At UFC 146, the baddest man on the planet settled a score.
Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos punished and pummeled Frank Mir—who in his last fight broke the arm of Dos Santos’ friend and mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira—to retain his belt by second-round TKO.
Dos Santos insisted after the fight that revenge was not on his mind, though his high level of emotion before, during and after the fight, indicated otherwise.
“Of course I respect so much my mentor,” Dos Santos, draped in the flag of his native Brazil, told broadcaster Joe Rogan after the fight. “I came here to defend my belt, and that’s what I did.”
In a UFC event that saw seven first-round stoppages, the fight many were expecting would end in the opening stanza started fairly slowly. The champ worked his way out of a takedown attempt, then wagged his finger in the challenger’s direction. A right hook from Dos Santos (15-1) put Mir (16-6) in trouble at the very end of the round, though the former champ was able to scramble enough to survive.
What We’ll Remember from This Fight
The way Dos Santos forced Mir to play the champ’s game. After Dos Santos almost effortlessly stuffed Mir’s early takedown attempts, a lot of the starch came out of the challenger. When Mir and everyone else realized he had not choice but to box with Dos Santos, the fight was effectively over.
What We Learned About Junior dos Santos
He’s a star in this sport and he knows it. He took pains to compliment Mir after the fight, and insisted the beating wasn’t personal (even though it was). Dos Santos also brought a young boy from his neighborhood to the fight, and brought him into the cage afterward to a loud ovation. If you don’t think stuff like that matters, ask my wife, who after watching that became a Dos Santos fan on the spot. The UFC needs stars like this. It unequivocally has one in Junior dos Santos.
What We Learned About Frank Mir
I didn’t see a great deal of fire in the former champ. I wasn’t inside his head, but from the comfort of my couch it looked like he gave up fairly quickly. He is 33 years old, is the winningest heavyweight in UFC history and has three young children. Does he still have the hunger to fight?
What’s Next for Junior dos Santos
First and foremost, a media carpet-bombing campaign. With Jon Jones on the police docket and other UFC champions suffering from name-recognition, language or charisma deficits, Dos Santos could be the new dimpled face of the promotion. His headlines write themselves. “The Gentle Killer.” “The Dimpled Assassin.” “The Humble Knockout Guy.” Whatever. I’m not a headline writer. But you get the idea.
Inside the cage, just keep on rolling. But who’s next? I still think Cain Velasquez is (or should be, anyway) one fight away from another title shot. Alistair Overeem isn’t eligible to return until December. Fabricio Werdum would be a good match, if Werdum can get past Mike Russow. I still think (and I imagine plenty of other fans do, too) that a healthy Mark Hunt make for a compelling opponent—hey, why not? Especially for an organization like the UFC that presents itself as fan-friendly and responsive. But it’s a tough riddle, to be sure.
What’s Next for Frank Mir
Assuming he’s on board with the idea, Frank Mir is still an elite fighter. How about rescheduling that fight with Cain Velasquez, which was originally scheduled for UFC 146? Actually, that might be a little much. The loser between Mike Russow and Fabricio Werdum may be an option. If Mir feels like waiting a while, he could hold out for the winner of the August tilt between Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell.
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