There was no other way for a historic night of the underdog to end. Frank Mir, for the first time in four years, left the Octagon victorious on Sunday, knocking Antonio Silva out with a ferocious first-round blitz at the tender age of 35. The stunning revival of the former UFC heavyweight champion capped off a UFC Fight Night 61 card already overflowing with upsets, and for many of the pros on Twitter, it set off a wild celebration as the old dog proved he still had some bite left in those bones.
Thought Mir was a southpaw..
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) February 23, 2015
OHHHHHHHHH
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) February 23, 2015
Whoooo what a finish by Mir!!!
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) February 23, 2015
Good lord . Dream state !!!! #UFCPOA
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) February 23, 2015
Always been a frank Mir fan
— Louis Gaudinot (@LouGaudinotUFC) February 23, 2015
Wow!
— James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) February 23, 2015
And that’s why! Lol
— Louis Gaudinot (@LouGaudinotUFC) February 23, 2015
Man @thefrankmir told yall he’s not finished!!!
— Clint Hester (@clinthester) February 23, 2015
Night of the Underdogs!!!
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) February 23, 2015
Hell yeah @thefrankmir #UFCPOA that was awesome
— Zak Cummings (@ZakCummings) February 23, 2015
Oh hell yeah!! @thefrankmir beautiful!!
— Eddie Wineland (@EddieWineland) February 23, 2015
OOOOOHHHH MMMMYYYYYYY GOD! #UFCPOA frank fuc*ing Mir ladies and gentleman! @ufc
— Anthony Birchak (@abirchakMMA) February 23, 2015
@thefrankmir with the hands?! Nice good win brotha!! #USA
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) February 23, 2015
#FrankMirFace http://t.co/L3EWz51Ryb
— Danny Castillo (@lastcall155) February 23, 2015
BOOM!! nighty night #UFCFightNight
— ‘Rowdy’ Bec Rawlings (@RowdyBec) February 23, 2015
Dayyyyuuummmmmmm @thefrankmir just did the doooo! Impressive! Maybe that’ll be the next fight?!?
— Matt Mitrione (@mattmitrione) February 23, 2015
Mother f!*&ing @thefrankmir does it again. Down goes sasquatch, and in amazing style @ufc @danawhite #vegaspride
— ?SAMPO? (@JSampoMMA) February 23, 2015
Bigfoot maybe is done #UFCPOA
— C H I T O V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) February 23, 2015
Congrats to Mr. MIR pic.twitter.com/1CW0Zue8zq
— The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) February 23, 2015
Awesome “Jab, hook, hellbows” combination ftw!
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) February 23, 2015
So… 10 underdogs for a $100 parlay, $36,889,703 pic.twitter.com/YMIELVO1we
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) February 23, 2015
Great fights tonight at #UFCPortoAlegre what a upset night but that is the great thing about MMA it’s So real it’s unreal @ufc
— Wilson Reis (@wilsonreis7) February 23, 2015
Big trees fall hard
— Yancy Medeiros (@ymedeiros) February 23, 2015
HWY Fights Love them, ever Fight, every punch, have to watch, congrats Frank, @bigfootsilva keep your head up
— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) February 23, 2015
MICHAEL JOHNSON VS. EDSON BARBOZA
Damn, I thought Johnson would win but he’s making it look easy.
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) February 23, 2015
.@FollowTheMenace combos tho! Looks like modern day Tyson! Great @ufc win! Congrats!
— Jeremy Stephens (@LiLHeathenMMA) February 23, 2015
Johnson looked good after his long layoff. Congrats on a solid performance. #UFCPOA
— Joe Ellenberger (@JoeEllenberger) February 23, 2015
HELL YEAH !!!!! My dude @FollowTheMenace HELL YEAH!!!! @ufc @henrihooft @glennauthentic he looked incredible! So happy right now!
— Matt Mitrione (@mattmitrione) February 23, 2015
Extremely impressed with @FollowTheMenace, looked like he was in complete control that entire time his chi and conditioning looked great
— Steven Siler (@Stevesiler) February 23, 2015
Excellent fight by Michael Johnson and Edson Barboza! @ufc
— Sara McMann (@Sara_McMann) February 23, 2015
Great job Michael Johnson total domination #ufc @FollowTheMenace
— ?SAMPO? (@JSampoMMA) February 23, 2015
Good job Judges 🙂
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) February 23, 2015
@followthemenace great fight, good movement congrats @ufc
— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) February 23, 2015
So proud of @FollowTheMenace. Amazing how far he’s come since the day we started this journey together 9 years ago #UFCPOA #respect
— Zak Cummings (@ZakCummings) February 23, 2015
Very smart fight for @FollowTheMenace can’t kick when you put that kind of pressure. Looked very impressive tonight. @ufc
— Chad Laprise (@ChadLaprise) February 23, 2015
Not a good Night for the Brazilians… I Hope Big Foot win!
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) February 23, 2015
@FollowTheMenace is the Sugar Ray Leonard of MMA! Amazing fight! @ufc #ufc #UFCFightNightBrazil #OnAMission Congrats Brother #StlStrong
— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) February 23, 2015
Ben Henderson you have a call on line 1 #UFCPOA
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) February 23, 2015
SAM ALVEY VS. CEZAR FERREIRA
— Scott Holtzman (@HotSauceHoltzy) February 23, 2015
Testing has people shrinking already… damn
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) February 23, 2015
Losing definition and all, lol I swear
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) February 23, 2015
@DerekBrunson I see that!!
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) February 23, 2015
OHHHHHHH MY GOD!!!!!!
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) February 23, 2015
Keep on smiling Sam. Keep on smiling
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) February 23, 2015
So from now on, I’m putting a full card underdog parlay together
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) February 23, 2015
Hell yeah Smily have a rock in the hand #UFCPOA
— C H I T O V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) February 23, 2015
Jeeeeesus #UFCFightNightBrazil
— Robert Whiteford (@Flyinjudoka) February 23, 2015
Smilin Sam just sent mini Vitor’s head into orbit. #UFCPOA @TommyToeHold
— Scott Holtzman (@HotSauceHoltzy) February 23, 2015
How can you not love “Smilin” Sam Alvey?
— Pat Miletich (@patmiletich) February 23, 2015
WOW!!!! Smilin Sam Alvey!!!! @FOXSports1
— Dana White (@danawhite) February 23, 2015
Throws one casual punch in 4 minutes, wins with devastating KO, with a huge smile! @ufc #UFCBrazil
— Jeremy Stephens (@LiLHeathenMMA) February 23, 2015
Sam Alvey has the greatest highlights ever. Beautiful ko! #UFCFightNight
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) February 23, 2015
Sam Alvey and Cody McKenzie would make perfect best friends! #UFCPOA
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) February 23, 2015
Awesome energy from “Smiling” Sam Alvey during this interview. But this is getting weird…real quick. #UFCPOA
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) February 23, 2015
Holy freaking moly! What in the world just happened. Alvey just dropped home boy like a sack of potatoes! Wow!!!!! #UFCFightNight61
— Seth Baczynski (@Sethbmma) February 23, 2015
My friend Joe Silva is on pace to break 38 more pairs of headphones this year. Did you see him slam those headphones in excitement? #UFCPOA
— Dave Sholler (@Sholler_UFC) February 23, 2015
Alvey just failed a test for “too much excitement”! #UFCPOA
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) February 23, 2015
Wow Smiling Sam. What an awesome finish! @ufc @danawhite #ufc #gingerpower
— ?SAMPO? (@JSampoMMA) February 23, 2015
Wow big KO! Smile’n Sam annoys me to no end but he got it done big. #UFCPOA #BigPunches
— Chris Kelades (@keladesmma) February 23, 2015
Probably the happiest fighter in the world. Sam Alveys brain produces 80% more seretonin than the average human being. #fact #UFCPOA
— Akira Corassani (@AkiraCorassani) February 23, 2015
Nice KO for Alvey. Only guy I’ve fought so far in the UFC not to attempt a takedown. Can see why #ufc
— T E Watson (@TomKongWatson) February 23, 2015
Congratz @smilensam Well deserved win with a beautiful KO! #UFCPOA
— Tarec Saffiedine (@tarecfighter) February 23, 2015
ADRIANO MARTINS VS. RUSTAM KHABILOV
I was not expecting this kind of fight but looks to be picking up finally #ufc
— Tony Martin (@tmartinmma) February 23, 2015
Told yall he overrated #UFCPOA
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) February 23, 2015
The judging on this one will be interesting with Martins having the Brazilian judging edge. #UFCPOA
— Scott Holtzman (@HotSauceHoltzy) February 23, 2015
Switched roles, Rustams takedown defense was put to the test! Who would’ve thought… #UFCPOA
— Akira Corassani (@AkiraCorassani) February 23, 2015
Who got that one? Close fight. I think I’d give it to khabilov. Forward pressure. Landed better shots. Martins retreated to much
— TJ Grant (@TJ_Grant) February 23, 2015
Brazilian won this
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) February 23, 2015
Hate to say I told ya so. But just made some #EasyMoney off Martins. Horrible fight either way.
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) February 23, 2015
I was wrong it didn’t pick up at all haha. I was looking forward to that fight too. #letdown
— Tony Martin (@tmartinmma) February 23, 2015
FRANKIE SAENZ VS. IURI ALCANTARA
Is he saying a “marijuana fighter”???? @CNueku52 http://t.co/3I2hrv9Xm7
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) February 23, 2015
Man Saenz is Grinding this fight down and really winning these little battles. #TheGrindIsReal #UFCPOA
— Zak Cummings (@ZakCummings) February 23, 2015
Saenz looked TUF/good TDs. Maybe Alcantara expecting an easy win? Gased early, and just looked for big shots, and rushed his sub attpts.
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) February 23, 2015
Night of the underdogs!! Great job
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) February 23, 2015
@FrankieSaenz great fight man. Way to go down to Brazil and get the win against a top 10 guy. @FightReadyGym #2checks #UFCFightNight61
— Seth Baczynski (@Sethbmma) February 23, 2015
All smiles form @FrankieSaenz great job bro, winning in the UFC is a great feeling, enjoy #ufc http://t.co/7r09SyN7xY
— Seth Baczynski (@Sethbmma) February 23, 2015
“@jackhammer135: @FunkMaster_UFC I don’t think luri respected him because he wasn’t ranked” Exactly my thoughts too. Saenz showed up
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) February 23, 2015
Big win for #Arizona and even bigger for #AZMMA fighter @FrankieSaenz from @FightReadyGym beating No.8 in the @ufc bantamweight division!
— Anthony Birchak (@abirchakMMA) February 23, 2015
SANTIAGO PONZINIBBIO VS. SEAN STRICKLAND
So Sean Tarzan Strickland out here stealing @JoshSamman swag
— Clint Hester (@clinthester) February 23, 2015
Just a couple of dudes trying to knock each others heads off. I like it. #UFCPOA
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) February 23, 2015
Strickland looking good at WW.. Really suits his style being the taller fighter. Close fight. Definitely not 30-27 in my book.
— Bigslow (@LukeBarnatt) February 23, 2015
Great fight! Good beard on Strickland #UFCPOA
— Scott Holtzman (@HotSauceHoltzy) February 23, 2015
Damn they gonna need multiple FOTN bonuses #UFCPOA
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) February 23, 2015
So Sean Strickland loses his second fight in a row… but he looked great tonight and at Welterweight. #UFCPOA
— Bigslow (@LukeBarnatt) February 23, 2015