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UFC 146 Results: What We Learned from Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir

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 bel…

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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UFC 146 Results: What We Learned from Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

One punch. Fifty-one seconds. That was all Roy Nelson needed. “Big Country” blasted Dave Herman with a demonic overhand right to score a knockout win less than one minute into their fight at UFC 146. What We’ll Remember from This Fight…

What We’ll Remember from This Fight

The punch. Did anything else even happen?

What We Learned About Roy Nelson

A lot of observers (including me) were predicting Nelson (17-7) would dip into his jiu-jitsu toolkit for this one. Whether that was in the game plan or not, we’ll never know. Hey, when you have a fastball like that, you don’t need to resort to “game planning” and all those other niceties.

Nelson has proven once again that, although he may not be championship material, he has a place in the heavyweight division if that’s where he wishes to be.

What We Learned About Dave Herman

Well, it’s his second straight T/KO loss. Three of his four pro losses have come this way. Does Herman (21-4 and 1-2 in the UFC) have a suspect chin, or was he simply fall victim to a perfect haymaker? Probably a little of both, but I know that if I was fighting Herman next, I’d want to test that jaw.

What’s Next for Roy Nelson

I’d like to see the UFC reschedule his fight with Antonio Silva, Nelson’s original opponent at UFC 146. Or maybe the loser of July’s fight between Cheick Kongo and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to determine—once and for all—the true gatekeeper in the heavyweight division.

What’s Next for Dave Herman

Pat Barry in a battle for relevance in the heavyweight division.

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UFC 146 Results: What We Learned from Stipe Miocic vs. Shane Del Rosario

The second fight on the main card of UFC 146 saw two of the brightest prospects in the heavyweight division go toe to toe. Both Stipe Miocic and Shane del Rosario were undefeated going into this contest and a win on this card would go a long way.Del Ro…

Del Rosario would win most of the standing exchanges, while Miocic did most of his damage from top positions on the ground. Miocic won the contest in the second round after landing several elbows from half guard.

Here’s what we learned from the bout.

What we’ll remember about this fight:

The brutal ground and pound of Miocic. Del Rosario was doing a good job of controlling this fight on the feet, but once it hit the ground, Miocic became a nightmare.

What we learned about Stipe Miocic:

That his Golden Gloves background doesn’t hold up to the striking of the UFC heavyweights, however, his wrestling is strong enough to get him out of dangerous situations. Miocic scored his first takedown late in the first round, and he went back for more early in the second.

The impressive wrestling led us to witness his brutal ground and pound. Short elbows were his best friend as del Rosario had no answer for them.

What we learned about Shane del Rosario:

That his striking is diverse and dangerous. Beginning the fight with lots of kicks to the body and legs, del Rosario was in Miocic’s head early. Once Miocic started blocking the kicks, del Rosario shifted gears and began throwing weighty hooks and uppercuts that stunned the NCAA wrestler.

That ring rust slowed down his movement. The car accident that nearly ended his career could have hag a much bigger toll on the Strikeforce import, but del Rosario was missing the spring in his step.

What’s next for Miocic:

Miocic stepped up on short notice and has now recorded his third consecutive win in the Octagon. Still undefeated, he is ready for a big step up in competition. A contest with Travis Browne or Gabriel Gonzaga is definitely in order.

What’s next for del Rosario:

Del Rosario doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of after that performance. He looked great in the first round and just got put in an unfortunate situation. He will be back after that nasty cut over his eye heals up. A fight with the loser of Big Country vs. Dave Herman would be interesting.

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UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir — Live Main Card Results and Commentary

(Damn, Junior…give away your gameplan much? / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

After a preliminary card dominated by relatively normal-sized men — borrrrring! — we’ve finally arrived at tonight’s central theme: Big sons-of-bitches. That’s right, UFC 146‘s main card features five consecutive heavyweight fights, most of which look pretty damn entertaining on paper. Can massive underdog Frank Mir pull off Impossible Career Comeback #2, or will he succumb to the buzzsaw-like boxing of Junior Dos Santos, just like so many before him? Can Lavar Johnson score two knockouts in the same month (!), or is he in over his head — figuratively, and otherwise — against Stefan Struve? And does Roy Nelson really think he’s doing himself any favors with that ratty-ass gray beard?

(Damn, Junior…give away your gameplan much? / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

Live-blogging the UFC 146 main card for us is Anthony Gannon, who will be stacking round-by-round results after the jump starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page for all the latest, and throw down your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for being here, guys.

Well, shit. Due to a poorly timed server meltdown, we weren’t able to do the liveblog tonight; our deepest apologies. Hopefully most of you caught the pay-per-view because it was entertaining as hell, and none of the five heavyweight fights made it out of the second round. In short: Junior Dos Santos is still the UFC heavyweight champion, thanks to a dominant striking performance against Frank Mir, and Cain Velasquez made Antonio Silva‘s face look bloodier than anyone’s since Joe Stevenson. The full UFC 146 results are below; we’ll talk more tomorrow.

Main Card
Junior dos Santos def. Frank Mir via TKO, 3:04 of round 2
Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Silva via TKO, 3:36 of round 1
Roy Nelson def. Dave Herman via KO, 0:51 of round 1
Stipe Mio?i? def. Shane del Rosario via TKO, 3:14 of round 2
Stefan Struve def. Lavar Johnson via submission (armbar), 1:05 of round 1

Preliminary Card on FX
Darren Elkins def. Diego Brandao via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza via TKO, 3:23 of round 1
C.B. Dollaway def. Jason Miller via unanimous decision, (29-28 x 2, 30-26)
Dan Hardy def. Duane Ludwig via KO, 3:51 of round 1

Preliminary Card on Facebook
Paul Sass def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (triangle armbar), 1:54 of round 1
Glover Teixeira def. Kyle Kingsbury via submission (arm-triangle choke), 1:53 of round 1
Mike Brown def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)

UFC 146: What We Learned from Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner

Former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner (20-6-1) returned to the UFC for the first time since 2007 to take on one of the best rising contenders in the division in Edson Barboza (10-1) and pulled off one of the biggest upsets, stopping the Brazilia…

What we’ll remember about this fight:

Barboza entered the fight as a near 5-to-1 favorite over Varner, making this one of the bigger upsets in recent memory. Coming off a KO of the year candidate versus Terry Etim, many expected Barboza to be the first to knock out Varner, who came into the bout as a late replacement.

After an early takedown, Varner continued his attack with punches and dropped Barboza three minutes into the round. He followed up with some hammerfists before the referee stopped the fight.

What we learned about Edson Barboza:

Barboza is known for his stand-up technique, but he was overwhelmed in that area by Varner. Backers of Varner thought he would have the bigger advantage on the ground, but it was surprising to many that he was able to get to Barboza the way that he did on his feet.

What we learned about Jamie Varner:

Without much time to actually get into a rhythm of the fight, fans have to take in what was truly an amazing upset and all-around comeback for Varner.

“I gotta thank the UFC for bringing me back,” Varner said in the post-fight interview. “Barboza is a tough, scary dude. I just wanted to come out here and put on a good performance. I didn’t care if I won or lost. I wanted to come out here and fight for the fans.”

Varner might be making a strong case for comeback fighter of the year with this performance.

What’s next for Barboza:

Nobody can be taken for granted in the lightweight division, and even though Barboza lost, he still has plenty of time to get back and improve his overall skills.

Despite his early success in the UFC, he still doesn’t have all that much experience. A fight versus Tony Ferguson, who is 13-3, would give both fighters a chance to get back on the winning track.

What’s next for Varner:

With his comeback clearly off to a great start, Varner can continue to move back into the division’s top fighters with a fight versus Matt Wiman, who is 4-1 in his last five fights.

Tonight’s UFC 146 pay-per-view will feature a five-fight main card packed with heavyweights, including current UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, who will face former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

Santos, a Brazilian power-puncher, has knocked out some of the top heavyweights in the world, including Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez. He won the title last November and has gone unbeaten throughout his UFC career.

Mir, who is stepping up as a late replacement for Alistair Overeem, is coming off three wins, including a brutal and impressive finish of Santos’ mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He submitted the Brazilian submission wizard with a Kimura lock in the first round of their bout at UFC 140. Other wins include those over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Roy Nelson.

Other main card bouts include Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva, Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic and Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve.

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UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Main Card: Predictions for Every Fight

There’s no doubt that the upcoming fight between Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir will be an exciting one, but there’s much more where that came from on the UFC 146 main card. Cain Velasquez will hope to welcome Antonio Silva to the Octagon in styl…

There’s no doubt that the upcoming fight between Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir will be an exciting one, but there’s much more where that came from on the UFC 146 main card.

Cain Velasquez will hope to welcome Antonio Silva to the Octagon in style as Silva gears up for his UFC debut after starting up his career in Strikeforce.

Let’s take a look at who will come out on top of each of the big matchups on the main card for Saturday night’s action.

Frank Mir vs. Junior dos Santos

Frank Mir is one of the most feared fighters in UFC for a good reason: He’s notched eight submissions and has embraced his reputation as a downright lethal fighter when it comes to knockouts. He also comes in off three straight wins.

On the other hand, Junior dos Santos shouldn’t have too many problems taking care of Mir. He should be able to get it done as long as they don’t spend too much time on the ground.

Prediction: Dos Santos by KO

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva

Silva makes his UFC debut against Cain Velasquez, a hungry fighter who’s eager to put his recent woes behind him.

It’s understandable that Silva will have some growing pains moving to a whole new game.

And when I say growing pain, I mean pain.

Prediction: Velasquez by TKO

Dave Herman vs. Roy Nelson

Now, here comes what could be the most evenly matched fights of the night.

Both fighters desperately need wins as they are both coming off of grueling losses, and I’ll take the one with the better ground game.

Prediction: Nelson by KO

Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic

Shane del Rosario is making his UFC debut and coming off a 2011 car accident which had him sidelined to this point. Regardless, this looks like a very even fight on paper.

Both fighters are undefeated, and the winner could catapult himself into the conversation for a title race.

Prediction: Del Rosario by TKO

Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson

Lavar Johnson has seen his name emerge as one of UFC’s hottest commodities after back-to-back decisive wins.

But his ground game needs work, and Struve will show him just that.

Prediction: Struve by TKO

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