UFC 102: The Five Bullet Point Recap, Bonuses, Couture Extension

Plenty to recap in this one as UFC 102 came and went Saturday night in front of a wild crowd in Portland, Oregon, at the Rose Garden. Despite having no titles on the line, this set up some interesting fights down the road and was a good bridge to what is lining up to be a wild fall and winter.

The Overall Event

• Antonio Nogueira and Randy Couture earned Fight of the Night and an additional $60k each for their efforts.
  
  
• Nate Marquardt won Knockout Of The Night and $60k.
  
  
• Jake Rosholt won Submission Of The Night and $60k.
  
  
• Total gate was $1.92 million and 16,088 in attendance - one of the top five gates in Portland history according to UFC Prez Dana White.
  
  
• Couture and the UFC agreed to a 28-month, six fight contract extension Saturday. I'm baffled by this on many different levels, but we'll save that argument for a later time.

Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira def. Randy Couture by unanimous decision

• Both guys looked their age here tonight, despite one actually looking older than his age and the other looking younger. Follow that?
  
  
• I had no idea what to expect going in, but after everything was all said and done, this is probably exactly how people should have predicted it.
  
  
• Nogueira locked in choke after choke, but Couture was simply too game to tap. Between the knockdowns and the submission attempts, Big Nog almost won this thing three or four times.
  
  
• In an era of crapping on referee decisions, give it to Mario Yamasaki. There were several points where a much-more inexperienced guy or someone too quick on the draw might have stopped it. But Yamasaki let them go and gave Couture time to recover without screwing over the efforts of Nogueira. Nice work here.
  
  
• There is one final obvious fight left for Couture (more on that Sunday), while a Lesnar/Nogueira match is intriguing but not exactly mouth-watering.
  

Thiago Silva def. Keith Jardine via 1st-round KO (1:35)

• This is one of the few I actually got right while watching tonight's show, but that's not exactly a badge of honor.
  
  
• Silva simply looked great here, but there's something missing with his marketability. Perhaps it's the lack of English-speaking promos? He tried in his post-fight speech, but something isn't fully there yet.
  
  
• Jardine has lost three of his last four and four of his last six. A candidate for the chopping block? One more loss and yes. He isn't co-main eventing any more cards anytime soon though.
  
  
• By the way, did you buy this as the co-main event? Yeah, me neither.
  
  
• Next up for Silva? That is an interesting question. Maybe the loser of Rashad Evans/Rampage Jackson?
  

Nate Marquardt def. Demian Maia by 1st-round KO (:21).

• So much for the submission game in this one. Wow.
  
  
• In the post-fight presser, Dana White said he needs to think on what is going to happen next and who will get the title shot against Anderson Silva. No. 1 contender's match for the December PPV perhaps?
  
  
• You almost wonder how damaged Maia is going to be following this defeat. Can he ever be favored against a striker following this?

Jake Rosholt def. Chris Leben via 3rd round submission choke (1:20).

• Leben was in a no-lose situation here after nine months off due to suspension. It's really the next fight that matters career-wise as tonight was the first step back. He looked good, but not great - which was expected.
  
  
• Rosholt looked good, fending off Leben's attacks and taking the opportunity when it presented itself. That final choke? Picture perfect even though the ref blatantly ignored Leben's initial tap.
  
  
• Rosholt was excited post-fight and has the type of personality that fans are going to connect with. I expect 2010 to be a big year for this guy.
  

Brandon Vera def. Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous decision

• Ugh. This fight was awful.
  
  
• Vera still looks too light at this weight. My friend who had never seen him fight commented that he looked too small and yes, it's true.
  
  
• I'm tired of the UFC pushing Vera as if he matters. He doesn't and is a non-factor in the light heavyweight division due to boring performances. I just don't get the attraction here.
  

Josh Nason has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007 and Bleacher Report since 2008. He is a contributor to Fight Magazine since January 2009 and appears regularly on Fight Network Radio. Follow him on Twitter.