Luiz was 53 and cause of death was a stroke. He suffered a stroke on January 26 and due to pressure on his brain the doctors were forced to induce a coma. Sadly, this Friday he suffered a hemorrhage due to increased pressure on his brain which ended up leading to his death.

Luiz is considered one of the most important representatives of muay thai in Brazil. His loss is a huge blow to the Brazilian MMA community as he was the founder of Boxe Thai Academy and the Brazilian Confederation of Muay Thai.

Nogueira has always considered Alves to be his good luck charm. He attended every fight he has been in since 2001 except for his loss against third-ranked Frank Mir (13-4) and his other loss via stoppage to Cain Velasquez (8-0). The Cain fight he had already suffered his stroke and during the Mir fight his daughter was getting married.

This will be a difficult thing for Nogueira to overcome since he held him in such high regard.

His funeral will be Sunday in Nova Russas, Brazil and friends and family will have a private ceremony at Memorial do Carmo in Rio de Janeiro.

MMA Gospel and Fighters.com offer our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

Velasquez certainly turned more heads than just Big Nog’s with the right hook the was the beginning of the end for the former PRIDE and interim UFC champion.  Fighters.com certainly didn’t imagine that end to the fight, and we suspect neither did most of you.  The win plants Velasquez firmly in title contention in the UFC.

White added, “We’ll see what happens with [third-ranked Frank Mir (13-4)] and [sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) ] – see who wins that – and if the guys come out unscathed, they’ll fight for the title. If not, then Cain Velasquez will get that slot.”

But, Velasquez’s win also cleared a path to the title for Nogueira’s prodigy fifth-ranked ”Cigano” Junior dos Santos (9-1).  dos Santos had been waiting as the more popular, better vetted Nogueira chased the title because the two wouldn’t fight each other as contenders.  Now that Velasquez has removed Nogueira from the title picture for awhile, dos Santos can step up as a serious contender.

Could Velasquez and dos Santos be on a collision course themselves?  If the winner of Mir-Carwin is able to challenge UFC champion and second-ranked Brock Lesnar (4-1) in July, the question for Velasquez will be whether or not he wants to wait possibly until 2011 to fight again or take a dangerous fight versus a fellow contender, but someone ranked lower than the legend he just beat.

It was a surprisingly short fight capping a night of grueling wars.  Velasquez dropped Nogueira with a two-punch combo then finished the MMA legend with five unanswered punches on the mat before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 2:20.

But, those nostalgic for PRIDE can take comfort that tenth-ranked light heavyweight “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (34-10-1) picked up a respectable unanimous decision win in his move down to middleweight versus “Count” Michael Bisping (18-3).  The judges’ scores were 29-28.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (233.2 lbs./106 kg) vs. Cain Velasquez (242 lbs./110 kg)

Wanderlei Silva (184.8 lbs./84kg) vs. Michael Bisping (184.8 lbs./84 kg)

Joe Stevenson (154 lbs./70 kg) vs. George Sotiropoulos (154 lbs./70 kg)

Keith Jardine (204.6 lbs./93 kg) vs. Ryan Bader (204.6 lbs./93 kg)

“Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (233.2 lbs./106 kg) vs. Anthony Perosh (215.6 lbs./98 kg)

Stephan Bonnar (204.6 lbs./93 kg) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (204.6 lbs./93 kg)

Chris Lytle (169.4 lbs./77 kg) vs. Brian Foster (171.7 lbs./78 kg)

C.B. Dollaway (184.8 lbs./84 kg) vs. Goran Reljic (184.8 lb.s/84 kg)

James Te Huna (205 lbs./93 kg) vs. Igor Pokrajac (205 lbs./93 kg)

“This will probably be an annual event,” said White Wednesday in Sydney.  “Obviously if you see our track record, when we go somewhere and it’s very successful, we usually make it an annual event. Montreal, we did it in Columbus for a while.”

The UFC world tour has stopped in Canada, England, Ireland, and Germany in recent years and will debut in Abu Dhabi in April.  Previous years have seen UFC events in both Japan and Brazil too.

Emelianenko’s fallen foe at M-1 Global/Strikeforce, fifth-ranked “Grim” Brett Rogers (10-1), wants to comeback versus Strikeforce heavyweight champion “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (29-10).  And, Overeem seems ambivalent about who he fights and whether or not he’s defending his title or not.

And so,  four men makeup what Strikeforce and M-1 Global might call “a good problem to have” atop the Strikeforce heavyweight division.  Especially since the UFC is finding it hard to find four top heavyweights who are healthy enough to fight.

Second-ranked UFC champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) is out indefinitely after minor intesting surgery, but is excpect to return versus sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0).

Fourth-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1) has had to postpone a fight versus Cain Velasquez (6-0) for the interim UFC title until UFC 110 in Sydney February 21 due to a staph infection.

And, seventh-ranked “Cigano” Junior dos Santos (9-1) lost his UFC 108 opponent, “Napão” Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4), due to Gonzaga’s staph infection.

Third-ranked Frank Mir (12-4) will fight Cheick Kongo (14-5-1) at UFC 107 in Memphis December 12.

Eighth-ranked “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (20-5) is negotiating a return to Pancrase in 2010 to defend his heavyweight King of Pancrase title.

Tenth-ranked “The Natural” Randy Couture (17-10) has moved down to light heavyweight.

Fighters.com November Heavyweight Rankings

1. “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-1)

2. Brock Lesnar (4-1)

3. Frank Mir (12-4)

4. “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1)

5. “Grim” Brett Rogers (10-1)

6. Shane Carwin (10-0)

7. “Cigano” Junior dos Santos (9-1)

8. “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (20-5)

9. “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1)

10. “The Natural” Randy Couture (17-10)

The previously scheduled main event between fourth-ranked heavyweight “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1) and Cain Velasquez (6-0) has been postponed due to a staph infection to Nogueira.

“The bout between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva is a fight we always talked about as a main event, and now these guys have the chance to headline UFC 108 and kick off the new year in impressive fashion,” said UFC President Dana White. “At the same time, we wish Antonio Nogueira a speedy recovery and can’t wait for his return.”

Evans has told AOL FanHouse of the matchup versus Silva, “I think I match up really well with Thiago Silva.  He’s a great striker, and I love his focus.  He’s going to be a challenge, and that’s the kind of fight I want.”

Silva responded via Tatame, saying, “We’re two aggressive fighters, it’ll be a good fight, the game matches.  I want to fight with the bests and show my work to be close to a title shot.”

Fighters.com has not confirmed the report; but, if true, the first UFC event 2010 will require a possibly unprecedented fourth main event.  Originally, a title fight between Fighters.com and UFC Middleweight Champion “Spider” Anderson Silva (25-4) and tenth-ranked “Phenom” Vitor Belfort (18-8) was scheduled to headline UFC 108, but Silva was forced to postpone the fight after elbow surgery.  A title fight between second-ranked, UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) and sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (9-0) was postponed to UFC 108 after Lesnar came down with mononucleosis, but the fight was postponed indefinitely as Lesnar’s illness has become more serious.  The matchup between big Nog’ and Velasquez was the UFC’s third try to fill the top of the bill for what is often one of the year’s biggest events.

The winner is in line for the next shot at the UFC heavyweight title currently held by second-ranked Brock Lesnar (4-1).

Nogueira lost the interim UFC heavyweight title to third-ranked Frank Mir (12-4) at UFC 92 in Las Vegas in December 2008, later returning to victory over tenth-ranked former UFC Heavyweight champion “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-10) at UFC 102 in Portland August 29.

Velasquez moved forward in contention after a TKO stoppage of “Big” Ben Rothwell (26-7) at UFC 104 in Los Angeles October 24.

Lesnar  was previously scheduled to fight sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) UFC 106 in Las Vegas November 21, but withdrew due to a reported flu-like illness.  The championship bout had been rumored for UFC 108, but it is not yet certain if Lesnar will be ready for the fight.

Chad Edward contributed to this report.

Like the judges’ decision in the main event, referee Steve Mazzagatti’s decision to stop the fight as Rothwell was standing up from Velasquez’s ground’n'pound assault was controversial.

However, the outcome of this fight was not.  Velasquez dominated the much larger and more experienced Rothwell, taking him down at will and launching thunderous shot after shot to Rothwell’s face and head.

Even Velasquez was surprised he was so dominant.  “I just felt like he’d defend [my takedowns] a lot more,” he admitted after the fight.

Mazzagatti had warned Rothwell between rounds that he was taking too much unanswered damage, so when Velasquez began round two as round one had ened – putting Rothwell on his back pounding him – Mazzagatti stepped in and ended the fight.

Rothwell protested, perhaps justifiably as he was standing up when the fight was ended; but, only Mazzagatti’s timing was bad as there was no reason to continue allowing Rothwell to take so much damage.

A confident and now well-vetted Velasquez said after the fight, “I know I need to get better, but, you know, I came in this sport to be the champion.  I want that belt.  And, whomever wins that fight between Lesnar and Carwin, that’s the fight I want.”

UFC President Dana White would not commit to assuring Velasquez a title shot versus the winner between UFC champion second-ranked Brock Lesnar (4-1) and sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0).