It's no secret that former Pride Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a warrior, and it's well known that former UFC champ Tim Sylvia was a monster in his day, but recently, neither of them have been particularly exciting in the Octagon, and the fact that they are top contenders speaks less to their ability and more to how thin the current division is.
Nogueira took a serious knock down from Heath Herring during his last fight, which was his first in the Octagon, and many of us are wondering whether or bot he's going to adjust better to his second fight in the cage. We can only hope that he'll show some solid boxing skills and some dangerous submissions against a fighter who has some of the most impressive standup and submission defense in the heavyweight division.
Sylvia hasn't finished an opponent since 2006, when he knocked out Andrei Arlovski to reclaim his heavyweight championship. Since, he's been coasting on decisions, and didn't show that he really improved after his loss to Randy Couture when he failed to finish Brandon Vera.
There's no doubt in my mind that this fight will go to the judges, and I really, really hope that I am wrong.
Nogueira has never been stopped in his professional MMA career, and his resiliance is something that he's known for. He's been in 20 minute bouts and kept on going.
On the other hand, Sylvia has been dropped, but he's changed his game to be much more conservative and, as a result, nearly impossible to finish. Since his armbar loss to Frank Mir that required him to have pins put in his arm, his submission defense has only been overpowered when he's been stunned by a big right hand, and that's not something that Nogueira has historically been able to do.
Can Tim Sylvia follow Heath Herring's lead and put Nogueira down with a big shot?
Can Nogueira succeed where world submission grappling champion Jeff Monson failed?
It's possible, but I wouldn't put money on it. I think it's going to come down to a battle of Sylvia's kickboxing against Nogueira's boxing, and I see that one slipping in favor of Sylvia.
I have no problem with being wrong on this one, but I don't see it going any other way.
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