SideShowBob

Just a heads up for 2nd February to anyone who enjoys mixed martial arts. UFC 81 is going to be the most hyped event yet, and they have a mini site for it already: UFC 81: Breaking Point Official Site.

Hopefully it lives up to the hype, they have brought in Brock Lesnar, a 20 stone 6"3 ex wrestler (top heavyweight ameture wrestler in the USA in 2000)to fight ex world HW champ Frank Mir, and also Nog and Tim Silvia are fighting, so two heavyweight fights (that hopefully dont involve too much leaning on eachother against the cage).

Should be good fun to watch, and im very keen to see what Lesnar can do in a UFC fight. He has beaten one very poor competitor in K-1 Heros, but other than that is brand new to MMA, and they're throwing him in with an ex world champ.

Bravo are showing it on Sunday 3rd at 9PM, so get the beer and snacks in and check it out.

One thing they're doing on the promo seems to be setting up a Lesnar/Sylvia fight, they dont seem to like eachother, with Sylvia calling Brock a unskilled baby, and Lesnar saying Sylvia is an *** for letting a 200 pound Couture take the heavyweight belt away from a 260 pound Sylvia (guess he has a point but Couture isnt just anyone).

If Sylvia loses v Nog (likely) and Lesnar beats Mir (I believe he can on sheer strength and wrestling skill, but no way of even judging given how new he is) then I can see a grudge match between Sylvia and Lesnar which would be good, though I think Lesnar would take that one given how easily a fellow wrestler like Couture took Sylvia down in their fight.

All in all looking pretty good for the year ahead, some real talent in the UFC currently.

WRX_Dazza

blimey.... fighting talk...!!!

wasn't Frank Mir in "Call My Bluff"??

talizman

iTrader: (1)

I also can't wait to see if Brock can hang with the MMA guys, however Mir is cannon fodder IMHO.

If he were fighting the Frank Mir who broke Sylvia's arm back in 2004 then I'd agree that the matchup would be testing, but since he (Mir) returned from his motorcycle accident he's been fat, slow and gassed. Brandon Vera whooped him in about the first minute of round one in their fight last year.

I'd love to see the old Mir return but I don't see it happening TBH.

SideShowBob

That's true about Mir, but recently he's been looking better and better, and I bet he's taking this fight very seriously as his reputation would be very tarnished with a loss against a newby.

I still think Lesnar will beat him, but as he's a very good Jui Jitsu practitioner Lesnar will really have to be careful going for a takedown, as what Mir says is right, on the ground Jui Jitsu beats wrestling in most areas, though massive strength plus wrestling plus lots of training may beat Jui Jitsu.

lem6

mir will gas within 2 minutes, lesnar will lay n pray his way to a decision win.

joey_turbo

iTrader: (26)

I watched Lesnars first fight, and thought he would have had a few more matchups before this. I'm shocked to hear this is only his second MMA fight.
But I can't see him getting stopped or anything. Should be good.

chris singleton

Nice one for the heads up, been looking forward to seing Lesnar fight

Agree with above, Mir has been awful since returning from his accident.

chris singleton

Forgot to say, what ever hapened to Andre Arlovski?

SideShowBob

I recon Lesnar will be up for the challenge, but Mir isn't a walkover despite how he's looked since the accident, he's back to his winning ways and is still a decent opponent, just needs to work on his cardio a tad.

Brock seems like the real deal despite only having had one fight, he is apparently very very quick and has excellent cardio, built like an absolute monster (though that doesnt necessarily make for a good fighter)



Mir isnt exactly small though either



I am very keen to see whether Lesnar can take all his attributes as an athlete and use them in a real fight, also, as he's an ex pro wrestler it'll be interesting to see whether he can fight for real, will answer a lot of questions.

Ive been waiting for this fight for ages, saw some of Lesnars early colleage matches, and even some of his WWE stuff and he seems genuinley tough and strong, despite WWE being acted out he did display genuine displays of strength that boggle the mind.

SideShowBob

Arlovski still fights for the UFC, but they have been leaving him on the shelf as he only has one fight left on his current contract and he hadnt agreed to sign the new contract UFC put in front of him.

UFC are very specific on what they want from the fighters contract and they arent usually the best terms for the fighter. Things like signing for at least 5 fights (which Arlovski didnt want to do), not being allowed to leave if you hold the title without having at least another fight, not being allowed to move to other orgs even if you quit UFC but still have any fights left on your contract, things like that, it took a long time to come to an agreement between the two but I believe it's now sorted.

Arlovski used to be brilliant until he lost to Sylvia, it all fell apart then and he still hasnt gone back to being the way he was, he fights like he's terrified of being knocked out (like CroCop does now too) and doesnt come forward or attack much, keeps risk to a minimum and would rather plod through a fight to a decision victory than get stuck in.

lem6

arlovski vs lesnar would have been much more interesting!!
mir has not been the same fighter since his bike crash, i would think that lesnar will struggle against strikers.

talizman

iTrader: (1)

How recent is the weigh-in pic of Mir?

He looks to be in really good shape in it and I assume its recent?

If so he's certainly improved from last year's flabby shape

P1Fanatic

When you say back to his winning ways are you talking about non UFC MMA fights as since his comeback in UFC its 2 losses and 2 wins - both wins against less than top opponents IMHO.

I hope he does comeback as I used to like watching him fight. Loved it when he broke Sylvias arm. But he always had poor cardio and things have move on since those days when you could afford to be good in one area.

As for Sylvia - I hate the guy. He is utterly boring. He was lucky enough to catch Arlovski first time and as others said Andre never the same since. 2nd fight they just slapped each other. Pretty much all Sylvia does is jab and jab some more. Pissed myself when couture owned him with a knockdown in the first 10 secs of rd 1 and the beat down on him. Classic title fight.

Simon

P1Fanatic

Frank Mir UFC Fight History:
Result Opponent Method Event Date Round Time
Win Antoni Hardonk Submission (Other) UFC® 74 RESPECT 08/25/2007 1 1:17
Loss Brandon Vera Technical Knock Out UFC® 65: BAD INTENTIONS 11/18/2006 1 1:09
Win Dan Christison Unanimous Decision UFC 61: Bitter Rivals 07/08/2006 3 0:00
Loss Marcio Cruz Technical Knock Out UFC 57: Liddell vs Couture 3 02/04/2006 1 4:10
Win Tim Sylvia Technical Knock Out UFC 48: Payback 06/19/2004 1 0:50

SideShowBob

My bad, I thought Mir won his last two fights, but that record is terrible. I fell for the UFC's hype!!

He is still dangerous to Lesnar due to his experience in the Octagon, he knows how to take advantage of a mistake and get submission in place, but he isnt much of a fighter and I personally am starting to feel like he was lucky more than anything to have been a champ.

I dont think there were many great heavyweights around when he became champ, doubt he had the level of competition around today, and no doubt the UFC are aware of this, which makes him the perfect opponent for Lesnar.

This way they get to have Lesnar fight an ex UFC champion, thereby legitimising him, and as most casual fans will assume this makes him good it makes it appear they are putting Lesnar in with a genuinely tough opponent, and can throw around "ex Heavyweight champion" a lot in the pre fight build up.

No doubt Lesnars contract has cost the UFC a few million more than Mirs current contract would have cost them, and they woudlnt want to see the Lesnar hype machine get stopped in its infancy, I think they thought long and hard about this opponent and Mir is perfect for this.

P1Fanatic

Yes Dana and co do have a tendency to overhype most things. We all know Frank was lucky to be champ and would never have dominated even without the crash. It was however refreshing to see a grappler and submission expert in the heavyweight division mixing it up with the usual strikers. Also why I liked Arlovski - IIRC he beat Sylvia with a heel hook. Just a shame he lost it mentally after the first loss.

I do like the fact that they try and match up the fighters everyone wants to see. Unlike boxing which IMHO is a joke.

As I said in the last UFC thread my favourite fighters to watch are Anderson Silva and GSP. They are very well rounded in terms of grappling, wrestling, submissions and standup. I also like Rampage but was a bit disappointed with his fight against Henderson (was there at o2 watching it). Still a cautious fight by both was to be expected. Im sure Chuck will be after a rematch although maybe not for his next fight. You gotta give him credit for a convincing win over the Axe Murderer

Simon

SideShowBob

Must be amazing to see live, bet the leg kicks sound painful!!

I thought Rampage did okay against Henderson, not sure how early on he hurt his hand but it may have been a factor in him not being able to finish Henderson.

Rampage IMO is the best LHW around, he can grapple with Henderson and out punch Liddel, plus pick up and drop 205 pounds guys on their heads. Cant see anyone beating him for a long while. If Chuck gets a third fight with him I recon Rampage will deliver more of a beating on him. Would love to see it though.

Rampage is a coach on the next TUF, along with Griffin (if he isnt injured), that should be brillaint, I recon they'll both be excellent coaches, then there will be a Rampage v Forrest fight at the end, that will be a hell of a tough fight.

lem6

dana is trying to hype up mir for this fight, i hope he comes in and breaks lesnars arm, or at least stands up and hits him for a while, lesnar should not be in the ufc with only 1 mma fight against an absolute bum.

SideShowBob

That seems to be what a lot of people think, but if he can come in and perform well then it will change a lot of perceptions.

I think this is exactly what the UFC needs, it's really shaken things up and split opinions of millions of fans. Ill bet UFC 81 is the most watched UFC event of all time, just because so many people know who Brock Lesnar is from various hype, body building mags, NFL, Pro Wrestling, Amature wrestling, and MMA.
UFC are going to sell millions of pay-per-views thanks to Lesnar, and although he has had only one fight, his status as an athlete and all the training he has done for this qualify him to be fighting in the UFC IMO.

He's been training with Pat Militech's camp, guys like Sean Sherk have been helping him out, Jui Jitsu trainers, boxing trainers, wrestlers, he has gone all out to be ready for this. That commitment and amount of training means he should be a viable competitor for someone of Mirs abilities.

This fight is as anticipated and talked about as any Couture or Liddel have ever fought, Dana knew this would split opinions and generate far more interest than bringing in some no name with a bunch of fights in another org.

One major thing going for Lesnar is that he is used to being on a big stage like this, a lot of fighters, regardless of fighting ability, find themselves overwhelmed by the event itself, but Brocks Heros debut showed he is confident and not fazed by it, plus did you see how hard he was hitting Min Soo??? You casnt even tell if he's left or right handed, both fists seem to have a bunch of power!!

It's wait and see now, either people like me who think Lesnar deserves to be there and will dominate will be proven right, or the people that believe he shouldnt be in the UFC will, but it's going to be a lot of fun finding out.