UFC 81

[digipoi]

Nog made the fight competitive hence an entertaining fight. Good on him for making Sylvia fight for a little while or we would have been watching water boil. Good match.

[Zoom7000]

Brilliant stuff from Mir. I'm still shocked just how many shots he took! Anyone else would have probably fallen to the shots. Brock was landing some major bombs, but he was maybe too confident. In landing those bombs he was way too complacent almost getting caught in 2 armbars and instead got the 1st footlock attempt by Mir.

Glad to see we don't have Sylvia at the top again. Question is, why is Big Nog the Interim Heavyweight Champion? Are they just gonna make him (or whoever beats him) undisputed in October? Back to the fight though, I've only seen Bog Nog's 1st fight and now this and well, I dunno if he always cuts it that close, like in Round 1 when Sylvia almost knocked him out - Just like Heath Herring did. If they give him Mir next, it'll be a very interesting fight!

Shame for Brock, all his buddies there to see him get beat. (Stone Cold, Undertaker, Kurt Angle and of course, the Mrs!) Maybe he won't run his mouth so much from now on. Bring on CroCop I say. Still I have to say for all that I've bashed him he impressed me with those super shots!

Edited February 3, 2008 by Zoom7000

[Rappy Veteran]

Brilliant stuff from Mir. I'm still shocked just how many shots he took! Anyone else would have probably fallen to the shots. Brock was landing some major bombs, but he was maybe too confident. In landing those bombs he was way too complacent almost getting caught in 2 armbars and instead got the 1st footlock attempt by Mir.

Glad to see we don't have Sylvia at the top again. Question is, why is Big Nog the Interim Heavyweight Champion? Are they just gonna make him (or whoever beats him) undisputed in October? Back to the fight though, I've only seen Bog Nog's 1st fight and now this and well, I dunno if he always cuts it that close, like in Round 1 when Sylvia almost knocked him out - Just like Heath Herring did. If they give him Mir next, it'll be a very interesting fight!

Shame for Brock, all his buddies there to see him get beat. (Stone Cold, Undertaker, Kurt Angle and of course, the Mrs!) Maybe he won't run his mouth so much from now on. Bring on CroCop I say. Still I have to say for all that I've bashed him he impressed me with those super shots!

Yeah in his interviews up to the match he just looked too confident which is sometimes a bad thing.

[Rappy Veteran]

The heavyweights took center stage in tonight’s UFC 81 co-main events, and two fighters on the brink of defeat stormed back for the improbable and stunning victories.

The come-from-behind wins capped off Saturday’s nine-fight UFC 81 event, which took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The event aired live on pay-per-view.

In the night’s main event, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) made mixed-martial-arts history and became the first MMA fighter ever to win titles in both the UFC and PRIDE by defeating Tim Sylvia (24-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC).

With current heavyweight champ Randy Couture on the outs with the UFC and his future in the organization uncertain, UFC officials opted to award an interim title.

Sylvia, hoping to become the UFC’s heavyweight champion for a record third time, dominated the first and second rounds of the fight. Just minutes into the five-round battle, the Team Miletich fighter connected with an uppercut and a left hook that dropped his opponent. Sylvia continued the assault on the ground, and with Nogeuira bloodied and bruised, he told the wounded fighter to stand back up, wanting to avoid the ground with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. The assault continued for more than two rounds.

Although Nogueira never fully regained his composure, he was relentless with his takedown attempts. He finally scored one in the third, swept his opponent, and then locked in a guillotine choke that forced the stoppage in a matter of seconds.

“That’s Mioutauro Nogueira,” Sylvia said, almost in disbelief. “Every fight he’s in, he gets his ass kicked for the first 10 minutes. You start getting comfortable fighting him, and next thing you know, he catches you. The guy’s a legend in this sport.“

Although he was in trouble throughout the fight, Nogueira finally felt in control in the third round.

“Once I got to the ground, I was comfortable,” Nogueira said. “I was ready for him”

With the belt strapped on, Nogueira made no secret of his wishes for a next fight.

“If Randy Couture — in the future — if he can come back to the UFC, I’d love to fight against him,” Nogueira said. “Please Randy, fight me.“

The defeat was tough to swallow for Sylvia. Never has a fighter come through the UFC who appreciated his champion status more than the Maine native. And never has a fighter so easily and sometimes inexplicably drawn the wrath of fight fans. Just when things looked like they might improve for the beleaguered giant, disaster struck again for Sylvia.

“I just started getting the fans going my way, and I come out here and lose the damn fight,” a remorseful Sylvia stated. “Hopefully, I’ll be back here real soon (anyway).“

Nogueira, though, wasn’t the only fighter who rebounded from near-certain defeat.

The traditionalists and the hardcores will consider it a win for the sport of MMA, but even with the loss, former World Wrestling Entertainment performer Brock Lesnar (1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) should have the UFC’s fellow heavyweights taking notice. Frank Mir (11-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) won the fight, but Lesnar made a much bigger statement.

Lesnar, a former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion with just one professional MMA fight to his name, scored the quick takedown of Mir and unleashed a brutal barrage of punches and hammerfists. Mir couldn’t defend himself, and when the referee jumped in to halt the bout, it looked like Lesnar’s first fight in the UFC would be a quick one. Steve Mazzagatti, though, wasn’t stopping the fight to award Lesnar a victory — and instead, issued him a one-point deduction for illegal strikes to the back of Mir’s head.

The fight was quickly restarted, and Lesnar again dropped Mir with a combination of punches. He continued the ground-and-pound assault, and Mir was turtling up to protect himself. With Mir battered and bruised, Lesnar stood up from inside his opponent’s guard and looked to rain down the final, fight-ending knockout punch. Instead, Mir grabbed his opponent’s leg, tripped Lesnar, and cranked his knee. He tried to fend off the submission, but the torque became too much, and Lesnar was forced tap out at 1:30 of the first round.

“We questioned his heart, and I was just trying to get a lot of shots in on him,” Lesnar said. “There’s no excuses. He’s a top-notch jiu-jistu guy, and he got me tonight.“

Despite the rookie mistake, Lesnar impressed with his athleticism and power. Mir is one of the sport’s bigger heavyweights, and Lesnar tossed him around easily. He was aggressive, and his strikes were powerful and precise. However, the otherwise stellar performance was marred by that gaffe — the type of frustrating, yet forgivable, mistakes that will disappear with time and experience.

OTHER MAIN-CARD BOUTS

In his first fight since a July 2007 loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva, Nate Marquardt (26-7-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) looked sharp as he controlled veteran Jeremy Horn (79-17-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) throughout the first round, scoring big punches from inside his opponent’s guard. Marquardt’s only real danger came toward the end of the first round, when Horn secured an arm and nearly forced a tap-out via omoplata.

However, after Horn took him down early in the second round, Marquardt quickly returned to his feet and sunk in a standing guillotine choke. Feeling the effect of choke with the the additional neck crank, Horn was forced to tap out — for only the third time in his past 42 fights (a stretch of seven years).

Although he ended the fight via submission, Marquardt did a lot of damage with his striking. He peppered Horn with a series of punches and then cracked him with a knee to the head halfway through the first round. However, the aggression did have a drawbreak: Marquardt was cut above his right eye while shooting in for a takedown early in the second round. The cut could have presented problems had he not secured the choke just minutes later.

For Marquardt, a member of the resilient Team Jackson, it was his sixth win in his past even fights — and a big step toward another shot at the middleweight title.

Ricardo Almeida (9-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) showed no ill effects from a nearly four-year layoff as he quickly disposed of UFC newcomer Rob Yundt (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

Yundt, a veteran of the Alaskan Fighting Championship, filled in for Alan Belcher (bronchitis) on just three days’ notice, and he just wasn’t prepared for Almedia, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu whiz. Yundt appeared to sting his opponent with an early uppercut, but Almeida threw a body punch and then scored a quick takedown. After whiffing on an elbow strike, Almeida then locked in a guillotine choke. Yundt tried to slam his way out of it — actually doing a full front flip in the process — but Almeida wouldn’t break the hold.

Yundt was forced to tap out just 68 seconds into the first round.

Tyson Griffin (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) pushed the pace and continually looked for the knockout punch, but in the end, he had to settle for the shutout unanimous-decision victory over Gleison Tibau (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC).

Griffin wanted to keep the fight standing, and he used leg and body kicks to tag Tibau to set up punches to the head and body. Tibau continually scored takedowns throughout the fight, but Griffin easily escaped before any damage was done.

Perhaps used to Griffin’s consistent fight-of-the-night performances, the crowd actually booed the decision, prompting the youngster to apologize for the performance — despite winning 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. The victory also snapped Tibau’s three-fight win streak in the UFC.

PRELIMINARY FIGHTS

Longtime fighter and professional boxer Chris Lytle (25-15-5 MMA, 4-7 UFC) made short work of newcomer Kyle Bradley (13-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who managed to fire off just one punch. Lytle countered with a jab and a series of hooks before his opponent tumbled to the canvas for a knockout loss just 33 seconds into the first round.

UFC newcomer and former IFL fighter Tim Boetsch (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made the most of his opportunity in the UFC and delivered fellow light heavyweight David Heath (7-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) his third consecutive loss. Boetsch set the tempo in the first round, showing phenomenal balance as he frustrated Heath with straight kicks and body punches. Eventually, though, he used the Thai clinch and a knee to the face to score the TKO victory at 4:52 of the first round.

One of the sport’s hardest-working men finally got his first UFC win as Chicago-area prison guard Marvin Eastman outscored Terry Martin (16-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC). Expected to be a slugfest, the pace of the fight was at times gruesome as both fighters continually clinched and waited for the referee to separate them. In the end, though, Eastman took it by scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27.

“The Ultimate Fighter 5” cast member Rob Emerson (7-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) registered his first career UFC win by registering a close split-decision victory over Keita Nakamura (14-3-2 MMA, 0-3 UFC). Two refs had it 30-27 for Emerson, and the third had it 29-28 for Nakamura. With his third straight defeat in the UFC, Nakamura is unlikely to compete in the organization again anytime soon.

Don't even think Nog can lure Randy back.

[digipoi]

Brock seriously lacked years of experience. I say he would still be a serious contender if he keeps working at it.

[Rappy Veteran]

I agree give him a few more fights and he will be back up there...theres talk now of Mir vs Big Nog which might be good.

[digipoi]

I agree give him a few more fights and he will be back up there...theres talk now of Mir vs Big Nog which might be good.

That might be a good fight. I'm just not much of a Mir fan and don't care to watch him for much longer tbh.

[Rappy Veteran]

That might be a good fight. I'm just not much of a Mir fan and don't care to watch him for much longer tbh.

Yeah Nog was lucky I thought because Sylvia had his number in the first round!

[digipoi]

Yeah Nog was lucky I thought because Sylvia had his number in the first round!

I'm still real impressed by his jujitsu once he got Sylvia on the ground. That **** looked smooth.

[metallithrax]

Just watched Tim Boetsch hammer David Heath, **** he did that after 10 days notice.

[TheElite]

Damn, Frank was right. He had to win in first round otherwise he would lose.

Brock was a total beast though, he was man-handling Mir. Better luck next time for Brock. No doubt he will become champ in the near future.

[Aaron Veteran]

I have not seen the Mir/Lesner match. But, knowing that you can lose quick even while "putting up a good fight", did Lesnar at least make the bout respectable? Understanding that in a second you can make an error that can end the match, did he at least look like he belonged there?

[Rappy Veteran]

I have not seen the Mir/Lesner match. But, knowing that you can lose quick even while "putting up a good fight", did Lesnar at least make the bout respectable? Understanding that in a second you can make an error that can end the match, did he at least look like he belonged there?

He certainly looked the part from the get go first few seconds infact Mir was taken down wrestling style by Brock so he knew what he had to do and he just laid the beat down on Mir and you could tell because Mir's face was cut bad but he just left his legs open Brock and once Mir saw that he just locked in the knee bar and Brock tapped quick. But Brock will be champ one day just needs more experienced but it was good by the UFC to shove him in there with someone good real quick.

[Zoom7000]

He certainly looked the part from the get go first few seconds infact Mir was taken down wrestling style by Brock so he knew what he had to do and he just laid the beat down on Mir and you could tell because Mir's face was cut bad but he just left his legs open Brock and once Mir saw that he just locked in the knee bar and Brock tapped quick. But Brock will be champ one day just needs more experienced but it was good by the UFC to shove him in there with someone good real quick.

Even with the loss, Brock definately got the attention of the MMA world and earned some respect. In his first MMA bout, he totally man handled the simply awful Min Soo Kim. Surprisingly he was just as explosive and in control against Frank Mir. Make no mistake, the loss was simply due to lack of experience and maybe over confidence and trying to get the quick win. He definately showed Championship potential. He lost to a former HW Champion, so that is definately nothing to be a shame about. But I must say myself, I was suprised just how huge and powerful he looked!

[Christopher]

Id have to say one of the more stand out fights of the night was the one Tim Boetsch.

He seems pretty dominant all around. Not just one style of fighting. Thats for sure.

[Rappy Veteran]

Despite suffering a first-round submission loss to Frank Mir on Saturday, Brock Lesnar collected a cool quarter-of-a-million dollars in his UFC debut.

The former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion and World Wrestling Entertainment performer was the highest-paid fighter at UFC 81, according to paperwork acquired by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

UFC 81 took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and aired live on pay-per-view.

Mir earned a base salary of $80,00 for the fight ? which was the fourth-highest behind Lesnar and main-event fighters Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($200,000) and Tim Sylvia ($100,000).

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $892,000.

The full list of salaries included:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($200,000) def. Tim Sylvia ($100,000)

Frank Mir ($80,000) def. Brock Lesnar ($250,000)

Nate Marquardt ($52,000) def. Jeremy Horn ($25,000)

Ricardo Almeida ($40,000) def. Rob Yundt ($5,000)

Tyson Griffin ($36,000) def. Gleison Tibau ($11,000)

Chris Lytle ($24,000) def. Kyle Bradley ($4,O00)

Tim Boetsch ($12,000) def. David Heath ($6,000)

Marvin Eastman ($14,000) def. Terry Martin ($12,000)

Rob Emerson ($16,000) def. Keita Nakamura ($5,000)

All the winning fighters received pay that awarded 50 percent ?to show? and 50 percent as a ?win bonus? ? except for Lesnar, who would have earned a $200,000 win bonus.

Now, the usual disclaimer: the figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter?s income. They also do not include any other ?locker-room? or special bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays.

In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the NSAC and do not represent the total amounts earned by each fighter