Making his Octagon debut after a long and successful career fighting in other promotions, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira whipped Luiz Cane with a first-round TKO in their fight Saturday night at UFC 106.
Nogueira, the twin brother of former UFC and Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, rocked Cane with a series of left hands on his feet, and Cane was reeling and unable to recover. Nogueira is known more for his submissions than for his striking, but it was a brutal left hook that first hurt Cane, and it was a couple more left hooks followed by a few punches on the ground that forced referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the fight just 1:56 into the first round.
"I feel very good to be here," Nogueira said in the Octagon afterward. "This is the biggest step for me in my career, in the best promotion. I love to be here in America."
Nogueira noted that he's been working on his striking. It showed.
"I know he's a very good boxer, I respect him a lot, but I've been training," Nogueira said.
Nogueira, who improved his record to 18-3, could be a light heavyweight title contender soon, although there's a big question of whether he'd be willing to fight his friend, the 205-pound champion Lyoto Machida. Cane will drop down in the light heavyweight rankings, and his record falls to 10-2.
MMA FanHouse has UFC 106 results and live UFC 106 Twitter updates.
Nogueira, the twin brother of former UFC and Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, rocked Cane with a series of left hands on his feet, and Cane was reeling and unable to recover. Nogueira is known more for his submissions than for his striking, but it was a brutal left hook that first hurt Cane, and it was a couple more left hooks followed by a few punches on the ground that forced referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the fight just 1:56 into the first round.
"I feel very good to be here," Nogueira said in the Octagon afterward. "This is the biggest step for me in my career, in the best promotion. I love to be here in America."
Nogueira noted that he's been working on his striking. It showed.
"I know he's a very good boxer, I respect him a lot, but I've been training," Nogueira said.
Nogueira, who improved his record to 18-3, could be a light heavyweight title contender soon, although there's a big question of whether he'd be willing to fight his friend, the 205-pound champion Lyoto Machida. Cane will drop down in the light heavyweight rankings, and his record falls to 10-2.
MMA FanHouse has UFC 106 results and live UFC 106 Twitter updates.
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