UFC: Frank Mir vs Mark Hunt – Winners and Losers

Brisbane got more than it may have bargained for with some fun finishes and great performances.

Something amazing happens when the UFC goes to Australia, because it seems like no matter how unimportant or weak an event may seem on paper, they have managed to put on some really fun shows with great matchups. This event ticks off all the boxes in the sense that it serves the true purpose of a Fight Night card – keep divisions trudging along to sort things out and keep relevance, get contenders exposure and give some newer guys more experience. It wasn’t a perfect event, but there was plenty to love and a fair bit of controversy a fair dose of craziness to the whole thing.

Winners

Mark Hunt – Even with his losses in the UFC, most of Hunt’s wins have been some of the most amazing in the UFC and perhaps MMA history as a whole. I can’t think of a greater turnaround and success story off the top of my head, and it looks that he is slowly but steadily clawing his way back to another title shot with another win or two. You could make the case that Mir’s arms didn’t go limp and that he wasn’t all the way out. Maybe the fight could have gone a bit longer, but it is what it is. Hunt now is on a two-fight win streak after beating Bigfoot Silva in November and now Mir.

Neil Magny – For a guy that came off one of the worst seasons of TUF and went 1-2 to start off his UFC run, Magny has blossomed into something wonderful to watch. He wasn’t as impressive when he came in, but after his aforementioned losses went on a seven-fight run of wins, lost to Demian Maia and is now on a three-win streak again, this time against the formidable Hector Lombard. Magny ate some monster shots in the first round and could have very well ended up with a TKO loss, instead bounced back and used his endurance, range, speed and fight IQ (or FIGHTQ – thanks, Eddie Mercado!) to be the first man to finish the former Olympian in the UFC. That’s no small feat considering how durable Lombard is known to be, and Magny further complicates the already muddy welterweight picture, but it’s great to see this happen to a great guy that has worked immensely hard to get to where he’s at. Hat’s off to you, Magny. Excellent work.

Jake Matthews – Perhaps the biggest winner of them all right here. Matthews had an tense back and forth and rallied late after doing damage to Case’s midsection to show some great maturity and composure for such a young fighter and never gave up and didn’t coast to earn a decision. Working for a late finish in a situation like that is something to respect in a fighter, and Matthews is just relentless. Currently 4-1 in the UFC, he’s moving along steadily in his division and seems poised to do big things.

…and Johnny Case – Yes, both of them end up in the winner’s column here. Case suffers his first UFC loss to also end up 4-1 in his UFC run, and as it happens in the fight game faced an opponent that just fought better and a bit smarter. There’s still a lot of upside to him, and his time at Power MMA with the likes of Aaron Simpson, Michael Chandler, CB Dollaway and Miles Jury should only help him continue to grow and improve. Great performance for both guys.

Daniel Kelly – I’ll say it again, DAD STRENGTH, REPRESENT! After clearly falling behind against a fighter that was clearly better with his striking and a better athlete overall, Kelly put on the Hulk Smash and broke Antonio Carlos Jr’s will after apparently burning himself out in the second round. We didn’t see much Judo this time, but he really has been surprisingly fun in his recent outings. Another fighter that improves to 4-1 under the Zuffa banner, and he’s a charmer to boot. Hopefully he gets some more exposure as something of an action fighter the way Anthony Perosh did for a while.

Steve Bossé – I totally didn’t see that coming. Unfortunately, neither did Te Huna. Right on the chin as his opponent moved left to hit the off switch, and good on him for not following up after the ragdoll physics were activated, although he looked like he was going to. It was hard to make out what he was going to be capable of after a rocky start in his UFC run, but he’s not going away quietly.

Bec Rawlings came back after a long hiatus and beat the very talented Seo Hee Ham, but a lot of people aren’t happy with it. I’m giving the advantage to Rawlings for doing more damage in the second and third rounds, establishing more control and using great head movement and range, better than she had in previous fights. It appears the time off did her some good, and she may have been too much for Ham this time.

Alan Jouban improves to 4-2, but don’t let that record fool you. He’s quietly putting together some impressive performances and has had some understandable losses to really good guys. He still seems to be finding his footing and seems primed to be someone to look out for very soon.

Leslie Smith looked really good overall against Nakai despite struggling with her opponent’s wrestling in some spots. Dan Hooker notched a great submission win against Mark Eddiva, who I insist hasn’t really shown what he’s capable of. Alan Patrick showed some very improved wrestling and punishing top control, and moves to 3-1 in the UFC. His backflip game needs work, though.

Australian MMA – Zuffa has sort of built their events around a reliable group of fighters for when they travel to the region with the likes of Daniel Kelly, Rich Walsh, Jake Matthews (and hopefully Ben Nguyen in the future), etc. The fans get to see local guys fighting on a higher-tier event and the events look like they’re a lot of fun to watch live. Now with regional promotion BRACE being on Fight Pass, it helps greatly for prospects and new possible signees to get some shine as well. Having a strong presence and something of a backup plan to prevent the well from running dry is good for the company, good for the fighters in the area and great for the sport overall, and good on Zuffa for learning from some of the mistakes made in Canada and Brazil.

Marc Goddard – Big ups to another ref that doesn’t get enough love for doing great work and ensuring fighter safety and less shenanigans per fight. As a former fighter himself, he knows the ins and outs and seems to be the most anti-stalling ref in the game right now.

Ross Pearson continues to alternate wins and losses, and took on a very game Chad Laprise after his original opponent pulled out. He doesn’t seem to show much in terms of slowing down, and continues to add a few wrinkles to his game.

Losers

Frank Mir is at a strange place in his career. It’s almost like everyone figures he won’t fight for another title except him, but it doesn’t faze him in any way. He continues to face high level guys and strange wins or sad losses have been the norm in the last few years. You have to respect a guy that was essentially brought in as cannon fodder for Roberto Traven back in 2001 and has been a UFC mainstay since. It’s not the worst loss in the world, but when it comes to fighter safety and wondering when to hang it up, you have to wonder what his days will be like after his career is over with all of the damage he’s accumulated.

Hector Lombard – Nobody took a bigger tumble here than Hector Lombard. Ring rust is a real thing, but coming off a long PED suspension and taking this kind of loss is a bit of a shame considering the high expectations the UFC brass seemed to have had for him upon his exit from Bellator’s middleweight division. He looked like a destroyer of worlds in the first and as is custom now, had suspect cardio in the second round, where the fight should have ended (more on that later). Lombard looked like he was knocking on a the door of a title shot very soon not too long ago, but now falls back hard to the lower top ten of the welterweight division, a place so random that with everyone that has been moving up lately, he may even fall out of the top ten with this loss – especially in the manner in which he was finished. It’s a hard life.

Antonio Carlos Jr – Honest admission here – I really liked what I saw from this guy on TUF Brazil. He showed some raw athleticism and a lot of potential, and his move to American Top Team was very smart and great for him. Unfortunately his UFC record is now at 2-2-1 no contest (courtesy of the Kevin Casey eyepoke debacle) and while his performance is nothing to be ashamed of here, the loss itself puts him in a tough spot. He may stick around for another fight, and it will be the most important one of his brief career.

James Te Huna is getting his walking papers. If not today, tomorrow. If not then, soon. Four straight losses, all of them by finish. That includes two thunderous and frightening knockouts at the hands of Shogun Rua and Steve Bossé. Truly a very unfortunate end to his UFC run considering he had some fun wins and only lost to really good guys prior to this bout, and yet another example of the fight game being very unforgiving.

Mark Eddiva is also getting cut. Three straight losses for him, two of them by finish. I have a very soft spot for Team Lakay guys, because they consistently groom really great athletes with a tough work ethic to the point where they really understand the MMA game as a whole. I’ve said for a long time that the best Asian MMA hotbeds right now are the Philippines and Korea, and stand by it, Eddiva just never made it click. That said, I hope we see him in the UFC again soon, as he has a lot to offer.

Rin Nakai showed some great wrestling in her bout against Leslie Smith, but her size has really been a problem. She put on a gutsy performance against Miesha Tate with her wrestling, but Smith was ready for her shot after landing some combinations, nailing the timing and negating the advantage. She looked visibly flustered, and you have to wonder if she could possibly make the cut to 115. At this point, it’s in her best interest.

Richard Walsh got robbed. Again. He won me over with his impressive performance against Kiichi Kunimoto, but got robbed there as well. We can only hope that Zuffa makes it right for him as he’s only 27 despite his appearance and should realistically be at 11-2 and not 9-4. Speaking of which…

Viscardi Andrade did not win that fight. We shouldn’t treat this as a win, nor should management. There’s no way he did more with his grappling control than what Walsh did with his striking.

Seo Hee Ham – This one hurts, because Hamderlei has been one of the most fearless fighters in the men’s or women’s divisions for some time now, but she’s struggled mightily against Joanne Calderwood and Bec Rawlings, both using their range to keep her at bay. It appears Ham has had serious trouble weaving her way in to land her combinations after a while, but this fight says more about Rawlings’ improvements than Ham’s deficiencies, even if Ham’s deficiencies are a real thing that need to be addressed. She’s got a good fight team, but needs to make some changes and adaptations mid-fight.

Steve Perceval – See, I wondered why people booed the guy, then the Lombard fight happened to remind me. Did he forget that he was supposed to officiate the match and not just look at it up close? People make a lot of hay about guys on steroids being the cause of the first octagon death even though PED use has been in the sport forever (and still no deaths), but it’s incompetent refs like this that are going to get someone irreversibly hurt or even worse. Fighters should demand that he not work their bouts, because this is ridiculous.

Chad Laprise takes a loss her against a very game Ross Pearson, and now has lost two in a row to put his UFC record at 3-2. Still room to grow for him, but this puts pressure on him to win big in his next outing. Brendan O’Reilly falls to 1-2, and may get another fight. Still, it’s a tough spot to be in.

Neither

Damien Brown came in as a late replacement and did what he could, but it wasn’t enough. Good on him for taking the fight, but this shouldn’t set him back very far.

Brisbane got more than it may have bargained for with some fun finishes and great performances.

Something amazing happens when the UFC goes to Australia, because it seems like no matter how unimportant or weak an event may seem on paper, they have managed to put on some really fun shows with great matchups. This event ticks off all the boxes in the sense that it serves the true purpose of a Fight Night card – keep divisions trudging along to sort things out and keep relevance, get contenders exposure and give some newer guys more experience. It wasn’t a perfect event, but there was plenty to love and a fair bit of controversy a fair dose of craziness to the whole thing.

Winners

Mark Hunt – Even with his losses in the UFC, most of Hunt’s wins have been some of the most amazing in the UFC and perhaps MMA history as a whole. I can’t think of a greater turnaround and success story off the top of my head, and it looks that he is slowly but steadily clawing his way back to another title shot with another win or two. You could make the case that Mir’s arms didn’t go limp and that he wasn’t all the way out. Maybe the fight could have gone a bit longer, but it is what it is. Hunt now is on a two-fight win streak after beating Bigfoot Silva in November and now Mir.

Neil Magny – For a guy that came off one of the worst seasons of TUF and went 1-2 to start off his UFC run, Magny has blossomed into something wonderful to watch. He wasn’t as impressive when he came in, but after his aforementioned losses went on a seven-fight run of wins, lost to Demian Maia and is now on a three-win streak again, this time against the formidable Hector Lombard. Magny ate some monster shots in the first round and could have very well ended up with a TKO loss, instead bounced back and used his endurance, range, speed and fight IQ (or FIGHTQ – thanks, Eddie Mercado!) to be the first man to finish the former Olympian in the UFC. That’s no small feat considering how durable Lombard is known to be, and Magny further complicates the already muddy welterweight picture, but it’s great to see this happen to a great guy that has worked immensely hard to get to where he’s at. Hat’s off to you, Magny. Excellent work.

Jake Matthews – Perhaps the biggest winner of them all right here. Matthews had an tense back and forth and rallied late after doing damage to Case’s midsection to show some great maturity and composure for such a young fighter and never gave up and didn’t coast to earn a decision. Working for a late finish in a situation like that is something to respect in a fighter, and Matthews is just relentless. Currently 4-1 in the UFC, he’s moving along steadily in his division and seems poised to do big things.

…and Johnny Case – Yes, both of them end up in the winner’s column here. Case suffers his first UFC loss to also end up 4-1 in his UFC run, and as it happens in the fight game faced an opponent that just fought better and a bit smarter. There’s still a lot of upside to him, and his time at Power MMA with the likes of Aaron Simpson, Michael Chandler, CB Dollaway and Miles Jury should only help him continue to grow and improve. Great performance for both guys.

Daniel Kelly – I’ll say it again, DAD STRENGTH, REPRESENT! After clearly falling behind against a fighter that was clearly better with his striking and a better athlete overall, Kelly put on the Hulk Smash and broke Antonio Carlos Jr’s will after apparently burning himself out in the second round. We didn’t see much Judo this time, but he really has been surprisingly fun in his recent outings. Another fighter that improves to 4-1 under the Zuffa banner, and he’s a charmer to boot. Hopefully he gets some more exposure as something of an action fighter the way Anthony Perosh did for a while.

Steve Bossé – I totally didn’t see that coming. Unfortunately, neither did Te Huna. Right on the chin as his opponent moved left to hit the off switch, and good on him for not following up after the ragdoll physics were activated, although he looked like he was going to. It was hard to make out what he was going to be capable of after a rocky start in his UFC run, but he’s not going away quietly.

Bec Rawlings came back after a long hiatus and beat the very talented Seo Hee Ham, but a lot of people aren’t happy with it. I’m giving the advantage to Rawlings for doing more damage in the second and third rounds, establishing more control and using great head movement and range, better than she had in previous fights. It appears the time off did her some good, and she may have been too much for Ham this time.

Alan Jouban improves to 4-2, but don’t let that record fool you. He’s quietly putting together some impressive performances and has had some understandable losses to really good guys. He still seems to be finding his footing and seems primed to be someone to look out for very soon.

Leslie Smith looked really good overall against Nakai despite struggling with her opponent’s wrestling in some spots. Dan Hooker notched a great submission win against Mark Eddiva, who I insist hasn’t really shown what he’s capable of. Alan Patrick showed some very improved wrestling and punishing top control, and moves to 3-1 in the UFC. His backflip game needs work, though.

Australian MMA – Zuffa has sort of built their events around a reliable group of fighters for when they travel to the region with the likes of Daniel Kelly, Rich Walsh, Jake Matthews (and hopefully Ben Nguyen in the future), etc. The fans get to see local guys fighting on a higher-tier event and the events look like they’re a lot of fun to watch live. Now with regional promotion BRACE being on Fight Pass, it helps greatly for prospects and new possible signees to get some shine as well. Having a strong presence and something of a backup plan to prevent the well from running dry is good for the company, good for the fighters in the area and great for the sport overall, and good on Zuffa for learning from some of the mistakes made in Canada and Brazil.

Marc Goddard – Big ups to another ref that doesn’t get enough love for doing great work and ensuring fighter safety and less shenanigans per fight. As a former fighter himself, he knows the ins and outs and seems to be the most anti-stalling ref in the game right now.

Ross Pearson continues to alternate wins and losses, and took on a very game Chad Laprise after his original opponent pulled out. He doesn’t seem to show much in terms of slowing down, and continues to add a few wrinkles to his game.

Losers

Frank Mir is at a strange place in his career. It’s almost like everyone figures he won’t fight for another title except him, but it doesn’t faze him in any way. He continues to face high level guys and strange wins or sad losses have been the norm in the last few years. You have to respect a guy that was essentially brought in as cannon fodder for Roberto Traven back in 2001 and has been a UFC mainstay since. It’s not the worst loss in the world, but when it comes to fighter safety and wondering when to hang it up, you have to wonder what his days will be like after his career is over with all of the damage he’s accumulated.

Hector Lombard – Nobody took a bigger tumble here than Hector Lombard. Ring rust is a real thing, but coming off a long PED suspension and taking this kind of loss is a bit of a shame considering the high expectations the UFC brass seemed to have had for him upon his exit from Bellator’s middleweight division. He looked like a destroyer of worlds in the first and as is custom now, had suspect cardio in the second round, where the fight should have ended (more on that later). Lombard looked like he was knocking on a the door of a title shot very soon not too long ago, but now falls back hard to the lower top ten of the welterweight division, a place so random that with everyone that has been moving up lately, he may even fall out of the top ten with this loss – especially in the manner in which he was finished. It’s a hard life.

Antonio Carlos Jr – Honest admission here – I really liked what I saw from this guy on TUF Brazil. He showed some raw athleticism and a lot of potential, and his move to American Top Team was very smart and great for him. Unfortunately his UFC record is now at 2-2-1 no contest (courtesy of the Kevin Casey eyepoke debacle) and while his performance is nothing to be ashamed of here, the loss itself puts him in a tough spot. He may stick around for another fight, and it will be the most important one of his brief career.

James Te Huna is getting his walking papers. If not today, tomorrow. If not then, soon. Four straight losses, all of them by finish. That includes two thunderous and frightening knockouts at the hands of Shogun Rua and Steve Bossé. Truly a very unfortunate end to his UFC run considering he had some fun wins and only lost to really good guys prior to this bout, and yet another example of the fight game being very unforgiving.

Mark Eddiva is also getting cut. Three straight losses for him, two of them by finish. I have a very soft spot for Team Lakay guys, because they consistently groom really great athletes with a tough work ethic to the point where they really understand the MMA game as a whole. I’ve said for a long time that the best Asian MMA hotbeds right now are the Philippines and Korea, and stand by it, Eddiva just never made it click. That said, I hope we see him in the UFC again soon, as he has a lot to offer.

Rin Nakai showed some great wrestling in her bout against Leslie Smith, but her size has really been a problem. She put on a gutsy performance against Miesha Tate with her wrestling, but Smith was ready for her shot after landing some combinations, nailing the timing and negating the advantage. She looked visibly flustered, and you have to wonder if she could possibly make the cut to 115. At this point, it’s in her best interest.

Richard Walsh got robbed. Again. He won me over with his impressive performance against Kiichi Kunimoto, but got robbed there as well. We can only hope that Zuffa makes it right for him as he’s only 27 despite his appearance and should realistically be at 11-2 and not 9-4. Speaking of which…

Viscardi Andrade did not win that fight. We shouldn’t treat this as a win, nor should management. There’s no way he did more with his grappling control than what Walsh did with his striking.

Seo Hee Ham – This one hurts, because Hamderlei has been one of the most fearless fighters in the men’s or women’s divisions for some time now, but she’s struggled mightily against Joanne Calderwood and Bec Rawlings, both using their range to keep her at bay. It appears Ham has had serious trouble weaving her way in to land her combinations after a while, but this fight says more about Rawlings’ improvements than Ham’s deficiencies, even if Ham’s deficiencies are a real thing that need to be addressed. She’s got a good fight team, but needs to make some changes and adaptations mid-fight.

Steve Perceval – See, I wondered why people booed the guy, then the Lombard fight happened to remind me. Did he forget that he was supposed to officiate the match and not just look at it up close? People make a lot of hay about guys on steroids being the cause of the first octagon death even though PED use has been in the sport forever (and still no deaths), but it’s incompetent refs like this that are going to get someone irreversibly hurt or even worse. Fighters should demand that he not work their bouts, because this is ridiculous.

Chad Laprise takes a loss her against a very game Ross Pearson, and now has lost two in a row to put his UFC record at 3-2. Still room to grow for him, but this puts pressure on him to win big in his next outing. Brendan O’Reilly falls to 1-2, and may get another fight. Still, it’s a tough spot to be in.

Neither

Damien Brown came in as a late replacement and did what he could, but it wasn’t enough. Good on him for taking the fight, but this shouldn’t set him back very far.