LAS VEGAS -- Despite losing to Frank Mir via TKO in his last go-round at UFC 92, former PRIDE champion and one-time UFC interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira thinks Brock Lesnar will handle Mir at UFC 100.
"Last time, his jiu-jitsu wasn't that great. But now I think he's improving. He's improved it, so I think the match is more for Lesnar," Nogueria told FanHouse.
Nogueira, who is gearing up to fight Randy Couture at next month's UFC 102, said he believes Lesnar has come along enough to stay out of submissions this time around.
"Lesnar's a strong wrestler, but Mir's got a better ground game. I think last time Lesnar was winning the fight, but he didn't know jiu-jitsu very much then. I'm sure he's improved."
Still, Nogueira would like his own chances to submit Lesnar if they fought down the line. But in preparing for Couture, Nogueira has moved the rest of his training camp from Brazil to San Diego, and told FanHouse that he expects Couture to engage him in a mostly stand-up fight, especially after he suffered the first TKO loss at the hands of Mir.
His training partners for his camp will include heavyweight bomber Junior Dos Santos, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Nogueira's twin brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
"I think he'll try to push the fight standing up," he said. "But I'll be ready. And we'll see if we end up going to the ground."