UFC 100 Lives Up to the Hype

Brock was a considerable favorite, though the oddsmakers gave Frank Mir relative respect as a +180 underdog. In the end, however, Frank Mir was obliterated by Brock Lesnar in a revenge match for the ages. Lesnar didn’t let up on Mir, and was able to convert a side headlock on the ground in to a barrage of fists to the face. Lesnar won the bout in the second round decisively, rewarding all those who took Brock’s inexperience and threw it out the window.

The story here is not a tale of the tape, or the strategy of Brock Lesnar. Instead, Lesnar’s biggest move was when he gave the crowd two middle fingers for raining a chorus of boos down on the octagon. Throughout Rogan’s interview, Lesnar kept repeating, “I love it!” in response to the crowd’s frank displeasure with his win. Harking back to his days in the WWE, Lesnar played the role of the heel perfectly.

Frank Mir, graceful in defeat, admitted that he had, “some things to work on” and took the pounding to his face relatively well. He entered the second round bloody, beaten and…smiling. The good thing for Mir is that with a 1-1 SU record against Lesnar, a rematch isn’t out of the question. The problem for Mir is that Lesnar showed explosiveness, decisiveness and patience in his domination of Mir.

For now, Lesnar sits atop the heavyweight mountain with nobody able to touch him. Mir was supposed to give him a run for his money, but failed to do so. With youngsters like Shane Carwin or Cain Velasquez moving up the ranks, I doubt that either of those big boys has the moxy to unseat Lesnar at this point. Either way, when it happens, it will be to a ruckus crowd. Lesnar’s disappointing lack of sportsmanship is exactly why he is jeered so much. Even at his worst, Tito Ortiz loved the fans and respected them. Lesnar is far worse.

Dan Henderson Silences Bisping

And then some! Henderson caught Bisping with his feared right cross, slopping the British brawler to the ground and then going for a “revenge punch” while Bisping was clearly knocked out. Sure, I slated Bisping to catch the older Henderson off guard, and for that I look a little stupid. But how does Dana White allow Henderson to attack a fighter who is clearly unconscious. It wouldn’t be so bad if Henderson didn’t admit that he hit a man on the verge of entering a coma.

Next up for Henderson could be a bout with Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1 SU) from Japan. However, if Dana White decided to “punish” Henderson and build off the hype of the Bisping knockout, then he’ll slate him against the one and only Anderson Silva.

St. Pierre Virtually Untouchable

Thiago Alves came in to the ring like a raging pitbull, and never let up the entire match. But it was St. Pierre that came away with a decisive decision, wrestling Alves to the ground in every round. Little did we know that he was protecting an injured groin, but the French-Canadian intelligently stayed off his feet and took down Alves repeatedly.

The stunning part of the match was not Georges’ take downs, nor his surviving of a partially torn groin. In fact, the performance of the night goes to Thiago Alves, who resiliently kept rising to his feet despite having the experienced St. Pierre on top of him virtually all night long. Alves only began to lose some steam towards the end of round five, but was an unbelievable tank of energy, ferocity and resilience. This kid has a bright future, as long as St. Pierre eventually steps aside to fight Anderson Silva like we all want him to.