UFC 119 Results: Mirko and Mir Snuggle, Mirko Goes To Sleep.

The main event of last nights UFC 119 card from Indianapolis was one of the worst in recent memory, it was a replay of Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera but with a surprise KO at the end of round three. Mirko Crocop looked timid and afaraid to engage Mir and risk a take down, while Mir shoved Mirko against the cage and whispered sweet nothings into his ear. This was the whole three rounds until a surprise knee from Mir caught Mirko's chin and put his lights out. It was still no redemption for the shit fight that preceded the knee, but at least it was something. Mirko is not the fighter he once was, and hasn't been for some time, but fans kept holding on to hope for Mirko to shine again. That was not the case last night and The 2006 Pride open weight Grand Prix winner should think about hanging the gloves up in light of a performance like this.

Matt Serra decided to play rock-em sock-em robots with Chris Lytle. The fight was all boxing, no kicks, takedowns, elbows, etc. Just throwing hands with Lytle was a stupid proposition on the part of the former champ. He has KO power, but not nearly as crisp as Lytle with his hands. That was the deciding factor as Lytle battered Serra with punches for three rounds. Next time out maybe next time out Serra will choose to mix it up and use that much discussed Black Belt in BJJ that he owns.



OFFICIAL MAIN CARD RESULTS
Frank Mir def. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic via knockout (knee) - Round 3, 4:02
Ryan Bader def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Chris Lytle def. Matt Serra via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sean Sherk def. Evan Dunham via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Melvin Guillard def. Jeremy Stephens via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
C.B. Dollaway def. Joe Doerksen via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 2:13
Matt Mitrione def. Joey Beltran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Thiago Tavares def. Pat Audinwood via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 3:47
Waylon Lowe def. Steve Lopez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
T.J. Grant def. Julio Paulino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sean McCorkle def. Mark Hunt via submission - Round 1, 1:03

Will A Loss To Mir Signal The End For Mirko?

Image courtesy of http://www.alleycatsgarden.com

Watching the UFC 119 preview show we were privy to some of Frank Mir's usual pre-fight posturing and trash talk, as per usual. A couple of things "Muuur" spouted out had me thinking, one of them being that he was going to give Mirko a reason to finally hang em up. The second was his dig at the Pride era of MMA in this tired old UFC vs Pride argument where Mir states that he wants to show people who thought that Pride was everything how wrong they were.

Firstly, Mir may not be off the mark when it comes to Mirko retiring if he loses this fight. Before his last couple of wins, Mirko was not the world beater he once was and we have yet to see him face a top heavyweight this year to gauge where he is really at. No disrespect to Pat "HD" Barry, but he isn't at the top of the division yet as tough as he is, and Anthony Perosh is no world beater. The win against Barry was a big one for Mirko however because it showed that he can still hang with the young guns in the UFC. Although Pat is a better striker than Mir, he has no where near the wealth of knowledge and experience on the ground where Mir will have a decided advantage against Cro-cop.

Mirko had looked to be on his way out last year when he couldn't contend with Junior Dos Santos after making his re-entry into the UFC with a TKO of Mustapha Al Turk. Could another loss put Mirko to the mindset he was in after the Dos Santos fight? It is very possible as Crocop isn't aging in reverse ala Benjamin Buttons, but just as any athlete who has competed as long as Mirko. If he cannot contend with Mir then the elusive UFC title shot he so wants will be too far from reach to even seem realistic. Mirko has not been the same since the knockout to Gonzaga and the American MMA promotion's talent may have passed Mirko by. However, Cro-cop did look good against Barry even though he was tagged several times. I still reminisce about the Pride days of Mirko Crocop and hope for a Championship run from the legend, but all that may be for naught if he cannot get past Frank Mir.

As far as the Pride vs UFC debate that Mir decided to bring up lets see:
Anderson Silva - Pride FC vet and current Middleweight Champion as well as the ranking of one of the top p4p fighters in the game.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - Current 205lb Champion.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - Former 205lb Champion and current contender at light-heavyweight.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Former HW Champion
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira - Current contender at 205lbs.

Need we go on?

In all honesty Frankie boy is just talking up the fight and trying to get those PPV percentage points, so you must take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand he did bring up a solid point in regards to Mirko retiring if he loses. Here is to hoping that we see Crocop continue on with the UFC and be successful.

UFC 110 Results: Velasquez KO's Minotauro in Main Event

Cain Velasquez won in the main event of UFC 110 without shooting for a single takedown. The wrestling ace stood with Rodrigo Nogueira and mixed up kicks and combinations until he caught Minotauro clean and finished him off on the ground with punches. A huge win for Cain cements his spot in the upper echelon of the Heavyweight division. Nogueira has now lost two of his last three via stoppage, the first two stoppages in his storied career, so who knows what is next on the horizon for the former Champ.
In the co-main event Wanderlei Silva did his fans proud by getting back into the win column as he earned a unanimous decision victory over the Brit Micheal Bisping. It wasn't the kind of ending he was hoping for, but he desperately needed a victory to stay relevant. For Bisping, it is his second loss in three fights but it was at the hands of two legends in Dan Henderson and the aforementioned Wanderlei Silva which is nothing to be ashamed of.
Mirko Cro-Cop returned to the win column as well in his bout with Aussie and fellow Croatian Anthony Perosh. Cro-Cop used good sprawls to keep the fight standing and punished Perosh who was unsuccesful in his takedown attempts. The fight came to an end due to a cut opened up by a big elbow landed from within his guard by Mirko.
Ryan Bader impressed with a big win over Keith Jardine who may be in danger of receiving his walking papers from the UFC after his second KO loss in a row.
In the lightweight showdown between Aussie George Sotiropoulos and Joe Stevenson, the Australian native impressed fans with a solid decision victory. Sotiropoulos is now looking like he has a spot among the top tier opponents in the 155lb class and has lots of potential.

RESULTS
Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 2:20
Wanderlei Silva def. Michael Bisping via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine via knockout (punch) - Round 3, 2:10
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic def. Anthony Perosh via TKO (cut) - Round 2, 5:00
Krzysztof Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar via TKO (cut) - Round 3, 1:04
Chris Lytle def. Brian Foster via submission (knee-bar) - Round 1, 1:41
C.B. Dollaway def. Goran Reljic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
James Te Huna def. Igor Pokrajac via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 3:26

UFC 110 Hit With Last Minute Rash of Injury/Illness

(Anthony Perosh)

The UFC announced just today that "Big" Ben Rothwell is out of his fight with Mirko Cro-Cop due to illness. It is a shame because that was a fight I was looking forward to seeing where Mirko stands in the heavyweight division. Rothwell's last minute replacement is  Anthony "The Hippo" Perosh, which should be a good confidence builder for Mirko seeing as Perosh has lost to any notable fighter he has faced in his pro career. Perosh's fellow Aussie and gym partner Elvis Sinosic has also pulled out of his scheduled fight with Chris Haseman due to a shoulder injury and that fight has been cancelled completely to make it a total of nine fights on the card as opposed to ten. What he was doing training hard enough to severely hurt his shoulder three days before the fight is a mystery to me.The full card now looks like this:
MAIN CARD
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva
George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson
Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Anthony Perosh
PRELIMINARY CARD
Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Igor Pokrajac vs. James Te Huna

UFC 110 Quote Round Up

Ryan Bader on Keith Jardine:

"Watching his past fights, if you catch him he'll go out. If you apply pressure you can end it quick. So that's my plan. He's never fought a wrestler like me. So when I take him down, I'm not gonna just be holding position, I'm gonna be dropping elbows and fists trying to finish him. He's got a button, and I'm looking to push that button,"

Minotauro on Cain Velaquez:

“I know he pushes the fight very much,” said Nogueira. “Watching his last fights, he pushes a lot. It was a good challenge for me to fight this kind of new talent. He’s very solid…I had to improve my wrestling, my boxing, a lot of things to fight this guy.”

Dana White on Cain/Nogueira winner getting a title shot:

"Brock is back in the heavyweight division now," White said. "He's healthy, and he's going to fight again. Mir and Carwin are going to fight for the interim title because that fight was already made before Brock said he was coming back.

Big Ben Rothwell on Cro-Cop:

"We would never disrespect the sport in taking anybody lightly. We’re planning to fight the 2001 Cro Cop. He accepted the fight, and when everybody’s telling you that you’re no good and can’t do it anymore, and you take a fight, there’s something to be said about that. That means he’s coming to fight. I know without a doubt that this man is gonna come hard. When he’s moving around fast and doing his thing, people are gonna be like ‘oh man, we haven’t see this Cro Cop,’ but I’m not gonna be surprised. It’s a tough fight, another big fight, and people get credit for beating Cro Cop because he’s not just a nobody. The guy’s dangerous, there’s no doubt about it, and he’s still got fight in him, so it’s gonna be a good fight and definitely a fight that I want to win."

Elvis Sinosic on his rematch with Haseman:

"I have no personal issues with Chris (Haseman) and he can say what he wants. Revenge has never been a factor. I have great respect for everyone that steps into the cage. What happened in the past helped build who I am today. Nothing I do now will change that. With age you can look at someone like Randy (Couture) and realize that it is training, not age that is relevant. As to records, when you look behind the numbers, sometimes it says more than the numbers alone. My record shows that I have faced world class competitors pretty much my entire career. [This is] a fantastic opportunity for me. I’ve been involved with the UFC since UFC 30, and I’ve always traveled and faced the hometown favorites. Finally, I get a chance to stand in front of my hometown. That alone is worth it."

Joe "Daddy" Stevenson on the ups and downs of MMA

"It's kind of good to remind yourself why you're fighting .... This sport has so many ups and downs. The trick is to not ever allow yourself to be deterred by anything positive or negative that's not in your hands ... not to just be comfortable but to perform. What I've learned at Greg Jackson's is it's important to stay relaxed but still execute. It didn't surprise me that [Diego Sanchez] went back up (to welterweight), maybe he couldn't handle the weight cut. I really don't like losing a close decision to somebody and then have them move up because I want to avenge every loss."

Bisping and Wanderlei go back and forth:

"Wanderlei's been very vocal about me, how he doesn't like me," Bisping said. "I've got nothing but respect for him as a fighter. Can't say the same about him personally after some of the comments I've heard."

"We're going to stop talking," Silva said. "Talking is the easy part of the show. He's talking a lot, I'm talking a lot but now we're going to see Saturday. We'll have a great show and I'm going to kick your ass."

Some videos to get you hype for Saturday (Sunday if your in Australia!)
Wanderlei Training for Bisping

Bispings VLog episode three

CroCop and Rothwell Prefight Interviews

Joe Stephenson Vlog

Minotauro trains for velasquez