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By: Bjorn Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
"Mike Goldberg: Big Nog, thirty-five years old, but man has he been in some battles in his career…
Kenny Florian: He really has. That's why everyone loves him. He's a true legend. He's shown the heart of a lion on many occasions. Has, and had a tremendous chin. And he always finds (fight ending punch on cue) A WAY TO WIN! He just landed a big right hand!"
- Goldberg and Florian during UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro
What distinguishes MMA from the other mainstream sports? Mistake amplification.
One single strategic or tactical mistake can magnify to humiliating and dangerous proportions. Once processed by the merciless machinery that powers MMA, a seemingly innocuous mistake can turn nightmarish in a flash. Rule number one: Focus on the task at hand, or pay the price, dearly and severely. Just ask The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 runner up, Brendan "The Hybrid" Schaub.
Schaub had started making some noise in the stacked UFC Heavyweight Division as a senior citizen mercy killer. The youthful "Hybrid" was knocking the MMA elderly out of their misery. After big wins over the likes of former contender Gabriel Gonzaga and the formerly fearsome Mirko Cro-Cop, he felt so effusive he began challenging the likes of Brock Lesnar, and even the winner of Cain Velazquez versus Junior Dos Santos. Sometimes, surging success leads to P.P.I.S.: premature poultry inventory syndrome. Symptoms include counting one's chickens before they hatch. Instead of displaying the laser-like focus required, he committed a classic rookie mistake and planned beyond his opponent.
Feeling cocksure, Brendan predicted he would knock out submission legend Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira in the second round of UFC 134. Oh, the ruthless price of humility in MMA. Surprisingly, instead of endlessly pursuing takedowns, "Big Nog" started as the aggressor on the feet. Capitalizing on this was Schaub, as he answered with a few well-timed uppercuts. Like so many times in the past, Nogueira's fabled chin absorbed the punishment heroically. Undeterred and still on the prowl, Big Nog continued to charge forward. Bobbing and weaving, Big Nog was able to avoid Schaub's knockout power. I have to say, pretty nimble work for an old man. And then it happened! OUT OF NOWHERE: the most shocking moment of 2011 (so far). Big Nog lands a powerful right hand that puts Schaub on Queer Street! Minotauro proceeds to follow that up with a barrage of punches, of which a big left ultimately face plants Schaub. One more conclusive left-handed bomb, and that's a wrap.
Of the few people who had picked Minotauro to win this one, almost none called it by KO. No soothsayer saw this one coming, especially in this manner. If you were like me, a diehard Minotauro fan, you were cringing throughout the first half of the round as I could only conceive of one conclusion: Schaub's fists dropping Big Nog into a collapsed, undignified position. And why not think that? He did this to the striking-savvy Mirko Cro Cop during UFC 128. Favorably matched up against a ponderous, slow-footed submission artist, Brendan Schaub would look to further his career by verifying that speed kills. Furthering a pattern, he aimed to steal another senior's soul.
"Why hadn't matchmaker Joe Silva paired him against someone of similar age?" I thought to myself. Remember Randy Couture versus Nogueira? Now that was legendary. Instead we would get to watch Brendan's athleticism blast Nogueira's consciousness into a powerless R.E.M. state of mind. You see, Brandon was just flat out quicker; incomparably quicker. He moved at a speed superior to most heavyweights. Compounding matters, Big Nog was coming off surgery on both hips and one knee. "He deserved to fight someone of similar athletic ability," I again thought to myself. Big Nog had lumbering movement before, and his continuing state of convalescence certainly wasn't going to mitigate that issue.
I couldn't help but feel that Big Nog's Pride recognition was being sacrificed in order to fuel Schaub's uprising marketability. Hell, considering this was staged in Brazil, three miles away from Minotauro's hometown, you could've made the argument that Big Nog's very own pride was being surrendered.
It would complete the purging of the old and tired that had been happening in the top tier of the HW division for some years. Perhaps you could say Brock Lesnar catalyzed the movement with his momentous victory over the aged Randy Couture at UFC 91. Ironically, Brock would later become a victim of this very movement. Out went wisdom and wiles, and in came adolescence and athleticism. The victims would be the aforementioned Couture, Cro Cop, Gonzaga, and others. Big Nog would be one of the last Mohican's standing, as Schaub appeared poised to conclude the generational cleansing.
This match up seemed set to ready the stage for Schaub's title run. After Schaub's first few uppercuts, it appeared Minotauro was on borrowed time. Then, MMA happened.
MMA is a sport that commands unflinching attention out of its viewership. Bathroom breaks and fridge runs during fight time are for the weak. Sure go ahead, and grab another brew during the round... and then become the d-bag that misses the year's best feel-good/HOLY-S#!T moment forever. You've just missed Nogueira's first devastating knockout in his first Brazilian fight—ever. There's no coming back from that either. Either you were part of the unforgettable insanity, or you were just an outside observer, relegated to hackneyed replays. How that memory lives on is largely determined by your level of committed TV-viewing focus. Focus on the task at hand, brew and bladder be damned.
No sport carries this magnitude of engrossing "must-see-TV." There's no way the Patriots are beating the Eagle's in the opening minute of the game. No sport can match MMA in sheer unpredictable drama. Whether it was Mackens Semerzier's triangle submission of three-time national Brazilian champion Wagnney Fabiano, to Matt Serra's jaw-dropping knockout of Georges St. Pierre, drama served MMA style is bold and boundless.
It's bold because you never know what is going to happen, nor when. It's boundless because literally every probabilistic option is on the table at any given point; even the most ludicrous ones. Football says "Anything can happen on any given Sunday." MMA should have its own, "At any given second, anything can happen." In MMA's case, it isn't a tired truism; it's reality. Whether it's Semerzier, Serra, etc, the list goes ad infinitum. Authoring another proud entry to the list is Minotauro. He adds to an already distinguished mythos while growing in UFC viability and stature.
On the other side of the coin, you have a newly enlightened Brendan Schaub. He learned a tough lesson that was sympathizing to see. After returning to his feet after the knockout, you could tell he was wearing the crestfallen face of a man who recognized there was a foot lodged firmly up his own mouth. Looking at the Brazilian crowd shamefacedly, Schaub would leave the Octagon forever humbled by experience. This was supposed to be conclusive corroboration for Schaub's title contention. Instead he was served a fistful of humility, courtesy of the old school.
Maybe he viewed this fight with faulty strategy. Maybe Schaub simply overlooked Minotauro. It could be that he thought Big Nog had one foot in the MMA coffin, like many were whispering. Perhaps it was a tactical lapse of judgment? Maybe he thought Big Nog was going for a takedown and not the fateful knockdown that ensued. Whatever his mistake was, be it strategic, or tactical, he will have surely learned this: humility has no mercy. If his chin can endure, Schaub should come back a better fighter from this. He'll return mentally stronger, and will have no choice but to humbly acknowledge the unforgiving unpredictability that permeates the fabric of MMA.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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