On Friday, the UFC returns to Abu Dhabi for Fight Night 40, headlined by the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Roy "Big Country" Nelson. As I wrote that sentence, I couldn't help but shake my head. Nogueira--or Big Nog as he is so often referred to (his brother is referred to as Little Nog)--is a true legend of the sport. At one point in his career, he was considered the greatest fighter on the planet. Let that sink in for a second, dear reader. Big Nog would have been the odds-on favorite to defeat any man alive in hand-to-hand combat. Big, tall, or small, Big Nog would have beat them. Any man.
But that was more than a decade ago. Now before one of you misunderstands me, I didn't shake my head because the matchup between Nogueira and Nelson is laughable. It isn't. I shook my head because it always saddens me when old heroes of mine can no longer do what they once did. Nogueira is still an outstanding fighter, but he is not the same man who armbarred Dan Henderson in 2002. Nor is he the same man who absorbed a CroCop head kick and still managed to win by submission.
The Big Nog of today has lost almost as many fights as he has won in the UFC. What's more, he has been finished in each of his UFC losses. Finished. The man who was known for his ability to take a beating and for his world class submission skills has been knocked out or submitted four times in the UFC. If we could jump in a time machine and go back to 2002, no fan, no expert, no one who had witnessed the martial beauty of Big Nog would believe that he would ever be finished. You see, in 2002 that seemed impossible. He was simply too good. He was simply too tough.
But it's 2014.
Age is cruel, especially on those who fight for a living. When I watch footage of a prime Roy Jones Jr., I see a man with supernatural speed. In his fight against Bryant Brannon, for instance, Roy seems to throw punches at light speed. In fact, he hits Brannon with four left hooks in the span of one second. I'm not talking jabs. I'm talking hooks! Four of them! In one second! If you find that idea preposterous, I won't hold it against you. I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it for myself. And although the Brannon fight was held in 1996, we can still watch it today thanks to the wondrous invention that is YouTube. Click on this LINK and see it for the first time (or for the 30th--Lord knows I've watched it more times than I can remember). Roy throws those 4 left hooks at the 8 minute and 30 second mark of the video. The fight doesn't last much longer than that.
Roy, on that day, was one of the most spectacular boxers I've ever seen--and I've seen footage of all the pound-for-pound greats. On that day, he was super human. But age caught up to him. And eight years later, Antonio Tarver's fist caught up to Roy's chin. The man with super human speed was no longer fast enough to dodge that particular knockout punch. Tarver laid him out. And in Roy's next fight, Glen Johnson laid him out as well.
Those were difficult to watch. I idolized Roy Jones. I thought he was one of those rare boxers with the talent and potential to one day stake a claim of being the greatest pound-for-pound of all time. Even greater than the immortal Sugar Ray Robinson. After those losses, it would be a tough sale to claim he was the greatest of his generation, much less the greatest of all time. Because age caught up to him. As it does to us all.
Tomorrow night, I hope and pray that I don't have to see Big Nog--a man who was once a superman--fall victim to villainous age. Again.
Until then.
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