Lavar Johnson was on pace to have a 2010 Chris Leben-like resurgence. He knocked out Joey Beltran in his UFC debut. He followed this up with a first-round TKO of Pat Barry. Then, he got called in to take on Stefan Struve after Mark Hunt withdrew from U…
Lavar Johnson was on pace to have a 2010 Chris Leben-like resurgence. He knocked out Joey Beltran in his UFC debut. He followed this up with a first-round TKO of Pat Barry. Then, he got called in to take on Stefan Struve after Mark Hunt withdrew from UFC 146 with a knee injury.
He was in position to put together a three-fight win streak, something that almost no fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division have right now.
He was in position to claim a spot on top-10 heavyweight lists.
He was in position to make his back-to-back losses to Shane del Rosario and Shawn Jordan in Strikeforce a distant memory.
Then he got caught by an awkward Stefan Struve armbar only a minute into the fight. This is an undeniably harsh change for somebody that had rocketing stock, and could have had one of the best single years for a fighter, ever.
Now that Lavar Johnson has been slapped back into reality, the question then turns to who should he try and make a comeback against? There are a few good options available for him at this time.
UFC 146 was a rough outing for Frank Mir.The former UFC heavyweight champion had the chance to reclaim his gold but came up well short, losing to current champ Junior dos Santos via second-round TKO.Mir just wasn’t able to fight his fight. He…
The former UFC heavyweight champion had the chance to reclaim his gold but came up well short, losing to current champ Junior dos Santos via second-round TKO.
Mir just wasn’t able to fight his fight. He wanted to get things to the ground, and dos Santos would have none of it.
Forced to stand, Mir was trading with the best boxer the UFC heavyweight division has ever seen, and that generally doesn’t work out too well.
He held on as long as he could, but dos Santos’ power was too much for Mir, who was eventually rocked and finished with a flurry of punches and an emphatic hammer fist.
After his somewhat underwhelming performance at UFC 146, here are four questions we have about Frank Mir.
Was he in shape for the dos Santos fight?
Mir’s cardio is always a question mark.
We saw him gas against Roy Nelson,and against dos Santos he seemed exhausted by the second round.
More than that, Mir looked a little chunkier than we’re used to seeing him in the cage.
Given all that, it’s hard to wonder if Mir was in the shape he need to be for this one.
Is his heart still in fighting?
I think it’s fair to say that most wouldn’t describe Mir’s performance as motivated.
Indeed, halfway through Round 1, Mir seemed to have already abandoned his game plan and was content to play into dos Santos’ strengths.
At 33 years old, having accomplished so much and being faced with the reality that’s just not as good as the new breed of fighter, Mir doesn’t seem to be the hungry fighter that he used to be.
How many fights does he have left?
Age 33 is not ancient for a heavyweight, but Mir has been in the sport for a long time and fought his share of battles.
It has been apparent over the past few years that Mir’s body—his chin, especially—is starting to let him down.
In the heavyweight division, fighters need to be able to eat a good punch, and it’s rare these days that we don’t see Mir rocked in a fight.
He’s one of the best ever and it will be sad to see him go, but you have to think that Mir doesn’t have much more than two years left in him.
What does the future hold for Mir?
Mir is one of the smartest and most articulate fighters in MMA history. His ability to analyze fights and break down positions in a way that a general audience can understand is unrivaled.
After Mir retires, it would be a shame to see him just fade away from the sport.
Hopefully, once it comes time for him to call it quits, Mir will stick around as a guest—or possibly full-time—commentator and MMA analyst.
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a stand-up comedian. Check him out on Twitter @AndrewBarr8.
Junior dos Santos crushed Frank Mir at UFC 146. Only one logical question remains. Who’s next?The answer to that question is undoubtedly important because in the last five years the heavyweight title has bounced around more than, well, nevermind.Whoeve…
Junior dos Santos crushed Frank Mir at UFC 146. Only one logical question remains. Who’s next?
The answer to that question is undoubtedly important because in the last five years the heavyweight title has bounced around more than, well, nevermind.
Whoever steps up to take on dos Santos next will, at least from a recent historical perspective, have a good chance at taking his belt.
So, let’s take a look at the fighters who stand to potentially be Cigano’s next opponent.
If he does manage to save his reputation and get another shot at the big time, however, Overeem would be the perfect opponent for JDS.
At 6’5″, 263 pounds, he enters the octagon with one thing on his mind: knocking opponents’ heads off. And with seven of his 10 wins coming by knockout, he does a pretty good job at accomplishing that.
Additionally, Overeem won’t try to go the ground like Frank Mir did. He’ll just stay upright and try to punish dos Santos with punches and kicks while dos Santos will come back with an array of his own powerful punches.
Fabricio Werdum
Werdum lost to Overeem in June of 2011 and he also lost to dos Santos back in 2008, but he’s ready for a rematch after beating Roy Nelson in the Fight of the Night at UFC 143.
Of course, Nelson just scored an impressive knockout against Dave Herman, so that win looks even better for Werdum.
Most importantly, he’s Brazilian. Putting him up against fellow Brazilian Junior dos Santos at the next Brazil event makes a lot of sense.
Cain Velasquez
Is there really any question that Velasquez deserves the rematch? The big American lost to JDS at UFC on FOX back in November of 2011, but after UFC 146, he’s easily the No. 1 contender.
(WARNING: the following video contains lots of blood)
Velasquez absolutely tore apart Antonio Silva during Saturday’s co-main event.
Not only is Velasquez the most deserving, he and dos Santos combine for what would be the most exciting show.
In his debut fight in the UFC, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was looking to make a statement as he took on former heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez at UFC 146. Instead, Silva was on the receiving end of one of the bloodiest beatdowns in recent …
In his debut fight in the UFC, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was looking to make a statement as he took on former heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez at UFC 146.
Instead, Silva was on the receiving end of one of the bloodiest beatdowns in recent MMA memory.
Silva was cut badly and eventually lost the fight by TKO.
Although Silva has wins over Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC champs Andrei Arlovski and Ricco Rodriguez, he has now lost his last two fights.
Here are some fights that could get Silva back on track.
Stefan Struve had an excellent showing at UFC 146, submitting dangerous brawler Lavar Johnson in the first round.It was a smart and calculated performance from Struve, pulling guard and locking up an armbar early in the fight. The young Dutchman is kno…
Stefan Struve had an excellent showing at UFC 146, submitting dangerous brawler Lavar Johnson in the first round.
It was a smart and calculated performance from Struve, pulling guard and locking up an armbar early in the fight. The young Dutchman is known for his reckless style of fighting, so it was nice to see him put on such a tactful performance.
With the win, Struve has won three straight and is starting to pick up some momentum in the heavyweight division.
Poor, poor Jason Miller. The man held a special place in many MMA fans’ hearts, simply because he actually seemed like he was having fun out there. Make no mistake, he was a deceptively good fighter (this stayed under the radar for many years). His rol…
Poor, poor Jason Miller.
The man held a special place in many MMA fans’ hearts, simply because he actually seemed like he was having fun out there.
Make no mistake, he was a deceptively good fighter (this stayed under the radar for many years). His role on MTV’s Bully Beatdown made him famous to all, but his actual skills went somewhat unnoticed.
He had one of the better ground games in the middleweight division and had solid stand-up. A short UFC career and a lack of respect from Strikeforce fans due to his feud with the ever-popular Cesar Gracie camp made it so his cage savvy consistently took his reputation’s backseat.
Ultimately, though, the UFC (and basically any pro sport) asks “what have you done for me lately?”
So what has he done for them lately? He gave them a lukewarm season of The Ultimate Fighter. He gave one of the single worst performances in UFC history in his Coaches’ Fight with Michael Bisping. He gave a less-than-awesome performance against CB Dollaway. He gave them a mysterious locker room incident.
That was enough for Dana White to give him a slip that matched his pink trunks, pink boa and pink boombox.
Even the most irrational of Miller-haters would say that his two most recent fights are not representative of his actual skills. White said the locker room incident was not physical, which automatically makes this incident more benign than almost anything Nick Diaz has done.
Ultimately, this seems to be building to a decree that has actually been years in the making.
The UFC brass wants the Octagon to be a fun-free zone. In an interview following UFC 146, Dana White said of Miller, “When you get embarrassed the way he did against Michael Bisping, then you show up in that pink whatever that thing was, I’m not into that stuff. It’s not my thing…If you want to be a clown do that stuff on your reality show.”
This is far from the first time the UFC President has taken issue with somebody who has treated MMA as something other than a soul-numbing job. After all, he wagged a finger at Roy Nelson for his celebratory belly-rubbing and choice in walk-out music (he had Weird Al Yankovic’s “Fat” for his first few fights).
Dennis Hallman is another example. Hallman, who allegedly lost a bet that resulted in him wearing some teeny-tiny trunks into the cage, “horrified” White to the point where he instituted a dress code. Seriously!
Though Miller certainly earned his way out of the UFC, many fighters have gained fans by reminding everyone that mixed martial arts is still fun.
This writer will admit it is a bit early to declare Dana White the disgruntled Dean of Students to Pat Barry and Tom Lawlor’s “Animal House.” Still, it is a bit disappointing that the UFC is taking an increasingly hard stance on something that fans clearly enjoy.
Over the top walk-out entrances, unfortunately, seem to be going the way of the touchdown dance. While you may enjoy Tom Lawlor doing his impression of Apollo Creed, Dana White does not.
As has been illustrated many times now, Dana gets what Dana wants.
