UFC Twitter Mailbag: UFC 102, Todd Duffee, Couture vs. Nogueira, More

By Michael David Smith - Lead Blogger

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UFC 102 is in the books, and the UFC Twitter universe had plenty to say about a great night of fights. We have questions and comments about old-timer heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture, young up-and-coming heavyweight Todd Duffee, light heavyweight knockout artist Thiago Silva and a couple of NCAA champion wrestlers, Jake Rosholt and Mark Munoz, who are looking good early in their MMA careers.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, for our UFC Twitter mailbag are below.

John_S_Adams: Great night of fights. Nog looked 100% and won a great battle against Couture. Todd Duffee - wow! Keep an eye on this guy!
Couldn't agree more. Top to bottom, UFC 102 was a tremendous show. And I love Duffee, the 23-year-old who set a new UFC record by knocking out Tim Hague in seven seconds. Duffee is now 5-0 with all five wins by KO/TKO, and I can't wait to see what he does next.

BBKing77: Why does everyone say Minotauro is old? He's 33! He's in his prime! He just looks older.
People said Nogueira was old because he looked old in his loss to Frank Mir. Nogueira says he was far from 100% for that fight, though, and he looked phenomenal against Couture. I wouldn't go so far as to say he's in his prime -- I think his prime was in about 2003-04 in Pride -- but he still has some good fights left in him. If Mirko Cro Cop beats Junior dos Santos next month, I'd love to see Nogueira fight Cro Cop again. I'd also love to see Nogueira against the Cain Velasquez-Ben Rothwell winner, or maybe against Frank Mir again so we can find out whether a healthy Nogueira is a better fighter than Mir.

WFNYCraig: Needed 5 rounds!
I agree, I would have loved two more rounds of Couture vs. Nogueira. I think three rounds is the right length for most MMA fights, but for big main events like Couture vs. Nogueira, I think five-round non-title fights are a good idea, and I think we'll see them soon. (Even though Dana White says he doesn't agree.)

FightLaunch: Where did Munoz wrestle at in college?
Mark Munoz, who beat Nick Catone by split decision, was an NCAA champion wrestler at Oklahoma State. It was a good night for the Cowboys -- Jake Rosholt, also a former NCAA champion from Oklahoma State, beat Chris Leben.

sbrooks360: Should Yves Lavigne have stopped it when Leben tapped? It was a weak tap but he saw it.
Yes, I thought referee Yves Lavigne was a bit slow to step in when Leben tapped out from Rosholt's arm-triangle choke. However, in fairness to Lavigne, as you note, Leben's tap was a little weak -- he was getting woozy and just kind of waved at Rosholt before his arm went limp. Leben got right up and walked out of the Octagon, so no harm was done.

jtwilham: Or is Keith Jardine the most-overrated fighter in the UFC?
This came in response to my tweet saying Thiago Silva is one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC. I really don't think Jardine is overrated; I think he's somewhere around the No. 10 light heavyweight in MMA, and that's about where he's rated by most fans and members of the MMA media. I just think we're overlooking how impressive Silva is. Aside from his loss to Lyoto Machida -- who beats everyone -- Silva is unbeaten in his MMA career, and only one opponent has even made it out of the second round with him. Silva is a beast.

Want to be part of our next UFC Twitter mailbag? Post a question or comment on Twitter.com, and be sure to start it with @MichaelDavSmith.

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