The Winners And Losers Of UFC 92

Thought I would do some analysis of the winners and losers of tonight's fights.

First off, the winners:

1. Frank Mir: What can you say? Is there a better story than Frank Mir right now? Down and out after getting hit by a car on his motorcycle and suffering a broken leg and then looking bad in his first few fights back to now holding one half of the heavyweight title. He submitted the the holder of the other half of the heavyweight title, Brock Lesnar, in his UFC debut and now is the first man to finish the legend, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He looked great in this fight. Mir controlled the fight from the beginning until its end. Now he gets re-matched with an ever improving Brock Lesnar. But what will Lesnar do now? Take him to the ground where he will again be faced with black belt BJJ or can he stand with Mir's newly improved striking? I think a re-motivated and dedicated Mir will be dangerous for Lesnar as he will have a few more months to improve his cardio and get his striking a little more crisper. It has the makings of a great fight.

2. Rashad Evans: "Sugar" held Forrest Griffin in check the first few rounds, not suffering much damage and then used his explosivness to get Griffin down and work some great ground and pound, while also avoiding the submissions Griffin threw at him. Rashad improves to 18-0-1 and now the UFC can market him as their undefeated champion. Great match ups are on their way in the UFC light heavyweight division as Evans could meet up with Rampage Jackson, Shogun Rua (depending how he looks in his next couple of fights), Loyota Machida, and maybe even Anderson Silva. And hey, what if after Affliction goes out of business and if Evans is still champion (a big if in this stacked division), Tito Ortiz comes back, wins a few, and then Evans can maybe revenge his draw. Just throwing some interesting scenerios out there should Evans stay champion for a while.

3. And speaking of light heavyweight contenders, Quinton Jackson looked excellent in his fight with Wanderlei Silva. Jackson came out, did not do any wolfman imitations, and took this fight more seriously than he probably has taken any fight in his career. Many had questioned where Jackson was mentally after his troubles with the law over the summer and the recent break with his longtime trainer Juanito Ibarra, but he looked good in this fight with a dominating KO over Silva and may have a date with the champ, Rashad Evans. 

4. The UFC: The UFC come out winners tonight in that they have a marketable heavyweight title unification bout between Mir-Lesnar on the horizon, a great matchup for the light heavyweight title in Jackson-Evans, a possible legends matchup between Nogueira and Randy Couture (with the winner getting a possible shot at the unfication bout winner) in a legends matchup, and also maybe being able to have Silva face Griffin in a bout to get one of them back in the title hunt. Lots of big money making matches on the way for Dana and company to promote.

And now to the losers:

1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: It was hard for me, a huge Nogueira fan, to watch this fight. Nogueira didn't mount much offense against Mir in this short match. Some may say the toll of all those brutal battles in Pride have finally caught up with him or that he maybe looked a little out of shape. He was supposed to have a huge advatage in the striking game, but landed little more than a couple jabs and leg kicks. He was knocked down hard three times and had he not been saved by the bell this could have ended in the first round. I hope for the best for the man we call "Big Nog." As mentioned earlier, a possible match up with Randy Couture in a battle of heavyweight legends may give Nogueira a chance to jump back into title contention.

2. Wanderlei Silva: Silva's wild punching style might have caught up with him in his bout with Quinton Jackson. He swung wildly and Jackson used a powerful left hook to knock Silva out before he even hit the ground. Jackson came into this match with much improved striking and was very good at avoiding the Muay Thai clinch that Silva had used on him in their previous two matchups. In his last eight fights Silva is 3-5, although he has faced good competition in those eight matches, Silva is facing a critical point in his career. He needs a good win over a top fighter to stay viable and get back into the title hunt. As I suggested earlier maybe a match up with Griffin could get him back on track. Or even a re-match with another star in the same situation, Chuck Liddell. Perhaps avenging that loss will give Silva (2-3 in the Octagon) the confidence he may have lost coming over from Pride to the UFC.

3. Forrest Griffin: You can't really call Griffin a loser tonight. He controlled the first two rounds before Evans exploded on him in the third. Griffin has a long and bright future ahead of him and will easily be back in contention with a win over another contender like Silva, Machida, Liddell, or Jackson. The scary thing is that after Griffin suffers a loss he seems to come back better. He is truly a fighter that learns from his losses, which is a valuable trait.

4. Yushin Okami and Dean Lister: Easily the boringest fight of the night. Both these guys lived up to their reputation as "dull" fighters. Okami got another decision win and improved to 7-1 in the UFC. Dean Lister is involved in another decision (4 out of his 6 UFC fights have gone all three rounds) and drops to 4-2 in the UFC. Some people complained about this being a dark match, but I can see why this match was not shown live. Okami is supposedly the top contender to Anderson Silva's title in the middleweight division. But does anyone think Okami is going to be able to survive five rounds with Silva and get a decision win? I don't. But he is 7-1 and I think Dana will have to give him a title shot due to that record and it could possibly lead to another low buyrate for a Silva headlined pay per view.

Thanks for reading guys and I apprecite all your comments, opinions, and suggestion.