Nogueira va Ricco Rodriguez was discussed here greatly.
Yep a very contentious one. Especially where it would have really bolstered ricos legacy if given the decision where nogueira is regarded so highly.
This one only confounds people who score PRIDE fights by UFC judging criteria. Ricco got TDs and spent a lot of the fight in the top position, but that scores you points on UFC cards, not PRIDE cards. In PRIDE, Nog won because he was constantly going for sweeps and submissions and had Ricco playing defense the whole time. Added to which, Ricco fought very conservatively considering he tapped Nog with a kneebar quickly and with ease when they fought in ADCC. I haven't rewatched the fight in a while, but did Ricco attempt
any submissions? It was bad enough that he was fighting without being able to use elbows, which he used so effectively in his GNP arsenal (he literally won the UFC HW belt by fracturing Couture's orbital bone with an elbow), and even worse that he'd gotten fat again (which was always his Achilles' heel, he lacked discipline and he could slack on his training), but just playing the TD and control game against a literal BJJ machine who never stops looking for sweeps and submissions, Ricco's back was against the wall and Nog took full advantage and got the win.
Big Nog vs. Hendo is the worst robbery I've seen, but it doesn't get talked about because it was in Rings.
Haha, yeah, most people don't know/remember Rings, but that's definitely a horrendous decision. Sadly, though, it's one of many questionable decisions that the man who used to be known as "Decision Dan" received in his early career. His tournament run at UFC 17 was also quite eyebrow-raising. All the way up to his fight against Yuki Kondo, where IIRC Dan was sick, it was not a very good showing and I might've even given it to Kondo for controlling and reversing as much as he did.
Yep, this one's a real shame, not least because it would've set up a match between Coleman and Rutten instead of Randleman coming in. Coleman wouldn't have lacked the killer instinct that Randleman didn't have, but then Coleman wouldn't have had Randleman's gas tank. That would've been a very interesting fight, and a title shot that Coleman deserved. Then again, that loss to Rizzo was part of the skid that resulted in Coleman changing things up, going to Japan, and rejuvenating his career and winning the PRIDE 2000 GP. So many MMA "What Ifs...?"
I seem to remember thinking Murilo Bustamante beat Chuck Liddell but I haven’t watched it in years
Bustamante was granted a title shot at middleweight 4 months after this loss and won the title
No, he didn't actually deserve the nod, he just did way better on the feet than people were expecting. Much like his training partner Nog, Bustamante had really crisp straight punching, and so he tagged Chuck a bunch. But Chuck had an iron chin and was never even remotely fazed, plus he stopped all of Busta's TDs and dropped him with a punch early. Chuck wasn't very aggressive, and so it was a bit of a boring fight without much action, but Chuck clearly did enough to win IMO, certainly enough to where it was by no means a robbery.
Hughes/Verrssimo. No way Hughes took that. I think he could have if it were a 5 rounder though.
Deep cut most don't know/remember, but yeah, even as a huge Hughes fan, it was tough seeing him struggle so much and it's bittersweet seeing him get his hand raised. From there it was on to beating GSP and reclaiming WW gold, but that should've been an L on his record. Charuto's length and his skill off his back was just too much for Hughes to deal with. He couldn't control the hips and even as he blossomed into a very skilled submission artist, he never developed the greatest sub defense.
