UFC 81 Winners and Losers

by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 3, 2008 9:04 AM EST in MMA News

Last night was a fantastic evening of fights with drama in spades. Let's take a look at the winners and losers from the night. These are in no particular order of winnitude or loserhood.

Winners:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Not only did "Big Nog" pull off the win to become the interim heavyweight champion, he did it in the same way he always has. Sylvia had him rocked badly in the first round but like everyone else to rock the Brazilian he just couldn't put him away. Sylvia was controlling the distance the fight took place at and landing more punches but, as Luke continually said on this site, it's too long of a fight for it to never go to the ground. And once it went there the "miracle sub" was locked in.
Frank Mir - Mir got manhandled for about 1:20 of the minute and a half bout. He was taken down, pounded on, knocked back down by a right hand, pounded on some more but when Lesnar made a mistake Mir was able to grab it. I wouldn't bet on Mir to beat too many guys on the upper end of the heavyweight division, but last night was his night.
Brock Lesnar - Sure, he lost the fight. But he didn't look like he can't compete at this level. There really isn't a lot of shame in getting caught in a submission by a guy with Frank Mir's skills, even if it was a pretty avoidable leg lock. In addition to proving he belongs, Brock won over a good portion of the crowd with his post-fight attitude. Admitting that he made a mistake and Mir is the better fighter changed most of the boos he was receiving into a decent amount of cheers. Brock is an attraction, and if people actually like him it can only mean good things for the UFC business-wise.
Ricardo Almeida - It's pronounced "hicardo" fellas. But seriously, Ricardo proved me wrong and showed that his head was in the right place. It's hard to say too much about Almeida based on the fight being against a last minute replacement, but his ground game is still tight and he looked to be in good shape. In this division, that's enough.
Tim Boestch - Had to decide if I wanted to put Boetsch or Marquardt on the list but I'll give it to Boestch based on the fact that there wasn't a second of his fight where he wasn't in control. Up until he threw Heath like a ragdoll and dribbled his head like a basketball. That was a hell of a first impression for the UFC fans...on short notice no less.

Honorable Mention - The Fans - Eight fights were broadcast on PPV. If you're going to raise the price of your broadcasts you'd better start using every last minute of the three hour timeslot. Kudos to the UFC for giving the fans what they payed for.

Losers:

Tyson Griffin - This sport is tough, and I don't just mean physically. Mr. Fight of the Night was booed by the crowd after taking yet another fight to a decision. All the pre-event talk was that Griffin needed to start finishing people to take that next step in the packed 155 division but Tibau is a tough dude. Griffin won the fight but he lost some of the fans, and that isn't what the UFC wanted to come out of the fight.
Jeremy Horn - In his 101 fights Horn has only been stopped 9 times. The problem is that three of these times have been in his last four fights. I like Horn and he remains a guy that can give anyone fits, but he may just have too many miles on his body to keep up with higher end fighters in this sport.
Keita Nakamura - Na na na na hey hey hey goodbye. We're not going to see Nakamura back in the UFC anytime soon. With only three losses in his career and all three coming in the UFC it is easy to see that it just isn't the promotion for him. Nakamura was too small to fight with the beasts of the UFC at 170 and looked too slow to hang with Rob Emerson at 155. He is likely better served to stay in Japan and fight at 170 in the fight climate there where fighters that walk around at 190 aren't fighting twenty pounds lighter. K-Taro remains a skilled guy, but the UFC just isn't for him.
Terry Martin - Speaking of goodbye...is this the last we'll see of Terry Martin? I haven't had a chance to watch the fight against Marvin Eastman yet, but a second straight loss and unimpressive performance can't bode well for Martin.
David Heath - And continuing our theme of goodbyes...David Heath got roughed up badly. Supposedly the striker coming into the fight Heath ate front kicks, right hands, jabs and a lot of knees before he took a bite of the cage and canvas when ragdolled by Big Tim Boestch. Now 2-3 in his UFC career I don't think we'll be seeing Heath back in the octagon any time soon.

Dishonorable Mention - Me - Another night of fights, another horrible record on my predictions.

Update [2008-2-4 16:23:26 by Nick Thomas]: Ouch!

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Comments

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

Not to be argumentative but I think they will keep Martin and Heath around. With the sheer number of cards they are putting on they are looking for filler, and these two guys are brand name filler. This Martin fight was boring but normally he either wins or loses in spectacular fashion. He's either taking a flying knee from Irvin or getting ktfo'ed by Leben or he's he's laying the leather to a Jorge Rivera and Ivan Salaverry. If Heath can take a beating like that, then they can throw him in there with Sokoudjou and Houston Alexander and let those two guys run a highlight reel on him and do a little magic on him, to borrow a couple of phrases from Karo. This would help those two guys get some of their heat back with the crowd coming off losses.

by robnashville on Feb 3, 2008 9:19 AM EST reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

OK,I watched the Mir/Lesnar twice now. I saw when our favorite UFC ref Mazzagatti decided to take a point away from Lesnar for hitting Mir behind the head(once) and pause the fight. I wonder if he was instructed to be a stickler about the rules due to Brock's debut. Brock was on top and could have pounded him out at that point. Mir should thank Mazzagatti and buy him a drink.

Excellent technique by Mir afterwards. It was very clear he was going for the foot lock after an arm bar and he got it good. Same submission he used for Tank. Someone want to tell me why Bruce Buffer called it a knee bar?

by cptkickass on Feb 3, 2008 11:07 AM EST reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

Because it WAS a kneebar. That wasn't the same sub he used on Tank. Mir got him in a toe hold after he used the omoplata to trap the arm. One of my favorite subs I've seen.

by TitoG on Feb 3, 2008 2:48 PM EST up reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

I think Mazzagatti did the right thing under the circumstances. In any other fight, it would have been uncalled for but this situation was a little different. With someone as powerful as Lesnar (XXXL gloves), you have to really take precautions with stuff like blows to the back of the head. Those can do some permanent damage and one from Lesnar could do more damage than a handfull from another fighter.

However, I do agree that Mir owes Mazzagatti a beer next time he sees him. If the fight had not been stopped then, Mir would have been pounded out.

by holden636 on Feb 3, 2008 3:01 PM EST up reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

Size of hands has nothing to do with power. But beyond that the rules need to be static and not changing based on the fighter. Should a stronger fighter be penalized more for grabbing the fence as he is able to hold on better? Rules are not supposed to apply differently to each fighter.

I'm not debating the stand-up...it happened so no use playing the "what if" game. Simply saying that you can't apply the rules differently for different fighters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 3, 2008 5:04 PM EST up reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

In theory that is correct, you can't apply rules differently for different fighters. Agreed. However, reality is much different. The ref's duty, above all else, is to protect the safety of fighters. As a practical matter, that comes into play when refs enforce any rules. You see it time and time again, when a veteran fighter fighter gets dropped and the ref lets him recover rather than stopping the fight, whereas a newer fighter does not get that same treatment. Is that applying the rules differently to different fighters? Yes. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I am not so sure. Think about all of the fights that could have been stopped but were not and ended up differently.

This subjective standard also applies to things such as blows to the back of the head. Maybe size of hands does not make a difference with regard to power, but arms attached to them the size of Lesnar's do. Any good ref would take that into consideration. Perhaps taking a point away was a little harsh but, in the end, it did not matter.

by holden636 on Feb 3, 2008 5:36 PM EST up reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

"It's pronounced "hicardo" fellas"

I thought that was a BrazilianPortuguese thing. Wasnt Ricardo born in the US?

by MoreThanUFC on Feb 3, 2008 1:51 PM EST reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

I don't remember what fight it was but I remember him introducing himself and saying "Hicardo" when pronouncing his own name. So I roll with that...

by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 3, 2008 2:51 PM EST up reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

Yea I could imagine that Dana told the refs to be stricter with the rules all night and especially during the brock fight because of the increased intention from WWE fans and all the hype. They wanted to make sure the people just tuning in knew there were substantial and defined rules.

by Yasnian on Feb 3, 2008 2:37 PM EST reply actions

Re: UFC 81 Winners and Losers

I agree with cptkickass. I watched the Lesnar Mir fight again and it wasn't a momentary lapse on Lesnar's part. He was standing over Mir and Mir casually placed his foot setting up Brock's right leg. By the time Brock thought to get out, it was too late.

As for Mazzagatti, I think it was correct to call attention to the back of the head blows. In a Mazzagatti interview earlier this year (mmamania.com), he talks about stricter enforcement of the back of the head rules.

As for the end of the fight. Did anyone see how he double checked with Lesnar even after the tap, just to be extra sure? Ensuring no controversy over the stoppage?