Mir is Back in Orbit

I had all but counted out Frank Mir.  His two fights prior to UFC 130 were absolute atrocities.  In UFC 111, Shane Carwin pushed Mir up against the cage and unloaded some telegraphed uppercuts against a non-defending Mir.  When one considers that Mir may be the most well-rounded heavyweight in the UFC -- a submission genius and solid striker --, it was perplexing to see him get destroyed by a guy who is really nothing more than a puncher.  Yes, Carwin is a beast, but one should rightfully expect more from Mir than he showed in that fight.

And, of course, one should rightfully expect MUCH more than Mir showed against Cro Cop in their UFC 119 headliner.  Though Mir put the Croatian to sleep with a heavy knee in the 3rd round, it was easily the most lackluster headliner that I, and most other UFC fans, have ever witnessed.  To that point, Dana refused to award Mir a "KO-of-the-Night" bonus, even though Mir's was the only KO in the event.

So, after 119, I felt that Mir was heartless and washed up -- a waste of tremendous talent.  After his win over Cro Cop, he dropped out of my top ten in the weight class and off the radar.

However, UFC 130 changed my mind.  For 15 minutes, Mir utterly dominated Big Country Nelson everywhere that the fight took them.  Mir won the striking game (against a notorious striker), the wrestling game, and the grappling game.  He made Roy look like a second-tier heavyweight, who belongs back in the International Fight League.  Most importantly, Mir did this with a broken jaw and a broken rib.  There's a heart in that man after all.  And, although the fight went the distance, Mir unloaded some brutal knees in the clinch that would have crumpled many other fighters.

Frank is back.  He is a big, dangerous man, and the rest of the division should take note.

Who is next for Mir?  Well, with half of the division ailing, Mir is now in line.  And, what would make the most sense is to give him the loser of the JDS-Carwin fight.  Showing this kind of a resurgence in the ring, Mir could make a rematch with Shane a very interesting draw.  And, of course, a rumble with Junior would be a compelling spectacle.

But there is one other match-up that would be even more interesting.  Overeem.  Both men are massive heavyweights with multi-dimensional skills.  It would be a true test of the Demolition Man and would show where each man belongs in the big boy world.  If there is a need for UFC-Strikeforce interbreeding, it is in the heavyweight division.  But, for several reasons, that will be some time coming.  All we can do is wait.

UFC Snore

UFC 130 is irrelevant.

None of the fights on the main card next week have any lasting impact on their respective divisions.

In the heavyweight division, there are two match-ups featuring guys who hardly have a puncher's chance of challenging for the belt.  Mir has looked blasé in his last two outings, first getting demolished by Carwin and then defeating Cro Cop in one of the most uninteresting fights in UFC heavyweight history.  Hopefully that non-contender Big Country will knock him out -- not that it matters much either way.

The other heavyweight fight only exists because it is a somewhat freakish spectacle: the 6'11" Struve faces the 6'7" Browne.  Other than the fact that they are stilt-walkers, who really cares about this fight?  Be ashamed if you are raising your hand.

Regardless of the outcomes of their fights, none of these four big boys deserve a place in the top 8 heavyweights in MMA.  Who are the top eight?  Cain, Werdum, Overeem, Carwin, JDS, Lesnar, Bigfoot, and Fedor -- perhaps not in that order.

More importantly, the headliner -- Rampage vs. Hamill -- is nothing more than stuffing in the light heavyweight turkey.  Rampage will probably beat Hamill.  What does that prove?  It proves what we already knew.  If Hamill upsets Rampage, what does that prove?  It proves that the unexpected sometimes happens in the octagon.  Jon Jones would make either of those guys look like huckleberries.  In fact, he already mercilessly battered Hamill.

In the light heavyweight division, Bones reigns supreme.  He's like a Kenyan marathoner who has broken away from the pack.  If they ever fight, he will spank Rashad as badly as he bludgeoned Shogun.  He might have trouble with Machida and has to stay away from a Rampage haymaker.  Other than that JBJ looks like a lock for the time being.

The remaining fights on the 130 card are even less interesting.  Stann will probably drop Santiago, which means the All American may one day get the opportunity to be embarrassed by Spider.  Alves will outmatch Story, which means diddly.  And Torres vs. Johnson zzzzzzzzzzzzzz... pardon my drool.

Did I mention that I'll be glued to the television nonetheless?  Yes, I am shameless.

Pound-for-Pound Mortals

First Chael Sonnen bludgeoned UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for four and a half rounds.

Now pound-for-pound greats Jose Aldo and George St. Pierre both have been shown to be less than gods.  And, if there is one thing that the two five-round title fights at UFC 129 demonstrated, it is that every fighter has his vulnerabilities.

In fact, in the featherweight championship, challenger Mark Hominick nearly finished Aldo in the final round with a ferocious ground-and-pound.  Aldo looked almost too exhausted to lift his arms to defend himself.  All three judges, it seems, scored that final round 10 to 8 in favor of Hominick.  (Note: Bruce Buffer announced one of the judges scores as 50 to 43 in favor of Aldo.  Reportedly, this was a clerical error.  That judge actually score it 48 to 45.)  Yes, Aldo was clearly the winner.  And, yes, Aldo repeatedly knocked Hominick down with an assortment of vicious strikes.  But the champion looked gassed as early as the second round and, at least this night, conditioning was his kryptonite.

GSP, too, looked far less than stellar in his title defense.  In an entirely stand-up fight, he lost a round (some would say two rounds) to a very mediocre striker in Jake Shields.  Other than a head kick that briefly jolted Shields, the champion's striking was so-so at best.  He offered mostly ineffective jabs, wild overhand rights, and a few harmless spinning back kicks.  Moreover, GSP was so intimidated by Shields' grappling that he only took the challenger to the ground twice, somewhat reluctantly, inflicting no damage.  After 25 minutes, it was GSP who was bloodied and half-blind.  This should have highly-ranked welterweights like Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, and Carlos Condit licking their lips.

Anderson, Aldo and St. Pierre can be beaten.  That much is clear.  So now, it seems that just one man stands, unchallenged, atop the pound-for-pound pedestal: Jon "Bones" Jones.  As Dana White said, Jones looks like "he's a mile ahead of everybody else."  But the 205-pound division is not full of slouches and one of them, Lyoto Machida, sent a frightening message to Jones on Saturday night by knocking Randy Couture (and his front tooth) into retirement with a brutal flying front kick.