After a lackluster showing in a loss to Frank Mir in his last outing in the octagon, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira bounced back by beating Randy “The Natural” Couture in an epic battle at Rose Garden Arena in Portland. Nogueira captured the victory by unanimous decision as a plus-150 underdog (risk $100 to win $150).

The Couture-Nogueira three-round battle earned Fight of the Night honors at UFC 102. Although Couture lost at the age of 46, he was a game opponent and didn't sound like he was thinking retirement after the loss.

The Knockout of the Night went to Nate Marquardt, who floored Demian Maia with one punch just 21 seconds into the first round. Marquardt also showed some class, refusing to deliver a parting shot before the ref stepped in since Maia was clearly done.

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Next, he told Joe Rogan and the crowd that he wanted a rematch with Anderson Silva, who dominated Marquardt with a first-round KO at UFC 73. Marquardt has won four of five fights since the loss to Silva with his lone defeat coming via split decision against Thales Leites.

Marquardt closed as a minus-180 ‘chalk’ before handing Maia his first loss in six career UFC fights.

Thiago Silva bounced back from his only career defeat by dominating Keith Jardine with a first-round knockout at the 1:35 mark. Silva, a loser against current light heavyweight champion Lyota Machida his last time out, improved to 5-1 since joining the UFC. Meanwhile, Jardine fell to 6-5 and left him with four losses in his last six trips inside the octagon.

Silva hooked up his backers as a plus-130 underdog. Jardine had earned the favorite status after looking good in his last fight when he went toe-to-toe with Rampage Jackson before losing a decision to the former light heavyweight champ.

Brandon Vera won a unanimous decision when he beat Krzysztof Soszynski in the bout that started the pay-for-view action. Vera improved to 7-3 in the UFC with his second straight win that was scored 30-27 on all three cards.

Sozvnski, who trains under Dan Henderson with Team Quest, had won his first three UFC bouts. Vera cashed tickets as an expensive minus-200 ‘chalk.’

Jake Rosholt was behind 2-0 on one scoring card and 1-1 on the other two going into the third round against Chris Leben. But Rosholt quickly scored a takedown early in the final round and eventually put Leben to sleep at the 1:35 mark. Rosholt prevailed for the first time in the octagon as a plus-115 underdog.

Looking to UFC 103 in Dallas on Sept. 19, Rich Frankin and Victor Belfort will square off in the main event at a catchweight of 195. UFC 104 will be in Los Angeles with the light heavyweight title on the line.

Machida will defend his belt against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who is coming off a first-round knockout win over Chuck “The Ice Man” Liddell. The unbeaten Machida, who is 15-0 overall and 7-0 in the octagon, will be making his first title defense since beating former champ “Sugar” Rashad Evans.

In other UFC news, reports recently surfaced that Forrest Griffin sustained a broken jaw in his loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 101 in Philadelphia. That fact helps explain Griffin’s bizarre full-speed sprint from the octagon to the dressing room and absence from the post-fight press conference. He obviously went to the hospital seeking immediate medical attention.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.

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