2008 Bloody Elbow Reader Awards: Upset and Performance of the Year
by Mike Fagan on Jan 20, 2009 10:44 PM EST
in MMA News
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PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
UPSET OF THE YEAR: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
For all their similarities, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira and Frank Mir entered the cage on December 27th miles apart as fighters. Both men rose through the ranks in their twenties. Both owed their success to the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. And both recovered from horrific motor vehicle accidents to reach the pinnacle of fight sport.
Nogueira held the distinction of being the only man to have held belts in both Pride and the UFC. He had only 4 losses - split decisions to Dan Henderson and Josh Barnett and two wars with Fedor Emelianenko, and had never been stopped in his career. His fights with Josh Barnett, Mirko Cro Cop, Tim Sylvia, and others arguably comprised the best collection of victories in the sport's history. Nogueira looked to rule over a shallow talent pool in the UFC's heavyweight division.
Mir, on the other hand, held a reputation as wasted potential. After winning the UFC title from Tim Sylvia, Mir's career derailed following a high speed motorcycle crash. He fell victim to journeyman Marcio Cruz after rushing back from rehab. He then fell out of the sport's radar until a bout with WWE superstar Brock Lesnar. Following a 90 second blitzkrieg which ended with Mir tapping the wrestler via heel hook, Zuffa inserted Nogueira and Mir into the Ultimate Fighter 9 culminated with a title bout at UFC 92.
Few gave Mir any legitimate shot at beating the legendary Nogueira. Mir himself forecasted a Nogueira victory. The fight analyzed itself. Any advantage either had on the floor was marginal and they would likely nullify each other there. Therefore, Nogueira would dominate the fighting standing utilizing his clinch work and pedigreed boxing training.
Even after Mir stared well out of the gates, few minds wavered from the pre-fight prognostications. Nogueira, after all, built his career on taking a beating before miraculously reversing course and marching to victory. Mir dropped the Brazilian early in the first period, and it's doubtful even his heart rate fluttered.
Suspicions arose, however, when Mir dropped Nogueira again towards the very end of the first stanza. Mir, one of the top jiu jitsu players at heavyweight, still showed respect for the specter of Nogueira's reputation refusing to launch a ground assault. When the horn sounded, a battle weary Nogueira gingerly wobbled back to his corner.
Round two began where round one left off. Mir repeatedly landed a lead left uppercut that confused the champion all night. Meanwhile, Nogueira continued to fight tentatively and seemed unable to pull the trigger. The barrage continued until Mir landed two straight lefts which floored the champion for the third time. The challenger wasted no time following up this time around. Referee Herb Dean eventually stepped in when the normally resilient Nogueira offered little to defend himself.
The jubilant Vegas crowd exploded in applause for its native son. Mir rose from the floor with an expression consisting of one part shock and one part relief. He found newly crowned champion Brock Lesnar in the front row, pointed towards him, and said, "You got my belt."
In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Mir gave one of the most genuine and inspirational speeches from a fighter just mere moments pulled from battle. After thanking his wife, kids, camp, and others, Mir reminded the audience that less than three years ago he struggled to even walk and pointed to himself as an example that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. He repeated his pre-fight doubts and added that he had never been as scared entering the Octagon as he had that night.
Mir wasn't the biggest underdog to emerge victorious this year (that, I believe, would belong to Sergey Golaev or Junior dos Santos). But he takes the award when you combine the result with his nearly flawless performance against one of MMA's most decorated stars. The victory also sets him up for an even bigger 2009 as he looks to repeat the result of his UFC 81 encounter with linear champ Lesnar. If Mir fights Lesnar with as much confidence and improvement as we saw against Nogueira, we might witness the crowning of a two time heavyweight champion.
UPSET OF THE YEAR
2nd PLACE: Mike Thomas Brown vs. Urijah Faber
3rd PLACE: Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell
PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
2nd PLACE: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
3rd PLACE: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
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I don’t know if it was performance of the year. Nog was barely fighting and he looked completely out of it. How much that had to do with pre-fight things isn’t known but I think any HW could have looked great against Nog that night.
Next year we’ll have the people elect a panel to decide who wins the awards.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Jan 21, 2009 6:53 PM EST up reply actions
It wasn’t about the ending of the fight, it was about what happened in the middle. We saw an extremely focused GSP who was quicker and more powerful than we’ve ever seen him against a Jon Fitch that took an unbelievable amount of punishment and just refused to give up. GSP was hitting him with a punch and two clean high kicks and Jon was still refusing to go out. It was unbelievably entertaining on both ends (GSP’s and Fitch).
Congrats to Frank
But can I get a picture of the smile on Brock’s face when Frank won? There sure wasn’t a lot of doubt in it.
by Derek Suboticki on Jan 20, 2009 11:31 PM EST reply actions
I think I put Evans-Liddell at upset numero uno, but can’t argue with the results – Mir suprised a whole boatload of people with his performance. Mir-Lesnar II can’t come soon enough.
On an unrelated note – about the picture up top. It rarely fails to crack me up watching Dana try to act all tough guy and stuff in these staredown photos – or when he’s acting all tough guy period. No doubt, Mr.White is in a great shape but he’s nowhere near the class ANY of his fighters are. Dana, please, quit acting like you’re tougher than you are. We know you’re not.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on Jan 21, 2009 2:52 AM EST reply actions
Would you prefer
a big shit eating grin on his face as he stands between two fighters pretending that they are about to go at it?
Its a press photo, and I think anything other than a serious look on his face would undermine what the photo and event is supposed to accomplish.
Would you rather see Skala?
"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
by lovingmma25 on Jan 21, 2009 10:31 AM EST up reply actions
Mr.White is in a great shape but he’s nowhere near the class ANY of his fighters are
Your ability to disrespect the Great Lutter impresses me.
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