The light heavyweight match between Ryan Bader and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira pitted two fighters against each who were both trying to prove that they were top contenders in the UFC’s most competitive division. For Bader, it was meant to continue his winning streak with the former All-American wrestler having won all of his eleven fights while Nogueira was looking to rebound from his disappointing performance against Jason Brilz at UFC 114. To add spice to the fight, Bader was close to Nogueira’s elder brother Minotaur, having been coached to victory in the TUF8 tournament by the former Pride heavyweight champion.
But while it was meant to move one of them into top contention, neither fighter was able to put in a performance that would put fear into the likes of Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson or Rashad Evans. Bader went close in the first round, cleanly connecting with two absolute haymakers from the top after taking Nogueira down. If Nogueira hadn’t been able move Bader into his guard then the fight would surely have finished early. Instead the fight went the distance as with the exception of that moment that the fight was a stalemate.
Bader was enthusiastic with his stand-up, trying to push the action but he lacked the boxing finesse of the former Pan-Am bronze medallist. Nogueira was able to break through Bader’s boxing guard, showing better shot selection to land with a variety of quality punches. What he was never able to do was put his boxing into a coherent gameplan, never able to use it to control where the fight took place. He should have been using his jab and footwork to cut off Octagon and create the angles to not only put match-winning combinations but deny Bader to space to shoot for takedowns.
Instead he was too often left standing in front of a Bader who had the time to shoot for a takedown. And Bader did not hesitate to go for takedown after takedown. Unfortunately his shot lacked explosiveness, with Nogueira easily able to stuff the takedown unless it came as he was overcommitted on a punch. And when Bader was able to get him down he was usually unable to do anything from the top, with Nogueira able to stifle off his back and quickly get back to his feet. Indeed at one point in the second round Nogueira was actually able to outpunch Bader after being taken down.
Bader was given the decision by all three judges, receiving the credit for the flash takedowns that he could nothing with in the second and third rounds. The victory propels Bader to a future showdown with Jon Jones but on the evidence of his performance Saturday night, that’ll be a step up in competition too far.
