Ryan Bader defeated Rogerio Noguiera via unanimous decision after a three round war on Saturday night at UFC 119. Many people believed that, due to his strong wrestling background and viscous ground-and-pound, he would come out with a relatively easy finish over Noguiera.
As the first round started, it didn’t take long for Bader to take Noguiera down to the mat and begin attacking with a barrage of punches. Bader’s ground-and-pound is top notch and it looked as though Noguiera was in trouble. Luckily for Rogerio, both of the Noguiera brothers are known for their ability to weather storms and maintain their composure when they’re under pressure. After a few more minutes of the pressure and punches, Noguiera was able to neutralize Bader with his guard and get back to his feet. The two had one more brief exchange on their feet just before the bell rang.
Starting in round two, Noguiera seemed to have a renewed vigor and appeared to be getting the best of the stand-up. Bader’s form seemed to dissipate and he threw a number of wild shots, while Noguiera looked relatively composed. His stand-up also appeared to be more technical and crisp. In addition to getting the best of the stand-up in this round, he was able to stuff a number of Bader’s takedowns—something that many didn’t think would happen with Bader being the powerful wrestler that he is.
Round three saw more of the same with Bader landing a takedown in the middle of the round. Noguiera gave up his back and quickly got to his feet. In general, it’s a bad idea for a fighter to give up his back like this even to get to his feet, but with Noguiera’s Jiu-Jitsu background he didn’t feel threatened by anything that Bader had to offer. The round ended with Bader carrying the aggression, and it was this continued aggression throughout the fight that appeared to have won him the judges’ decision.
Bader improves to a still-undefeated record of 12-0 while Noguiera falls to 19-4.
Tags: Light Heavyweight, UFC
