UFC Fight Night 61: Frank Mir stamps his class over Bigfoot Silva

In a fight that will determine his fate as a fighter, Frank Mir made short work of Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva as he stopped the Brazilian in just 1:40 of the first round in their heavyweight encounter at the main event of UFC Fight Night 61 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Frank Mir (17-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC) smashed his opponent with a powerful left hook to the chin that sent Antonio Silva (18-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC) to the canvas. Mir never gave Silva a chance to recover as he immediately pounced on him and unleashed a combination of punches and hard elbows to the head that forced referee Mario Yamasaki to jump in and waive the fight off.

The upset win over the favored Silva snapped Mir's four-fight losing streak and put his retirement plans on hold as he is now back in contention in the UFC heavyweight division, while Antonio Silva saw his fortunes further sink into MMA limbo, as he now hasn't won a fight since he upset Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 in February 2013.

UFC 146: Junior dos Santos shoots down Frank Mir

In front of a wild cheering crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos dealt former two-time UFC heavyweight title holder a beat down to retain his belt. Frank Mir, a submission expert, failed to capitalize on his expertise against the heavy-handed Brazilian. Instead, Mir elected to play into dos Santos' gameplan and paid the price.

Frank Mir failed to take the fight to the ground, a milieu where dos Santos was untested wherein he has a greater shot of upsetting the champion. After a failed takedown attempt right at the start of the fight, he elected to trade blows with Junior dos Santos, a decision that proved costly to his cause.

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UFC 146: Junior dos Santos shoots down Frank Mir

In front of a wild cheering crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos dealt former two-time UFC heavyweight title holder a beat down to retain his belt. Frank Mir, a submission expert, failed to capitalize on his expertise against the heavy-handed Brazilian. Instead, Mir elected to play into dos Santos' gameplan and paid the price.

Frank Mir failed to take the fight to the ground, a milieu where dos Santos was untested wherein he has a greater shot of upsetting the champion. After a failed takedown attempt right at the start of the fight, he elected to trade blows with Junior dos Santos, a decision that proved costly to his cause.

The defending champion Junior dos Santos, an excellent stand up striker, also has a very good takedown defense and put his weapons to good use. He peppered Mir with shots coming from all angles and shot him down with a variety of punches: hooks, straights, and uppercuts that took their toll on the challenger.

The first round was all Junior dos Santos as he stood his ground, and potshot Mir with deadly accuracy. He varied his shots well and timed Mir with good counters every time the challenger would attempt to unleash his own shots. His snipings were so effective that he  would land a hard one to the body and then follow it up with a shot to the head time and time again. Then with less than 30 seconds left in the round, he clipped Mir's temple with a huge right hook that sent him sprawling to the canvas. The challenger struggled to get up and barely survived the round.

It was the same old story in the second round, even though Frank Mir tried to use his kicks this time to ward off the attacks to no avail. Junior dos Santos unleashed and landed a bomb, bringing Mir down. The champion then asked his challenger to get up and continue fighting. Mir got up and obliged but is tagged again with another bomb -- a right straight that landed on the cheekbones. This time, Mir remained on the ground for good as dos Santos swarmed over him and bludgeoned him with everything in his arsenal, including one last hammer fist landing on Mir's cheeks, before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.

With the win, Junior dos Santos improves his record to 15-1 while Frank Mir falls to 16-6. Official time of the stoppage was 3:04.

UFC: 119 Mir lulls Cro Cop to sleep

In the UFC 119 main event, Frank Mir dropped Mirko Cro Cop with a well- timed right knee to the kisser that was followed by a heavy right to the chin for insurance, as the Croatian lay flat on his back, to finally knock him out with just 58 seconds left in the fight. It was the highlight of a rather dull and slow fight where neither fighter was keen on fighting toe to toe as they elected not to engage each other up until the last minute. It was the end of an arduous journey for both fighters who simply did not have the will to fight which was unthinkable in their younger days.

The knockout was the culmination of the match that was spent more on holding and hugging each other rather than fighting. It was the end of a boring fight that put the fans up their seats but for the wrong reasons. It was the zenith of a fight that was characterized more by non- action than by fireworks that left the fans with no other choice but to rain the Conseco Fieldhouse with boos. It was the climax of a slow and tactical fight that ended up with no winner.

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