Mark Hunt punched Frank Mir in the head. Mir fell down, and the fight was over. We could attempt to make The Super Samoan's victory Saturday night in Brisbane, Australia, sound more technical, but with a guy as basic and destructive as Hunt, it's best to keep things simple.
In the first round of the UFC Fight Night 85 main event, Hunt measured and dropped a flabby Mir with one of his signature straight right hands. The Aussie fans went crazy as they celebrated Hunt's smashing victory.
Mir was telegraphing his takedown attempts, and it was a matter of time before Hunt connected with a big shot. As Mir crumpled to the floor, Hunt casually walked away as though he'd just hit a no-doubt home run off some baseball team's fifth starter.
Light heavyweight contender Ovince St. Preux marveled at Hunt's casual and devastating power:
It's like a Tuesday for Mark Hunt, just another walk off KO. That's a bad man. #UFCBrisbane #UFCFightNight pic.twitter.com/ThfZME5qvR
— Ovince Saint Preux (@003_OSP) March 20, 2016
Despite his cavalier demeanor after the knockout, Hunt was respectable to Mir in his post-fight interview, per MMA Fighting:
Hunt: It’s sad that one of us had to lose. Frank is a good dude. I respect him a lot.
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) March 20, 2016
Hunt is now 12-10 in his pro MMA career. He's had opportunities to chase the heavyweight title, but he's too one-dimensional to be an elite heavyweight. However, at 41 years old, he's still one of the most exciting fighters to watch in the sport.
Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champion, is 36 years old, but his opportunity to be a serious player in the division has past. He doesn't possess the same drawing power or appeal that Hunt does. Thus, his mediocrity isn't as tolerable.
ZombieProphet's prediction for Mir's next fight didn't sound far-fetched:
Frank Mir vs Matt Mitrione at Bellator 160
— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) March 20, 2016
Matt Mitrione signed with Bellator last week. Because Mir has lost two in a row in the UFC and six of his last eight overall, it might be time for a change of scenery.
Hunt will get another fight soon. He might lose, but you can bet it'll be all action.
Magny Outlasts Lombard
Does referee Steve Percival know that he has the authority to stop fights when one guy is getting pummeled with a plethora of unanswered shots? It might seem like a silly question, unless you saw Saturday night's co-main event between Neil Magny and Hector Lombard.
Magny won the bout by third-round technical knockout, but not before he was almost finished by Lombard early in the first frame. Percival could have stopped the bout as Lombard landed a number of shots on a dazed Magny.
The 28-year-old Magny did a decent job of covering up against the powerful Brazilian's onslaught, but no one could have complained if Percival had pulled the plug.
When he didn't get the stoppage, Lombard gassed out while trying to finish the fight in the first 45 seconds. Magny showed great resilience by bouncing back from the barrage to finish the first round strong.
In the second, Magny was the fresher fighter. At 6'3", he was using his immense reach advantage to pick Lombard (5'9") apart, but the latter fired a counter left hook that dropped him again. Lombard attempted to finish, but he didn't have the same fire.
Magny quickly recovered and regained control. He ultimately took top position and commenced to pound on a defenseless Lombard for more than a minute. Where was Percival during this beatdown?
Standing there watching like he was an umpire during a rain delay. It was the worst non-stoppage I've seen in a long time. UFC fighter Court McGee seemed to agree:
Worst ref ever! #UFCBrisbane
— Court McGee (@Court_McGee) March 20, 2016
Magny looked up at Percival with bewilderment. ZombieProphet caught the look with this tweet:
Magny be like please dont make me kill this man #UFCBrisbane pic.twitter.com/ntb4AcbW6R
— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) March 20, 2016
With Percival's help, Lombard survived the round. Instead of being discouraged, Magny came back out in the third frame and picked up where he left off. Magny talked about his mindset going into the final round:
Magny on the late stoppage: "My coach told me 'just do it again'...and I went out and I did just that." Bang. #UFCBrisbane
— Bleacher Report MMA (@BR_MMA) March 20, 2016
In the first 30 seconds of the third round, Magny quickly dumped Lombard on his back and locked in a mounted triangle as he pounded away with hammer fists.
Finally, Percival decided to call an end to the fight. So much for fighter safety.
Percival's incompetence shouldn't take away from Magny's impressive performance. MMA Fighting's Shaheen Al-Shatti sang Magny's praises afterward:
Magny has done all of this with virtually no promotion. Eleven fights in little more than 2 years. Self-making himself into an elite 170er.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 20, 2016
Magny has won 10 of his last 11 fights, and he has to be close to a title shot at 170 pounds.
Here's a look at all of the results from Brisbane:
Bout |
Result |
||
| Fox Sports 1 Main Card | |||
| Heavyweight: Mark Hunt vs. Frank Mir | Hunt by KO (punch, first round) | ||
| Welterweight: Hector Lombard vs. Neil Magny | Magny by TKO (punches, third round) | ||
| Lightweight: Johnny Case vs. Jake Matthews | Matthews by submission (rear-naked choke in third round) | ||
| Middleweight: Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Daniel Kelly | Kelly by TKO (punches, third round) | ||
| Middleweight: James Te Huna vs. Steve Bosse | Bosse by KO (punch, first round) | ||
| Women’s Strawweight: Bec Rawlings vs. Seo Hee Ham | Rawlings by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) | ||
| Fox Sports 1 Preliminary Card | |||
| Welterweight: Brendan O’Reilly vs. Alan Jouban | Jouban by TKO (punches, first round) | ||
| Welterweight: Viscardi Andrade vs. Richard Walsh | Andrade by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | ||
| Featherweight: Daniel Hooker vs. Mark Eddiva | Hooker by submission (mounted guillotine, first round) | ||
| Women’s Bantamweight: Rin Nakai vs. Leslie Smith | Smith by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) | ||
| Fight Pass Preliminary Card | |||
| Lightweight: Ross Pearson vs. Chad Laprise | Pearson by split decision (28-30, 30-27, 29-28) | ||
|
Patrick by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) | ||
The Finishes
Hooker Hooks in the Choke
Transitioning from one submission opportunity to the next in a matter of seconds is one of the prettiest things to see in mixed martial arts. Daniel Hooker showed off the beautiful moves before finishing Mark Eddiva.
After Eddiva caught a front-kick attempt, Hooker immediately attempted to lock in a high-elbow guillotine. Eddiva tried to counter by dropping to his back, but Hooker took the mounted position and clinched in the choke even tighter to earn the submission.
Fox Sports: UFC showed its love on Twitter:
Beautiful guillotine choke submission from @DanTheHangMan gets the tap out! Well done! #UFCBrisbane https://t.co/GJ0BTgN1Am
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) March 20, 2016
Hooker moved to 3-2 in the UFC. He had lost his last bout via unanimous decision to Yair Rodriguez in October. Eddiva has had a tough go in the UFC. After winning his debut in the promotion over Jumabieke Tuerxun in March 2014, Eddiva has now lost his last three fights.
Jouban Clubs O'Reilly
For a moment, it looked as though Brendan O'Reilly was going to get the best of Alan Jouban. A slick trip against the fence put O'Reilly in control in the opening moments of the fight.
The 6'0" Jouban got to his feet and immediately used his four-inch reach advantage to pound O'Reilly (5'9") against the fence. A combination of punches, kicks and a well-placed knee from the clinch put O'Reilly down.
A series of unanswered strikes caused referee John Sharp to stop the bout.
It was a solid rebound victory for Jouban. Albert Tumenov stopped him in the first round in October. Jouban is now 4-2 in the UFC, and per the Fox Sports 1 broadcast, he said he'd love to get on the UFC 200 card in July.
Jouban still has a ways to go before he can hope to garner a Top 15 ranking, but a high-profile win at UFC 200 could give the 33-year-old American momentum.
Who's the Bosse?
Steve Bosse used a vicious counter right hand to send James Te Huna to a humiliating knockout loss in front of his hometown crowd. Bosse leaned back to avoid a punch from Te Huna and fired a straight right hand that caught his opponent square on the chin.
It was over when he hit the canvas.
MMA aficionado Caposa trolled Te Huna with this tweet:
When the alarm goes off Monday morning pic.twitter.com/58eh27slGg
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) March 20, 2016
Bosse continued the theme of bounce-back performances. Thiago Santos viciously stopped him in his last bout in June. This time, it was his turn to end the fight quickly. Te Huna should strongly consider calling it a career.
He's lost four fights in a row, and all of them have come by stoppage. Two of the defeats have come by way of devastating knockout. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua similarly defeated him in December 2013.
Kelly Shocks Carlos
Australian judoka Daniel Kelly gave fans a thrill with his improbable victory over Antonio Carlos Jr. After being dominated on the ground in the first round, Kelly rebounded in the second frame. A sloppy attempt at a takedown by Carlos left Kelly in position to take his opponent's back.
Kelly took the opportunity to pummel Carlos with shots. The latter survived the round, but he appeared to take facial damage and to have possibly injured his ankle in the scrum.
In the third round, an attempt at a throw from Kelly didn't completely land, but it set Carlos up for a kick to the nose that put the Brazilian in trouble. Carlos went for the takedown; Kelly stuffed it. He took top position and pounded Carlos out to get the win.
Kelly has now won four of his five fights in the UFC. At 38 years old, the time is now if he's going to maximize his career in the organization. Carlos is a highly touted former winner of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, but he's yet to live up to his potential. He's now 2-2 in the UFC with one no-contest.
Jake Matthews Has Really Improved
After losing his first bout against James Vick in May, the 21-year-old Jake Matthews has won two straight fights. He stopped Akbarh Arreola in November. On Saturday, he softened up Johnny Case with well-placed body kicks before securing a rear-naked choke in the third round.
On multiple occasions, kicks to the midsection seemed to buckle Case. Matthews stayed patient and locked up the biggest win of his career. Case had won 12 straight fights before the defeat.
At 26 years old, Case will be back. It wouldn't be surprising to see these two guys meet again somewhere down the road.
What's Next?
Heavyweights will again take center stage when the UFC travels to Zagreb, Croatia, for UFC Fight Night 86 on April 10. Heavyweights Ben Rothwell and Junior dos Santos will meet in the event's featured bout. A win would likely put Rothwell on the cusp of a title shot.
Another heavyweight battle is the co-feature. Veteran Gabriel Gonzaga will face the hard-hitting Derrick Lewis. It would be shocking if either of these fights goes the distance.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter.
