UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir

[Turd Ferguson]

[YOUTUBE]WjTZTKSo7ww[/YOUTUBE]

Main Card (PPV)

• Heavyweight Championship: Junior Dos Santos vs. Frank Mir
• Heavyweight Bout: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
• Heavyweight Bout: Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman
• Heavyweight Bout: Shane Del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic
• Heavyweight Bout: Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve

Preliminary Card (FX)

• Featherweight Bout: Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins
• Lightweight Bout: Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner
• Middleweight Bout: Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. CB Dollaway
• Lightweight Bout: Jacob Volkmann vs. Paul Sass

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

• Welterweight Bout: Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Kyle Kingsbury vs. Glover Teixiera
• Featherweight Bout: Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda

UFC 146 is a card that has been decimated by injuries. Despite this, it is still a strong card, and top to bottom, between the main card, FX Prelims, and Facebook Prelims, is a definite must-watch.

In the main event, Junior Dos Santos will defend the Heavyweight title against Frank Mir. It's definitely not as sexy a matchup that Dos Santos vs. Overeem would have been, and in my point of view, it's an easier fight to predict. I think Mir's only shot here is if he gets JDS to the ground. JDS is still untested there, and Mir is without a doubt, the most dangerous submission specialist in the history of the Heavyweight Division. Of course, he might not even get the chance to get JDS to the ground. Mir doesn't have much of a chin, getting nearly KO'ed by a Nogueira jab in his last fight. All it takes is one punch from JDS to end your night. Frank Mir definitely earned this shot over anyone else in the division, but the fact of the matter is that this is probably going to be a short night for him. Dos Santos will pick up another win, but part of me really wants Mir to pull it off somehow, just to keep things interesting. If Dos Santos wins, he'll likely get the winner of Velasquez vs. Bigfoot (Velasquez) and Dos Santos vs. Velasquez II is a hard sell. It really is unfortunate that Overeem was stupid enough to get caught.

Cain Velasquez vs. Bigfoot Silva is your co-main event. Ho-Hum, Bigfoot Silva blows and this is a fight to basically re-establish Velasquez as a force in the Heavyweight Division. I really don't see any avenues for Silva to win... there's no chance in hell he's going to get Velasquez to the ground and impose his will on him like he did to Fedor. Velasquez by TKO and we'll get a rematch between him and JDS later this year.

Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman should be a pretty entertaining fight between two guys who are in pretty sore need of a win. Very even matchup. I think if Herman can goad Nelson into a sloppy kickboxing fight, I'd give him the advantage, and I think he could even get the finish. Roy has taken a lot of damage in his losses to JDS, Mir, and Werdum. Even though his chin hasn't failed him yet, you also have to wonder how much it has deteriorated with the damage he has taken in those fights. Herman definitely has the ability to catch Nelson, and I think there's a pretty decent chance he can do so here.

Shane Del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic pits two of the top prospects in the Heavyweight Division against each other. Both are undefeated. Del Rosario is coming off a long layoff due to a car accident he was in. Should be a great fight, both guys are finishers. One has to wonder how the layoff will affect Del Rosario, though.

Finally, in the fight I'm most looking forward to on the main card, Mark Hunt continues his career renaissance vs. Stefan Struve. This is your Fight of the Night and KO of the night candidate right here. Mark Hunt needs to win this fight in the first round in order to stand a chance. Struve is prone to getting finished in the first round, (look no further than his losses to JDS, Nelson, and Travis Browne, and almost losing to Christian Morecraft and Sean McCorkle). Struve is seemingly unbeatable after the first round, and the longer the fight goes, the more likely it is for Hunt to gas out and get submitted. Problem is for Struve is that despite being quite excellent at submissions, he likes to get into kickboxing matches, which is terrible for him when he doesn't know how to use his reach and all it takes is one punch for him to get Jenga'ed. I think Struve will get goaded into trading with Hunt, because good god, is he stupid, and I think we'll get a hysterical looking KO as Hunt becomes one step closer to getting a title shot.

The FX prelims should be very entertaining. Diego Brandao is in his first post-TUF fight against Darren Elkins in which should be an exciting fight.

Edson Barboza is fighting Jamie Varner, who inexplicably got a second chance from Dana due to Evan Dunham getting hurt. At least Barboza will kick his head off, but a win over a shitty fighter like Varner doesn't do much for him.

Mayhem Miller is putting his career on the line against CB Dollaway. CB is pretty terrible, so Mayhem should get the win here by submission, but if Dollaway does pull off the win, then yes, Mayhem, the overrated wonder that he is, should never fight again.

Finally, Jacob Volkmann, who is quietly putting together a strong run undefeated as a lightweight (the reason for his run being quiet is the fact that he keeps calling out the President of the United States......) is taking on one of my favorite fighters in the Lightweight Division, Paul Sass. Sass does one thing and one thing only, Triangles. He's undefeated, and this should be a very interesting fight where Volkmann will look to impose a Jon Fitch-esque strategy, whereas Sass will be constantly looking for the submission. The last time Sass fought a wrestler, it was Michael Johnson, in which he caught him in a leglock, but these matchups usually go to the wrestler, especially where Sass is British, and we all know how that usually plays out.

The Facebook prelims feature three fights that I think would have been much better fits for the main card of the UFC on Fuel this month rather than being banished to Facebook where nobody will watch.

Dan Hardy is in an absolute must-win situation against Duane Ludwig. Hardy has dropped four in a row. However, there is no shame in losing four in a row, when two of those losses were to the Champions of the Division (GSP and Condit), a goddamn Light Heavyweight (Anthony Johnson) and Chris Lytle. Ludwig is coming off a loss to Josh Neer. This should be a very good fight regardless and it's way too good to be banished to the Facebook prelims. I'm not sure if Hardy can get back on the horse here. This is going to be a standup affair, and Ludwig, with the kickboxing background, is a much better striker than Hardy, who throws bombs. I think Ludwig takes it by decision, and that's when things will get real interesting, to see if Hardy will survive the chopping block with 5 losses in a row.

Glover Teixiera makes his UFC debut against Kyle Kingsbury. Teixiera has been murdering folks for some time, undefeated in his last 15 fights, with 14 stoppages. I'm not sure what we have with Kingsbury here at this point. He's talented, but he looked like absolute crap against Stephan Bonnar in his last fight.

Finally, Mike Brown will look to keep his positive momentum going against a very tough Daniel Pineda. Brown looked very good against Nam Phan in his last fight where he finally got back on the winning side of things. Pineda is a finisher. Should be a great fight.

 

[Pedigree1]

JDS VS MIR will be a massacre in my opinion!! Nogueria rocked Mir JDS throws bombs and if one connects its gonna be an early night for MIR!! Roy should win this fight he has too or he will be cut!! Im looking forward to cain vs Antonio Silva taht to me will be the most intriguing fight of the night IMO! I give Mir credit for signing his death warrant though best of luck to him

 

[JWGunslinger]

I am beyond excited for this one, mainly because my ass will be planted in the MGM may 26th watching this live baby! That and one of my favorite fighters Frank Mir will be fighting for the title.

Starting things off Mike Brown takes on Dan Pineda and he really needs this win, since his great time in the WEC Brown just hasnt been able to get the swing of things since going to the UFC. However he has a major skill advantage over this guy and should take it. Brown via TKO

I love me some Kingsbu, but anyone who knows Glover Teixiera knows that it's probably going to be a short night for Kingsbury. Hopefully Kyle can pull it off but i'm gonna have to say Teixiera via KO.

Lets go Ludwig, that's what i'll be chanting during this fight because if he wins then theres hopefully no more Dan Hardy in the UFC. However I do not see that happening, Ludwig was a good muay thai fighter but he's lost his killer instinct and that is something Hardy hasnt, throw in Hardy's superior speed and power to give you Hardy via TKO.

This is gonna be when I get my soda refilled because this is bound to be the snoozer of the night. Jacob Volkmann is talented, but his talent is winning fights by emulating the style of Jon Fitch, or so it appears. Sass is good but he wont submit Volkmann and he'll end up losing a boring ass decision. Volkmann via Decision

This is a must win for Mayhem, but fortunatly for him he's fighting CB Dolloway who's been looking pretty crappy lately. So unless Dolloway pulls a peruvian necktie out his ass he's in trouble because Mayhem is more motivated than ever after his painful loss to Michael Bisping. Mayhem via submission

I hate Jamie Varner, thankfully I have Edson Barboza to take out my feelings for me on him, Varner is a douche and idk how he got this fight but he's gonna wish he never took it. Barboza via TKO

Diego Brandao wrecks Darren Elkins, that's what happens here. Brandao via KO

Ohhhhh the heavyweights! Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve is gonna be an awesome fight, no matter where it goes this one reeks of excitement. Hunt has the clear edge on the feet if he can deal with Struve's reach, but if Roy Nelson could then so can he. Struve has the ground advantage but I dont think Mark will make the mistake of playing his game. Hunt via KO

Stipe Miocic vs Shane Del Rosario should be a fun fight, Miocic is 8-0 and Del Rosario is 11-0 and they both like to bang. However Del Rosario seems to have the edge on the ground, standing it's pretty close but the ground is the deciding factor here and it goes to Shane. Del Rosario via Submission

Roy Nelson vs Bigfoot was very appealing, Roy vs Gonzaga was appealing, Roy vs Herman doesnt really do much for me. But Roy will probably end up knocking him out so i'm ok with that. Nelson via KO

In Bigfoot's last fight he got knocked out by a small but powerful and fast wrestler from AKA, and it look like its gonna happen again. Velasquez via KO

Aaaaand the main event, Junior Dos Santos vs Frank Mir. I will say that Overeem vs JDS was a better fight but i'm still pumped for this one. I'm praying that Frank can get it to the ground somehow and sumbit him. However I cant deny that the odds are Junior will knock Frank's block off. So i'm hoping for Frank but gotta say Dos Santos via KO

 

[BaconBits]

I think Dos Santos stomps Mir, because Mir is an idiot and will try to show off his "improved" striking ability that Rogan always talks about. Even if he tries it for a little bit, he's getting murked. He will, and well, he will.

I think Velazquez steamrolls Bigfoot. Bigfoot has never been particularly good. He's not beyond amazingly average at any aspect of mixed martial arts. How overrated he is will become abundantly clear about 40 seconds into this fight. Great fight for Cain, though, to get back on the winning side of things whilst looking impressive.

Nelson v. Herman should be a fun tilt. I'll take Roy via being the better fighter.

Miocic is going to abuse Del Rosario. He's got much better striking, serious power and a killer instinct not seen since PRIDE era Wanderlei Silva. Oh yeah, and Stipe isn't ring rusted to high heaven.

Mark Hunt coldcocks The Skyscraper within a couple minutes. Unfortunately, that means Hunt will be put into a fight after that that makes him look really, really bad (prolly Miocic).

 

[Fizzy]

Heavyweight Championship: Junior Dos Santos vs. Frank Mir

I'm not really rotting for either man here, I think they are just temporary champions until Uncle Dana lets Jon Jones loose on the heavyweight division, but it should be a good fight, if Mir is smart. Dos Santos hit hard, like mack fucking truck hard, and Mir folds when he gets hit. Robert Drysdale, Mir's coach, has said Mir will stand with JDS and if he does, it will be over within the first round. Mir just cannot grasp the striking aspect of MMA well enough to stand with somebody of Dos Santos's caliber. Mir has power, but if JDS can stand with Carwin for three rounds without getting hurt, i'd wager he can stand with Mir all he wants. If Frank wants to win this fight, he needs to get it to the ground. How will he do that? No clue, if Carwin couldn't get JDS down I see no way in hell that Mir does. Only conceivable way I see Mir winning is if its similar to the second fight with Big Nog.

Heavyweight Bout: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva

Cain is far to fast and relentless for Silva. Silva cannot strike with Cain and he cannot put Cain on his back. Cain will probably break his hands while thrashing Silva en route to an easy decision win. Cain/JDS rematch later in the year once Cain's hands heal.

Heavyweight Bout: Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

Really hate Herman, don't particularly care for Nelson. Hopefully its a good fight, but I see Nelson KOing Herman.

Heavyweight Bout: Shane Del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic

Stupid to pit two up and comers against each other so early in their careers. This fight will be decided solely on how Rosario looks coming off surgery. If he hasn't lost a step, he wins. If he is rusty and sluggish, Stipe wins.

Heavyweight Bout: Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve

Struve has a tendency to throw his face full force into his opponents fists. Mark Hunt has a tendency to decapitate people who throw their faces into his fists. You guys do the math.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

So, UFC 146 is in the books, and I think it's the best show, top to bottom, the UFC has put on so far this year.

JDS vs. Mir left a lot to be desired as the fight wasn't as competitive as I thought it would be, especially where I thought Mir had a shot to pull off the upset and catch JDS in a submission. Mir had absolutely nothing for him, and it goes to show that JDS is pretty much on a whole other planet in the Heavyweight division. He's still untested on the ground, but that doesn't matter. He has proven at this point that he has exceptional takedown defense. Absolutely dominant performance by Dos Santos.

Cain Velasquez turned in an absolutely dominant performance against Bigfoot Silva. Not terribly surprising as Bigfoot, in a word, sucks. I figured all it would take was one takedown before him getting pounded out. I just didn't think it would happen literally ten seconds into the fight and I didn't think the fight would end up looking like a crime scene when it was all said and done. JDS and Cain will likely meet in a rematch, but I'm not really looking forward to it when the end result will likely be another quick KO by JDS.

Dave Herman has been an absolute disappointment. Big Country gets a much needed win, which is good for him, but I think it might be time to write Herman off after a crap performance against Struve and getting KO'ed in less than a minute against Big Country.

Stipe Miocic is a BEAST. Great performance bouncing back after a first round he lost against Del Rosario. Absolutely brutal ground and pound laid on, and I think a fight against Big Country, who has become the gatekeeper of the division makes a lot of sense. Miocic is a definite potential contender, and with three wins in a row, it's time to give him a nice bump up in competition. On a side note, this should have been Fight of the Night. Extremely competitive fight that should have been recognized by Dana.

Struve didn't get KO'ed against Lavar Johnson and fought smart which is a plus. Johnson has no ground game, so this result was definitely expected. I still want to see him fight Mark Hunt.

Moving onto the prelims...

Brandao should have fought smarter. He gassed himself out after a dominant first round that I had scored a 10-8, but he's still young, it was a close fight, he'll come back. There were about three moments in that first round where most fighters would have been done. Elkins is tough, and he turned in a great performance in the second and third rounds.

I'm a huge mark for Edson Barboza. That being said, I had a feeling he'd run into problems against the first wrestler he took on. I didn't think he'd do THAT badly though, and especially against a complete bum, cheater, and all around terrible fighter and person in Jamie Varner. Barboza looked good at the beginning, doing what I knew he would do, pepper Varner with leg kicks, and I knew he'd set up for the spectacular head kick KO. That's exactly what happened until Varner caught the head kick. Then it all went to shit. Fluke victory for Varner. Barboza will be back. Can't win them all. I want to see Varner vs. Sass.

CB Dollaway won an embarrasingly terrible fight against Mayhem Miller, who is now cut from the UFC. Both guys should have been cut.

Finally, Dan Hardy got a much needed win against Duane Ludwig. I'm glad for Hardy, who seems like a really nice and humble guy overall, despite his appearance. The UFC needed him to win to justify keeping him around (which they would have done regardless win or lose, especially when there's apparently a show being planned to take place in Nottingham, England, Hardy's hometown later this year).

Facebook prelims were great. I thought Sass was going to run into problems against a wrestlefucker like Volkmann, but he passed that test with flying colors and managed to pull off his patented triangle.

Glover Teixiera absolutely destroyed Kyle Kingsbury. Kingsbury is a very tough fighter overall... for him to be put away in less than 2 minutes is huge, and I think Glover is a potential star and needs to be given an upper echelon guy for his next fight.

Mike Brown had a very nice win and rumor is he's retiring. Glad to see that he went out with a win.

 

[JWGunslinger]

Killer card overall, a few disappointing moments but top to bottom that card kicked ass.

Brown got a decent win, a little slow and his stand up has gotten a little dead but he pulled it off and his td's and slams made it a fun fight. If he is retiring I'll miss seeing him around as I've been a fan since he lost to Genki back at UFC 47 but he looks like he's about done.

Glover Teixiera kicked ass, I hated seeing the guy he raped in his debut be a guy I like so much in Kingsbury but there was no secret who was gonna take this fight and it was a landslide of a one sider. Glover's punches were too much for him and then he got smothered on the ground, great win for Glover and look forward to more of him at 205.

Paul Sass impressed the shit out of me, I was about to go take a leak because I expected another Volkmann snoozer but damn if he didnt go in there and get a pretty solid dude(boring but ground solid) in his signature move. Just like Dana said, this was his coming out party and he was great.

Dan Hardy can officially call me a true fan, as much as Dana and Lorenzo's Hardy nut hugging can get old he really is an entertaining dude and when he fights like he did last night I have no problem cheering for the brit. He scored a great KO with that awesome left of his over a tough ass stand up fighter in Ludwig and got a very much needed W.

What can I say about Mayhem-Dolloway other than it was a fucking disgrace, Mayhem promised the best and delivered his worst. Up to that point in the arena Mayhem got the biggest crowd reception when he came in but when the fight was over he'd lost every fan there including myself and my fiance who's favorite fighter was Mayhem. Total disgrace, glad he's been cut.

Diego Brandao was another let down but not quite as bad as the last, he was lookin like a killer in round one but gassed it out and frickin Darren Elkins grinded out the decision. Not the most exciting fight and a big blow to Brandao's reputation but great win for Elkins where not many gave him a chance.

I fucking hate Jamie Varner, that said he scored a hell of an upset against a major fan favorite and rising star Edson Barboza. Honestly if it were anyone else I'd have loved it because nobody gave him much of a chance and he came through with flying colors. Edson will be back and unfortunatly so will Varner, I'd love to see Cerrone destroy him again just to see him break but that isnt gonna happen so I just hope they feed him to someone who'll destroy him.

Stefan Struve keeps making me like him more and more with each fight, he's so damn fun to watch and his 65 second armbar was nothing short of that. Lavar came in the only way he knows how and when swinging for the fences didnt work he got caught and subbed like he so often does. Lavar needs to work on his sub defense if he wants to be a force and Struve keeps on rollin with an awesome sub.

Stipe Moicic, god I love this guy. Ever since his debut I've loved seeing this guy in there, he's got the skill to be a real force in the division and take over Cro Cop's spot as Croatia's favorite son. Del Rosario has a future in the UFC but the better man was decided and Stipe continues his unbeaten streak at 9-0 with 3 straight UFC wins.

Roy Nelson, I love me some big country and last night he gave us a big knockout when he hit the haymaker on Herman's chin. Awesome KO(very similar to the struve KO) and great win for Roy, Herman really looked like a mainstay with his fight against Jon Olav Einemo but after his last 2 fights im not sure he has any future here. Keep on truckin Roy!

Cain did exactly what he should have and needed to, he took his fist and planted it right on that Easter Island head of Bigfoot and reigned down the pain until his opponents bloodied and beaten body lay defeated on the canvas. It was a good win for Cain but I was hoping for someone better to face him because a win over Bigfoot isnt exactly title shot worthy, the guy fuckin sucks. But either way Cain dominated him and is the only logical fit for the next title fight at HW, he looked great and I hope he can give JDS more of a run for his money this time.

Cigano has the division by the balls, he turned in a dominant yet disappointing fight against Frank Mir and decisively defended his title. Junior's performance was great but the fight would have been much closer and more interesting had Frank gone with the game plan, but instead of trying to close the distance better, get him on the cage and go for the ground he stood toe to toe with the best boxer in the division, bad idea. Awesome win for JDS, Frank's back to the drawing board.

 

[Fizzy]

Well, it was an interesting night to say the least. Quite a few fantastic finishes but no real good fights.

I couldn't be more disappointed in Barboza as I felt this fight was and still is very winnable for him. He just seemed overly confident and he damn sure paid for it. Varner still sucks, Barboza is still the better fighter, Barboza will be back and unleash hell on his next opponent. Everybody needs to lose every now and then especially a young fighter like Barboza. I think he will turn this loss into a positive and come back better than ever.

Mayhem is a loser and always will be. He isn't a UFC caliber fighter and he never will be, he just got outclassed by C.B. Dollaway for fucks sake. I get he was disappointed with the loss and he damn sure should be, he put on an embarrassing performance, but there is no excuse for reigning hell over the locker room because you got outclassed. As for Dollaway, he shouldn't be happy with his performance. His offense last night was the definition of lay n pray and he somehow extended his UFC career another fight at the least.

The Struve/Johnson fight went as everybody expected it, with Struve subbing Johnson. Lavar has no ground game and mediocre takedown defense to boot so anybody with a decent ground game will beat him. Struve is a good guy and I enjoy watching him fight so i'm happy he won.

You just have to love Roy Nelson, the guy is just so hilarious from his looks to his personality. Watching him rub his belly after he won made my night. As much as I like him and am happy he won, he better stop calling out Lesnar if he wants to keep his face in tact

The Cain of last night would beat the JDS of last night. That sums up their performances. JDS was overly tentative against Mir even though Mir was unfathomably slow and tentative himself. Cain is on a mission and I can't wait to see him fight JDS again as I truly believe this will be a completely different fight this time around.

 

[Ryman]

JDS is a beast, he was to fast for Mir. The only two that i can see beating him is Cain and Cormier.

Cain looked to be in much better shape than against JDS and he really dominated Bigfoot. The rematch looks set with JDS and i think if he uses his wrestling this time he can win.

Miocic vs Nelson i agree with, seems like a good step up for Miocic.

I still think Struve-Hunt should happen when Hunt is back from his injury, Struve fought smart and submitted Johnson quickly.

Varner knocking out Barboza was a massive upset, when Varner is on his game he is pretty good(i know it was over two years ago but when he fought Ben Henderson he won the first two rounds of that fight) but i did not think he would defeat Barboza.

Paul Sass is one dimensional but wow is his ground game good. Sass-Bochek maybe?