UFC President Dana White: Antonio Nogueira recovering from Staph infection heading into UFC 92
By: Jesse Holland
Props: The Carmichael Dave show via Five Ounces of Pain
Quoteworthy:
“Nogueira had some other problems too going into [UFC 92]. Nogueira had just gotten over a Staph infection and he had some other problems but when they fought in PRIDE, PRIDE put on such freak shows, guys fighting out of their weight class, things like that. That’s why I’m so against it. That’s how you ruin guys early. If you’re a professional athlete, time is not good to you. Time catches us all.”
UFC President Dana White comments on the history of fighters like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Wanderlei Silva and the toll their days in PRIDE may have taken on both their bodies and careers. He also indicates that “Big Nog” was more than likely less than 100 percent for his fight against Frank Mir — a lopsided affair that saw Nogueira finished for the first time ever in his career.
74 Comments »
like brock lesnar, 265, fighting randy couture, 220 kinda like that dana?
Not nearly the same freak shows they have in the land of the Rising Sun though. Guys like bob sapp, choi, semmy, butterbean, and even Hunt
MORE LIKE… Herb Dean catches us all. The king of premature stoppages, strikes again!
yes but how many times do you want to see ng get beat up till he catches a sub? the man has taken so much punishment in his life! worse than sakuraba! he even got hit by a truck at ten years of age. that stuff will takes its toll on your body. you dont want nog going into a coma one of these days lets remember he is human.
dude if u watch the fight when nog stands up u see him like struggling to get up as he walks it wasnt a premature stoppage
IMO, you’re quite right iann. Nog was most certainly woozy and stumbling some when he got up. Whether he was recovering from staph, or whatever, props have to be given to Mir for the gameplan, execution of said plan, and taking the fight straight to Nog (and taking Nog out of the fight) in the opening moments.
the stoppage was perfectly good.. I mean we don’t want him to get serious brain damage do we, Mir is a BJJ black belt and wouldn’t have gotten submitted, he knocked him down like 3 times and the last one was hard it would have been more of the same if the fight had gone on and it would’ve been brutal!
the stoppage was totally fine. no one argued it. nogueira was dropped three times and mir landed at least 10 punches on the ground. he wasnt defending himself. putting up ur arms just barely isnt defending urself.
i wish this news would have came out before I wagered $1,200 On Big NOg!
yeah, Ouch!
You guys ever see Butterbean vs Genki Sudo? Or Hong Man Choi vs that small Muay Thai dude? That’s nuts! But even the Heavyweight div in UFC is too wide a margin. Although it is thrilling to see a small guy school a big guy like Randy did to Tim, or Genki Sudo does to Butterball –I mean Butterbean.
I really, really wish Genki Sudo didn’t retire. His showboating was off the charts but boy could he back it up. Great fighter.
Yeah Genki Sudo was the man. He could still come back. I thought I read somewhere that he wouldn’t rule out making a comeback. Here’s hoping.
Such a shame. I bet most people don’t know that the first time he fought Fedor, he had a pinched sciatic nerve. They had to give him a shot right before he walked to the ring.
Staph can be serious, but no one fights at 100%
Yea, but having some bumps and bruises, and recovering from a staph infection are completely different things. He looked like he was in awful shape.. him having a staph infection makes total sense. There’s no way you can be anywhere near top condition when you’re recovering from a staph infection.
Reminds me of Diego/Koscheck. Diego didn’t look like himself either.
I’m not making excuses for Nog, but if he really had a staph infection, it’s hard not to.
Absolutely correct! If the staph infection was so bad he should have pulled out. Staph infection or not Mir pounded him out at Minotauro’s own game plan. He got out punched, out classed and got beat!
this whole interview is the best I’ve heard in a long time, go listen to it guys!
they are both in the same weight class? what’s your point? Open weight classes are completely different……..
oh my, here come the excuses. and dana, please shut up and quit trying to twist stuff around to find explanation to your reasoning. PRIDE gave us some of the best fights EVER. Dana will never be able to take that away from us, no matter what he makes the sheep believe.
Randy chose to come in at 220 and said as much, moreover Randy looked good against Brock.. let’s not get into that one again, because I’d still put my money on Randy next time…
what makes me respect nog even more is the fact that he never brought i up as an excuse…this guy is all class
It doesnt surprise me that nog wouldnt say anything about it either, takes his loses like a man without excuse. But maybe the sapp power bomb really did have an effect…haha i believe that Nog will be back and hopefully in full force, he is a great fighter but he did look a little “old” compared to his pride days. This sets up a good match with him and Randy, if they both agree.
i think Nog and Randy would be a good match up.long time followers and newer fans would both go for it.co-main event fight mos def
Remember how badass Nog-Hendo II was. I forsee a similar fight even though Randy doesn’t have hendo’s power. Don’t know who has better sub defense though (I know about Couture-Jacare but that wasn’t a normal Nogi contest, the PSL has fucked up rules and even then he was stalling.)
wasnt it hendo vs rogerio nogueira, lil nog?
Big Nog fought him at Pride 24. Definite must watch if you haven’t seen it. Here’s a decent HL of the fight, if you care.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb0gcRCUQRs
wow great fight
yea, that was a great fight…
i agree with you. nog wouldnt say anything about because he is a very great fighter and so peaceful and respectful to others.mir on the other hand just kept saying that hes 10x the better athlete then nog. but please dude dont say nog is getting “old” i mean the man is 31 years old. not that old compared to randy
Big Nog is a tought fighter. But in my opinion he is close to the end… I hope I’m wrong.
Well hopefully hes at 100% for his next bout and hopefully its Couture.
Staph infection or not, he took too many shots to the chin. To even talk about this takes away from how great Mir fought Saturday night. Nog fought as he always does and got beat by a very game Mir. People will use this to explain the lose and discredit Mir’s win which is absurd. If Nog didn’t say anything about it, Dana shouldn’t have either.
great post
Tell us your name man, hehe!
I think that something needed to be said because it says a lot about Nogs character. He didn’t make any excuses although he had a good one. Also, people (myself included) were beginning to think that Nog was out of shape because he underestimated Mir. Mir looked great and you can’t deny that. This doesn’t explain the loss, this just explains why Nog looked as bad as he did.
let’s be honest here guys.. if the real Nog would have showed up that we’re used in seeing, the result would have been different, i knew something was wrong.. and i agree 100% with Dana, i also remember being pissed at the refs in Pride sometimes for not stepping in to stop the fights in time! the one that pissed me off the most was Shogun vs Rampage.
We can’t say for sure who would have won that fight if Nog had showed up better. Theres no way of knowing but I agree that it would have been much more competitive.
RoB: Yes.. YEs.. Yes.. I know Man.. that was the most uncalled for the that ref should of been locked up for that one.. Shogan vs Rampage was.. and I think still is to this day the most prolonged stoppage I ever seen.
Well if he cleared by the doctors to fight then why does Dana have to makes excuses…maybe cause he is paying Nog like he is a champion and Dana is a whiner and can’t say I signed Nog and Wandy and now they suck and I am idiot for paying them big salaries.
Dana said the facts. Nog was recovering from a staph infection. But yeah good idea. Dana can go out and say that his own fighters suck. That’s what a president of an MMA promotion should say about 2 of his own fighters. Good call.
Dana protected Rampage. Dana will protect Nog(staff may be plausible.) And by releasing this statement he undermines Mir’s confidence and consequently he indirectly protects Brock. Make no mistake – Brock Lesnar is the Cash Cow of the UFC.
I may be cynical but when I consider what Dana pays Page, Nog and Brock to show this hypothesis starts to make some ceNts.
War Mir – just stop talking you drive me nuts.
thats the thing. nog didnt say anything he hasnt confirmed whether he had a staph infection or not. dana white and junior dos santos found out by doctors that he had a staph infection 15 days before the fight. but nog is a warrior he will tell us staph infection or not mir won fair and square and that he was just the better fighter. im not a fan of mir but nog will definitley say that cause he shows respect
First thing, I agree that Mir’s performance should not be overlooked as the main cause for Nog’s demise.
Also, no excuses need to be made for Nog or Silva. They could both loose every single fight from now on and still be considered legends of the sport. They carried the torch before MMA was this popular. They have also helped bring along a few of the premiere fighters from the next generation.
About Brock and Randy…Couture was doing great and I honestly thing if the fight went to deeper waters Couture would have taken that fight.I also think though that the heavyweight class has too far of a seperation in weight.There should be a class between light heavyweight and heavyweight.
howabout just adding a superheavyweight division. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many skilled fighters to populate it.
Ya that’s the problem. I agree Lesner shouldn’t be allowed to fight in the same weight class but the weigh division is weak as it is and cutting it into two would make it even worse.
why? he makes weight. how is that any different from any other fighter? they all cut weight to make the cap in their division.
Exactly
Brock and Tim Sylvia weigh about the same amount, and noone has a problem with Tim fighting at that weight. Sure, Tim sucks, but noone ever complained very much about his size advantage. Its not Brock’s size that is the problem. Its the fact that he has that kind of size, ALONG with that athleticism and strength. You can’t penalize a guy for that. Noone says GSP shouldn’t be allowed to fight at WW, even though he’s bigger than any other WW out there. Eventually in the future, they may slice the HW division in half, but it won’t happen until they have ALOT more fighters spanning the gap between 205 and 265. As far as 265 and up, They could make another weight class for that, but that division will be left to the promotions that like to put on the “freak shows”.
Does people forget Randy asked for this fight,and to pull an old line out would’ve ,could’ve,should’ve,but didn’t,get over it.People can do that all day oh well if Rashad would not have caught Forrest’s leg,Forrest would have won.If Wanderlai would have just ducked ,he would have won.This is MMA if you do not like the results go watch a sport where they fix fights like boxing
I agree 100% charlie, there should be a 185 or something, it would probably have some of the 205ers dropping weight to get in seeing as the heavyweight is so stacked.
Look at the weigh in photo of Randy and Brock. Ridiculous. Me thinks Mark Hunt vs. Lesnar. He should pick on someone his own size.
If the weight classes are so wrong ,am I not mistaken or did Randy beat the sh#t out of Silvia to win the belt,and defend it against Gabriel Gonzaga.I should have windshield wipers on my computer screen from all the crying.Get over it nobody complains until someone they do not like has the belt.
name the weights of Randy’s last two fights and look at his weight,he decided to come in light that was his strategy get over it.People only cry when their guy loses.boo hoo!
I think there should be wider gaps in the weight classes too (look at all of the fighters who decide to drop down or up a weight class..to many to list) and definitely a new one between light heavyweight and heavyweight. There is a super heavyweight division (like Bob Sapp) although not in the UFC.
“Brendan” loves the C-O-C-K!!!
I think there should be wider gaps in weight classes (look at all of the fighters who decide to drop down or up a weight class..to many to list..GSP wants to go in MW now) and also have two heavy weight divisions (heavy and super heavy (Bob Sapp), but…see article below,
http://www.fightlinker.com/?p=2628
The NSAC agrees: new weight classes is a dumb idea
July 4, 2008 – 4:22 pm by fightlinker
Steve Sievert got in touch with NSAC head Keith Kizer and asked him what he thought of the changes to the Unified rules:
Kizer, whose duties associated with UFC 86 and a boxing event Saturday in Las Vegas kept him from attending the ABC meeting, adds that he is just learning about the revised rules and intends to review them in more detail in the coming weeks. He will take a particularly close look at a change to the light heavyweight division that shifts the weight range to 205 to 225 pounds. Previously, the light-heavyweight division ranged from 186 to 205 pounds.
“I don’t get that one,” Kizer said. “I’m surprised by it. I need to understand the reasoning behind the change. I didn’t think there was a big concern over how the weight classes were structured. This change creates a significant weight differential in the division and leaves only a 40-pound gap at heavyweight.”
I have a feeling that the weight class change (which seems to have slipped in under the radar somehow) is really going to fuck things up and potentially end the reign of the Unified Rules as MMA’s golden standard. Who was asking for these extra weight classes? Was anyone even consulted on it? Did they not stop to think “Wow, this is going to completely change everything”? Well, I doubt it will because now I don’t think there’ll be many commissions who are actually going to institute them. But hey, what’s the point of having unified rules if no one is going to use them?
last i heard, the UFC, and really any organization aren’t required to follow the “unified rules” to the letter. they can reject which ever ones they don’t agree with anyway.
you know it was kind of BS for Dana to come out with this statement. this is something Nog should be mentioning and if he chooses not to, then leave it be. this just makes it look like Dana is trying to take something away from Mir’s win.
He wanted Nog vs Brock,to happen that is why when he went to THQ that was the fight on the video game during his blog.He should have not mentioned it,Nog made no excuses Dana should not have made them for him.Basically he just told us the winner of Mir vs Brock will fight Nog,but sorry for Nog he will not get his rematch with Mir,He will be fighting Brock
I’ve never known a person in my life to have staph infection and these guys get it left and right. What’s the deal?
Bacteria on the mats and equipment at the gyms. Its very important to shower immediately after training, and to keep the gym as clean and disinfected as possible. Its very hard to accomplish this however. Staph infections and other less serious infections like ringworm are very difficult to eliminate altogether.
yea, staph happens a lot in sports, like football, wrestling, from locker rooms and such…
Sucks for Nog going through a staph infection…he’s a warrior either way though.
As far as Dana blaming Pride for guys fighting out of their weight classes…wtf does that have to do with a HW losing a fight? He’s got his LW champ fighting for the WW title in a few weeks, and he pulls out this rhetoric because a HW lost a fight?……he’s such an idiot sometimes lol.
Mir had a game plan that would have been successful even if Nog was 100%. I love how he showed all those Ultimate fighter students what he meant by throw combinations of three punches, 1-2-3. His uppercut was accurate and powerful. I would hate to be Lesnar. Mir now has so many tools that it is going to be tough to prepare for what he’ll use. Lesnar won’t be bright enough to solve Mir.
if lesnar keeps working on his striking i think it will be interesting on the feet, we have already seen that lesnar has serious power and if he lands cleanly i think mir would drop, after seeing mir drop nog that easily i want to see how lesnar will react if he gets hit hard my mir, i don’t think the size difference will be much of a factor at all seen as mir is a fairly big HW, i don’t know if brock has the time to learn sub deffense good enough to avoid getting caught if it goes to the ground, however he can stop it from going there with his wrestling. If mir trains with the same dedication as he did for nog i think i might be leaning slightly towards him but i think its going to be a good fight
blah blah blah, excuses, excuses.
Hendo pretty much got bullied in that fight. Randy is much bigger than Hendo, and smarter when it comes to sticking to a gameplan. I would put my money on Randy
thank god!!! an excuse for mir winning. i mean he deaerves the credit for sure but 9 out of 10 times the win must be nog’s
I think I saw Minitauro crying. In a close face shot right before they announce the winner you can see a tear coming from His right eye (and no its not sweat, it came from his eye).
I don’t blame the guy for crying, it was his first major loss; Even Mir was crying (out of joy though)!
Nog is back baby!!!! That fight with Mir was a F!@#ing Fluke!