When pride died so did the fighters.

A common theme among the mentioned fighters is they are all out of their prime now. :conf

:hop

 

Age comes around

 

Time waits for no man

 

Wandy was already shot in his last Pride fights, just watch Wand-Crocop II

 

:deal

Nogueira won a fair few of his fights the hard way too. Thats something that would take its toll on anone.

 

They just gotta get the mixture right

 

i keep reading that changing from the ring to the octagon is a big reason. it wasn't til i saw the actual figures on how much bigger the octagon is that i appreciated that difference.

 

a lot of them were juicing, even though they have been off for a while their shbg levels are through the ****ing roof and they are permanently weakened because of it.

 

Gear. Simple as that. Once you come off gear your nuts don't pump out enough Test and you are a pale version of your former self phisically and mentally as a fighter.

 

Age and lack of roids.

 

I agree that changing from the ring to a cage matters. Cro Cop was getting older, but he was less than a year from winning against Wanderlei and Barnett on the same night when he lost in the UFC. I think the fight with Kongo showed just how much his grappling defense was much more effective inside a ring.

I'm not buying that Nog has lost his chin. I'm sure it isn't what it once was, because I think punch resistance degenerates more with getting hit than it does with age. I think Nog showed up for Mir ill prepared. Nog did not circle as he did in Pride, he was backing up in a straight line. Mir may not be the best striker in the sport, but he hits hard. Nog backed up, and Mir stepped to him with a straight right on the button.

Against Cain, I think Nog was in pretty good shape. Nog's chin held up to several big shots from Cain, but I think the one that made him fall was one too many. Nog's chin was good, but it was always his recuperative powers that were so impressive. When Cain dropped him, he also followed up with some vicious shots; giving Nog little chance to recover.

 

I also think the rule set made for more exciting, albeit harder on the fighters, then the American wrestling rules that the UFC uses. A combination of wear on the fighters, lack of juice, ring to cage and rule changes makes for different kinds of fighters.

 

I disagree with the Nog theory, Nog has taken more damge over the years then probably any HW and its clearly without a doubt taken its toll. How you can't see that is amazing.