Issue 036
April 2008
Booking a big name to sell a show is a risky strategy. Should the star brought in to promote your event fail spectacularly, you’re likely to be left with egg on your face and people asking questions as to why a questionable personality from another ‘sport’ was brought into the Octagon in the first place. Or would you?
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas February 2nd 2008
TEXT: Daniel Fletcher Photos: Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC
Not quite the next big thing
Bringing in someone like Brock Lesnar was one hell of a move from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A legitimate freestyle wrestler and athlete before entering the pantomime world of professional wrestling, he is a huge physical specimen and natural competitor tired of being a glorified stuntman. With only one fight under his belt, he was signed up by the UFC to bring in some new blood to the heavyweight ranks (and to bring in crossover fans from the world of pro wrestling).
His opponent Frank Mir was about as middle of the road as you could get. A hot and cold fighter with bags of talent but less consistency than runny porridge, he was dangerous enough to beat Lesnar without being so much of a threat that he would make him look like the newbie he is.
Predictably, Lesnar came out of the pen like a rodeo bull, taking down Mir in about five seconds flat. Mir seemed overwhelmed by Lesnar’s ferocity and pace, who pounded away from half guard with short choppy shots and hammerfists. Lesnar received a
point deduction by referee Steve Mazzagatti for a questionable blow to the back of the head, which not only broke the rhythm of the fight, but allowed Mir respite from the drumming he was getting.
When they restarted, Mir offered a leg kick that Lesnar snatched for a takedown. While it seemed like Mir might have been testing Lesnar’s striking, he was actually giving Lesnar a takedown for free, taking the fight to the one place he knew he had a chance of winning – the floor. But didn’t Mir get panned up until the restart? Yes he did, as the marks on his face showed, but consider this – Mir is a seasoned pro. His submission skills are phenomenal, and Lesnar’s were completely untested. Allowing Lesnar to think he was getting the upper hand by engaging in a grappling match was exactly what Mir wanted.
Barely seconds after the restart, Lesnar was escaping an armbar attempt, and moments after that he succumbed to the decisive kneebar. Mir had practically pulled the move out of nowhere, and though the fight lasted all of a minute and a half, it was one hell of a comeback. His face showed some serious damage from such a short space of time, but he managed to ride out the worst of Lesnar’s attack and come back with his own.
Lesnar’s potential is undoubtedly bona fide. He showed some rookie errors in his short outing, namely being overeager to finish and taking the pressure off Mir when it most counted, but with his size and wrestling skills he will be a danger to anyone in the division. All he needs now is a fight or two to allow him to grow into his new role as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, and we could potentially see big things from him.
Nogueira survives against Sylvia
When you’ve built a career out of taking a beating and then coming back to win, it shows on your face, and one look at ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira is enough to know he is one of the rare breed of fighters who can take serious punishment.
Tim Sylvia is known for handing out the knocks, with many of his opponents feeling the wrath of his right hand. Though an awkward stylist and ‘ugly’ fighter (I don’t care what he looks like, I mean his fighting style) he has been good enough to win the title no less than twice and has beaten some pretty decent fighters along the way. When you factor in his sheer size, he’s a tricky opponent for anyone, as ‘Big Nog’ found out.
Sylvia popped Nogueira with his long, long arms for two rounds, stuffing a couple of takedown attempts and contemptuously standing out of the Brazilian’s attempts at pulling guard. A knockdown in the first round thanks to a left hook showed Sylvia was in control in the stand-up, and as the fight progressed the damage was starting to take it’s toll on Nogueira. It looked at times like Sylvia might be on track to hand the former Pride heavyweight champ his first knockout loss.
But Nogueira didn’t become the Pride champ and one of the world’s most regarded heavyweights by chance. He weathered Sylvia’s assault, drawing him into half guard early in the third. A sublime sweep put the big man on his back, and it wasn’t long before Nogueira had locked a tight guillotine choke around the former UFC heavyweight champ’s neck.
With the win, Nogueira becomes to first person to have held the Pride and UFC heavyweight titles. Whether he will get to fight Randy Couture is currently unknown, as Couture’s legal wrangling with his former employers makes it seem unlikely they will ever make a deal. In the face of Lesnar’s loss, it is likely that Minotauro will face Mir next, as no other credible challengers presently exist.
Round Up
It was a night of guillotine finishes, with no less than three being racked up including the new champ’s. Ricardo Almeida made a long overdue return to competition by choking the unheralded Rob Yundt in just over one minute. Almeida is a former King of Pancrase who left MMA back in 2003 to pursue business interests. His return signals a fresh face in the middleweight division and in due course, a potential challenger to Silva’s crown.
In other middleweight action, Nate Marquardt also used a guillotine in finishing tough veteran fighter Jeremy Horn. Horn is a veteran of over 100 MMA fights, yet Marquardt seemed unfazed and controlled the fight from start to finish before catching the submission. Worth noting is that Almeida actually defeated Marquardt for the King of Pancrase title, so a rematch in the UFC is a strong possibility.
Full results
Robert Emerson def Keita Nakamura via Split Decision
Marvin Eastman def Terry Martin via Unanimous Decision
Tim Boetsch def David Heath via TKO (Strikes) 4:52 Rd1
Chris Lytle def Kyle Bradley via TKO (Strikes) 0:33 Rd1
Tyson Griffin def Gleison Tibau via Unanimous Decision
Ricardo Almeida def Rob Yundt via Submission (Guillotine Choke) 1:08 Rd1
Nathan Marquardt def Jeremy Horn via Submission (Guillotine Choke) 1:37 Rd2
Frank Mir def Brock Lesnar via Submission (Kneebar) 1:30 Rd1
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def Tim Sylvia via Submission (Guillotine Choke) 1:28 Rd3
