Staged at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, UFC 100 was always going to be an event of epic proportions. This was a true celebration of the evolution of mixed martial arts worldwide, and with three main events on the show, this was destined to be massive.
Brock Lesnar Dominates Frank Mir
Brock Lesnar exacted revenge on Frank Mir by defeating him via TKO in the second round of their World Heavyweight Title fight. He used his size advantage perfectly to nullify Frank Mir's excellent ground game, and showed a lot more patience than he did in their first fight.
Mir had his moments, but there were very few of them. His best part of the fight was probably the beginning of the second round when it looked like he may have rocked Lesnar with some good strikes, but apart from that, Lesnar dominated, picking Mir apart until the finish where Lesnar had Mir pinned up against the fence on his side, and the former WWE star rained down the punches until the referee called a halt to the bout.
There was clearly no love lost though between Lesnar and Mir as after the fight, Lesnar carried on trash talking to Mir. This earned many boos from the fans, but Lesnar seemed to enjoy those boos and revel in the limelight.
At the end of the day, Lesnar was just too big for Mir, and that will be the problem most heavyweights will have with Lesnar. It is hard to see who Lesnar will fight now, but the UFC matchmakers may be tempted to throw Shane Carwin or Cain Velasquez in with him. As for Mir, it will be rebuilding time, and there may be the possibility of a mouthwatering clash between him and Cheick Kongo somewhere down the line.
'Pitbull' Tamed by GSP
Georges St. Pierre dominated Thiago Alves over five rounds to retain his UFC Welterweight Title. St. Pierre showed that he is the most complete mixed martial artist in the world today, as he never seemed out of his depth striking with Thiago, a renowned kickboxer in his own right.
However, GSP's plan was to carry on taking Thiago down and to wear down the Brazilian. He found this a lot easier than most people anticipated and took Alves down near enough ten times in the fight. By doing this, he never really let Alves get started, and by the end of the fight, the face of 'the Pitbull' was seriously marked up.
As this was seen as the toughest challenge GSP has ever had, St. Pierre has definitely gained even more respect from this bout. After the match, he seemed to shrug off suggestions of a match between him and Anderson Silva, as he said he thought he didn't quite have the physical size yet. However, money talks, and GSP may be made an offer he can't refuse.
Alves will struggle to come back from this defeat, as it was decisive and thorough. However, at 25 he is young enough to come again if he really wants it, and it will be interesting to see the next move of Thiago.
Henderson Quiets Bisping
Also on the card was a clash between the two Ultimate Fighter 9 coaches Dan Henderson and Michael 'the Count' Bisping. Bisping had done a lot of trash talking before the fight, but unfortunately for him, Henderson turned up in the best shape he's been in for years, and he looked ten years younger than the thirty eight years of age he actually is.
In the first round, Henderson did a good job of hunting Bisping down and not giving him room to manouvre. An interesting point in the round saw Bisping go for a takedown, as if he was conceding that he was losing in the area that was meant to be his greatest strength. After the round, Bisping looked exhausted, which was unusual for him as he usually has immese cardio.
One thing Bisping had been doing from the start was circling to his left; straight into the power hand of Henderson. He was made to pay for this as in the second round he was knocked clean out by a huge right hand to the chin.
This was a devastating knock out, and considering this is the first time Bisping has been stopped, it will probably affect him massively. However, he went in with a dreadful game plan in circling to the right hand of a notorious right-handed banger, and he should have respected Henderson more coming into this fight.
Fallout of UFC 100
Lesnar, Henderson and GSP were obviously the big winners on the night. All of them were clinical in their finishes and put on great performances.
Hopefully, this huge event will have raised the profile of a sport with huge potential in the mainstream market, and UFC 100 may have just launched MMA onto bigger and better things.
