing that.

Even a hopelessly gassed Ngannou hurt Stipe when he hit. Nothing about Nog's style or ability lets me think even his chin would hold up before Ngannou gassed.

 

[lenbiasgoat]

All it took stipe to gas francis was half decent head movement.. He threw 10 hooks and missed damn near all of em and it was over.. Nog could easily do the same then drag him down on pure exhaustion. The sub is easy at that point

 

[PEDS Help me Post]

With the exception of Coleman, Sapp, and Schaub, Nog has successfully taken down every opponent he ever defeated... That's 30+ different fighters.
Nog, Werdum, Maia, etc don't have pretty takedowns, but they're very effective at getting them.

If Luis Henrique and William Baldutti can take Francis down.... so can Nog.

 

[hugemmafan22]

Big Country put a clinic on Nog...what would Francis do to him?

 

[moreorless87]

You're right that he was well passed his prime years by then (his speed and striking had diminished dramatically), but I never saw Nog/Couture as a particularly competitive fight.

As for Nog/Ngannou, people are fooling themselves if they think that Ngannou wouldn't have posed a significant threat. Miocic is bigger, stronger, and a much better wrestler than Nogueira was. Nog would struggle to get Ngannou down early, and Ngannou would be a very real threat on the feet even with all his technical shortcomings.

Wrestling wise I think Nog is underrated personally, he took down Crocop, Sylvia and Barnett. Part of the issue as well is that he wasn't afraid to end up on the bottom, that can be a massive advantage to offencive wrestling as you can see with someone like Maia, you can go deep into takedowns.

Ngannou would pose some threat to anyone early on but honestly I think Nog as a defencive boxer is superior to Stipe, quite a bit faster and lets remember his brother who trained in the same environment was good enough to become a Brazilian and South American armature champ. Sergei for example could not land anything big on Nog and we saw him utterly tool guys like Rizzo and Ninja.

 

[Bamboozled]

It would be hard for him to submit Ngannou while he was asleep with a level 3 concussion, Big Nog would not get him to the floor as easy as Stipe because Stipe is a wrestler not Big Nog

Stipe had a hard time getting Ngannou to the ground when they were both gassed. Nog also used to have the GOAT chin for MMA. So prime Nog would submit Ngannout just like he submitted everyone except Fedor.

 

[Taric]

Nog really struggled and could have easily lost to Bob Sapp.

I think that Ngannou is more well rounded than Bob Sapp.

It's an interesting fight. Ngannou could win.

Nog struggled with Sapp because he was power bombed on his head 5 seconds into the fight. Quite literally 5 seconds into the fight... Francis isn't capable of doing that to any HW.

It's really not the same kind of fight.

 

[Blayt7hh]

It's hard to say. Nog was always kind of plodding and flat footed. True he could absorb a crazy amount of damage, but also he didn't fight anyone hitting as hard as Francis.

Still, I'm a Pride fanboy and they are forever my heroes. Nog subs him in the second.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Every damn round. Probably 2x per rd after the 3rd. If they change to a special rule set where Ngannou just have to ko/tko Big Nog.

 

[chillyoo]

Just because Stipe took the guy down now everyone with great BJJ would easily finish him there.

Well goodluck getting him there, it took everything Stipe had until he was gassed.

Can Big Nog stay awake? Idk mannn

Would root for BIG NOG till tears came tho

 

[moreorless87]

It's hard to say. Nog was always kind of plodding and flat footed. True he could absorb a crazy amount of damage, but also he didn't fight anyone hitting as hard as Francis.

Still, I'm a Pride fanboy and they are forever my heroes. Nog subs him in the second.

That was the UFC hype to try and disguise his decline but the reality is Nog was quick and light on his feet during his prime years, watch the Sergei fight.

Really the only times he looked bad standing in Pride were his inability to deal with Mirko's bodkicks and Fedor's speed plus those chained takedowns.

 

[moreorless87]

One thing that's not been mentioned as well is just how uncomfortable Ngannou looked taking kicks from Stipe, imagine what a prime Crocop would do to him back in the day.

 

[VERBAL-FEDOR]

One thing that's not been mentioned as well is just how uncomfortable Ngannou looked taking kicks from Stipe, imagine what a prime Crocop would do to him back in the day.

1 in a million? More like 1 trick pony....

 

[mmaelitefan000]

love nog but even a prime young nog, it'd be HARD. ngannou isn't human. if nog fights smart lets ngannou outswing himself AND gets it to the ground, then NOG takes it.

 

[smellmyfarts]

If the fight included USADA, that "lean 235lb Pride-Big Nog" you speak of wouldn't be allowed to compete.

Anyways, The big black buck sleeps prime Nog at least 50% of the time IMO. He got outclassed by a VERY well rounded fighter on Saturday. While his cardio needs work, he's certainly no bum.