Bader pounds out Nogueira in 3rd round to win rematch at UFC Sao Paulo

Ryan Bader's second win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was even more impressive than his first.

The top-five light heavyweight finished Nogueira by TKO in the third round of their main event rematch at UFC Fight Night 100 in Sao Paulo on Saturday. It was an even more convincing finish than in their first meeting at UFC 119 seven years ago, a unanimous decision win for Bader.

Like in their first meeting, Bader used his explosive wrestling to punish Nogueira. The bout came to a merciful end at the 3:51 mark of Round 3 when the referee stepped in to save Nogueira from Bader's relentless ground-and-pound assault.

Bader took care of business in his 20th UFC appearance, a number that trails only UFC Hall of Fame members Chuck Liddell (23) and Tito Ortiz (27) among light heavyweights.

In the lead-up to the bout, Bader revealed that this would be the last booking on his current contract. He heads into free agency with a 15-5 UFC record.

The fight was all Bader outside of a brief moment in the opening round where Nogueira hurt him with a pair of left hands. That attack was promptly snuffed out by Bader who exploded for a takedown to plant Nogueira on the mat. Bader repeated that pattern for all three rounds, breaking his opponent down until Nogueira had to be bailed out by the in-cage official.

Nogueira loses for the third time in four contests, and fifth in his last eight. At 40 years old, it's unclear how much time the former PRIDE star has left in the sport.