From the Ashes!
Nogueira submits Sylvia, Mir submits Lesnar
Come-from-behind victories at UFC 81: BREAKING POINT

Octagonside by Victor Perea | Photography by Chris Cozzone

In the absence of the absent, yet still-recognized UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, former champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia and former Pride Heavyweight Champion Antonio “Minotaoro” Nogueira met for the interim tag inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

In the many interviews leading up to UFC 81, Sylvia respectfully noted how, time after time, his opponent Nogueira would start a fight on the losing end, only to pull off an improbable victory.

Unfortunately for Sylvia, Saturday night was no different for the 31-year-old Brazilian.

After a brief feeling out period, Nogueira predictably clinched the 6’8” Sylvia and dropped with his back to the ground. At a disadvantage on the ground, Sylvia was quick to get back up, not wanting any part of Nogueira’s superior ground game. After eating a right hand from “Minotaoro,” the 31-year-old Sylvia used his reach to land a solid left hook-straight, right-hand combination. The on-target strikes sent the 6’1” Nogueira to the ground as his legs turned to mush. Sylvia pounced on his razzled opponent but failed to finish the job, as Nogueira tied him up. Sylvia stood back up hoping to finish the fight standing.

Nogueira stood with still shaky legs as his left eye began to fill with blood from a cut. In hopes of recovering, Nogueira took Sylvia to the canvas only to find himself too weak to keep the big man down. With Nogueira still wobbly from the knockdown, Sylvia stuffed a half-hearted takedown attempt from the former Pride champ. Seeing red, at least through his left eye, Nogueira managed to land a solid right to the body and left to the head. Nogueira appeared to have regained most of his strength as evident by earning a big takedown as the round closed.

The sold-out crowd stood in amazement of Nogueira’s survival of the Sylvia dominated round.

Nogueira opened the second round with another single leg take down attempt, but was stuffed by Sylvia. The two former champions circled around center Octagon as a still-recuperating Nogueira was beginning to pepper the bigger man with a stiff left jab. A second take down attempt from Nogueira was stuffed by Sylvia, followed shortly after by third weak take down attempt by the bloody and beaten Pride champ. Realizing he would have to set up a takedown, Nogueira landed a left hand-right leg kick combination. With under two minutes left in the second stanza, Nogueira took a strong hold of Sylvia’s left leg to make his most valiant attempt of a takedown yet. After much work, Nogueira gave up on the attempt and decided to finish the round, keeping Sylvia safely at the end of his left jab.

Opening the third round of a scheduled five-round contest, a straight right hand from Sylvia snapped Nogueira’s head back. It appeared to be more of the same for the bruised Brazilian. After failing to even clinch, a second attempt found Nogueira on the ground with Sylvia above him just where Nogueira wanted him. A tired Nogueira managed to roll and take side control as the capacity crowd broke out in cheers. In almost fairy tale fashion, Nogueira rolled over and sunk a deep fight-ending guillotine choke on Sylvia.

At 1:28 of the third round after being very near defeat, Nogueira forced a tapout from Sylvia, making him the first person ever to have been, both, Pride FC and UFC champion, winning the interim version of the belt held by Randy Couture.

After the victory, an overjoyed Nogueira, now 31-4-1, spoke with UFC commentator Joe Rogan:

“He’s a giant. I was waiting for good opportunity to put him to ground and finally when I got him to the ground, the first didn’t work and the second one was tight. I was trying for an arm bar but it didn’t work, but the second one worked.”

A disappointed Sylvia, 26-4, conceded the fight while hoping fans will welcome him back into the UFC

“He (Nogueira) gets his ass kicked for the first ten, fifteen minutes . .. the guy is a champ. I tried to give the fans what they wanted. I came out to bang I just couldn’t finish him. He was too tough.

“He pulled it out, but I tried, I really did.”

Mir gives Lesnar rude welcome into UFC

In the most anticipated fight of the night, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir welcomed Brock Lesnar, of WWE fame, to the UFC. With only one professional mixed martial arts contest under his belt, the 30- year-old Lesnar entered the Octagon with many doubting if he would be able to convert his incredible wrestling ability into success.

With his former co-workers on the play-fighting circuit, Kurt Angle, “The Undertaker” and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin sitting in the first row, Lesnar took his overwhelming size into the Octagon to face the crowd favorite local Mir.

Lesnar, a two-time All-American and 2000 NCAA Wrestling Champion, came out as expected—like a rhino in a china store, bulldozing Mir into the canvas. From there, Mir looked for position on his back but failed to find a good one, with what must have felt like an anvil on top of him. Lesnar pounded away with hammer fists that appeared hard enough to break the will of most men, all the while Mir attempted to cover up and survive the fury.

Lesnar rapidly thrashed Mir with rabbit punches, until referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in and called time to the fight, deducting a point from Lesnar for hitting behind the head. The packed crowd strongly disagreed with the referee’s decision as they voiced their opinion .

After the deduction, Lesnar went back to work, pounding away at Mir which, statistically, was only 10 pounds smaller, yet appeared to be a child in contrast to the bully that was Lesnar. The 28-year-old Mir attempted to secure an arm bar as Lesnar swung his arms down with every ounce of power, but the life-long jiu-jitsu practitioner could not manage.

After shaking off an arm bar attempt, Lesnar continued to pound at Mir with elbows and clenched fists, apparently en route to a victory by submission via hammer fists. With Lesnar proving to be a real handful, Mir decided to take a leg instead. To the discontent of wrestling fans everywhere, the former UFC heavyweight champion took hold of Lesnar’s leg and sunk in a knee bar far too deep for Lesnar to escape.

As the crowd stood on its feet, Lesnar reluctantly tapped at 1:30 of the first round, losing the contest in what could be called a winning effort for the very talented rookie fighter.

“It feels spectacular,” said Mir (11-3) after the victory. “Lets face it, I had Brock Lesnar dropping elbows on my head and I still pulled off the victory.

“He pulled out of the arm bar earlier. I switched to a knee bar.”

Considering that Lesnar (1-1) had only one professional mixed martial arts fight prior to Saturday night, it may be safe to say he is the most talented newcomer with the most potential for growth to develop into a legitimate contender in the UFC.

“I came out trying to pressure Frank,” said Lesnear. “I was trying to get a bunch of shots on him, but I left my leg out there. We were practicing that. He’s a top notch jiu-jitsu guy and, tonight, he was the better fighter.

“You win some you lose some. I’d love to win them all but you can’t.”

Mardquardt submits “Gumby”

In the last non-heavyweight bout of the night, Nate “The Great” Mardquardt took on the Yoda of MMA, Jeremy “Gumby” Horn, submitting him, he did.

After a brief feeling-out period by the two veteran fighters, Mardquardt found a home for a short elbow, forcing Horn to take it to the ground. From there “Gumby” managed to replace his own mouthpiece that Mardquardt’s elbow dropped to the ground while scrambling for position. Horn fought to salvage the round by securing a tight shoulder lock as the crowd cheered for the veteran of over 100 fights. Mardquardt managed to escape the submission attempt to find himself in full guard as the round came to a close.

Horn found himself in top position early and for well over a full minute as Mardquardt saw the tables appear to turn. “The Great” managed to buck “Gumby” off of him. After a scramble, Horn shot head first with Mardquardt’s back to the fence and found himself in a tight guillotine as the Greg Jackson-trained Mardquardt forced a tap at 1:37 of the second round.

“Jeremy (87-15-6) is a stud I want to thank him for taking this fight,” said Mardquardt (29-7)

“I saw him shoot with his head down he was over committing he just gave it to me.”

Three years later, Almeida is rust-free with victory over Yundt

Over three years since his last MMA fight, Ricardo “Cachorrao” Almeida returned to the sport by way of the UFC. Originally scheduled to take on the solid Alan “The Talent” Belcher, the New Jersey resident had to adjust as an injury that forced Belcher off the card, and a game Rob Yundt stepped in at the 11^th hour to make his UFC debut.

Rob “The Monster” Yundt came out throwing heavy leather, but Almeida answered with a takedown, landing in the Alaskan’s full guard. The two middleweights scrambled for position and Yundt found himself trapped in a solid guillotine choke. Yundt climbed to his feet with Almeida still attached and slammed head first into the canvas hoping to knock Almeida off his back.

After a full front flip, Almeida was still solidly attached with the submission hold even after Yundt’s best effort. A few short seconds later the Anchorage native had no choice but to tap submitting at 1:08 of the first round.

The 31 year old Almeida (9-2) handed the last minute replacement Yundt (7-1) his first loss.

Griffin decisions tough Tibau

A packed house welcomed lightweights Gleison Tibau and Tyson Griffin as they opened the pay-per-view portion the card. The first good move American Tyson Griffin made was entering the Octagon to the sound of “Eye of the Tiger”, a move that pepped Griffin him up as much as it did the partially inebriated crowd.

With the current-yet-not-really-UFC-heavyweight-champion Randy Couture in his corner,  Griffin took it to the Brazilian with timely strikes and legs kicks. Tibau landed a solid knee to counter the action from Griffin as the two clinched along fence. Griffin stuffed a takedown attempt by Tibau as the two returned to stalking each other center Octagon. A right kick to the body landed for Griffin and the two traded heavily with Griffin landing the bigger cleaner blows. Taking more punishment than planned, Tibau wisely shot for a takedown to slow the accelerated Griffin and the two scramble for position to end the round.

After touching gloves, both fighters left the judges scratching their heads after a very even hard fought round ended, with Tibau earning a takedown and Griffin quickly making it back to his feet.

Griffin was caught off guard while successfully striking getting taken down again. Once more, the Las Vegas transplant worked his way to his feet, this time after Tibau worked on him for a few moments from top position. Tibau again earned a takedown, only to find  Griffin immediately back on his feet. Griffin worked foot stomps and shoulder strikes in an effort to win back lost points on the judges cards from the takedowns as the bout came to an end.

The judges delivered a unanimous decision via three identical 30-27 scorecards, leaving the unsatisfied crowd booing Griffin throughout his post fight interview.

The 23 year old Griffin (11-1) continues his rise up the lightweight ladder with the workmanlike victory over the tougher than expected Gleison Tibau (27-4).

Lytle wastes little time in TKO victory

Former welterweight contender and TUF 4 alum Chris Lytle wasted no time clearing the way for a comeback trail to the tile by overwhelming Kyle Bradley in his UFC debut.

In lightning-quick fashion, Lytle rushed across the Octagon and battered Bradley with dirty boxing tactics, completely legal inside the Octagon. About dozen right hooks left Bradley completely out of it, as referee Yves Lavigne stopped the contest at just :33 of the very first round. After awaking to find referee Yves Lavigne in his full guard Bradley realized what happened all the while Lytle had already begun his celebration.

“I felt real sick before this fight,” said Lytle, now 35-15-4, who showed no sign of weakness in the short fight. I hit him early with my right hand. I tried to get on him anyway I could.”

Bradley falls to 13-5.

Last minute rookie replacement makes most of opportunity

In the first heavyweight match of the night, Sunbury Pennsylvania’s Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch brought the crowd to its feet in his UFC debut, with a first round dismantling of the heavily favored David Heath.

Boetsch took it to the Tulsa, Oklahoma fighter early and often, as Heath appeared ill prepared for the rookie’s mighty effort. Boetsch, who took the fight on only 10 days notice threw a plethora of knees from the clinch. Some landed, some missed, but every single one broke down Heath. Boetsch literally threw his opponent to the ground head first, leaving Heath on his hands and knees looking disoriented. Boetsch unleashed a flury of punches to the downed fighter until referee Herb Dean save Heath at 4:52 of round number one.

In a show of frustration Heath (9-3) slammed his stool to canvas before regaining his composure. The 27-year-old Boetsch, who had his first professional MMA fight in October of 2006, improves to 7-1 with five knockouts in a very impressive showing.

Eastman unable to pick a fight with Martin, wins anyway

In a middleweight match up that was expected to bring fireworks, Las Vegan Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman did everything in his power to pick a fight with the usually exciting Terry Martin. Literally butting heads and shoving at the weigh in prompted UFC president Dana White to step between the two. Martin, however, showed no such desire to fight Eastman throughout three dull rounds from the Chicago fighter.

After a very brief exchange, Martin clinched and lazily failed to work in the clinch as Eastman attempted to make a fight of it along the fence.

Referee Yves Lavigne was prompted to break the two veteran fighters twice during the first and, again, in the third round. Eastman worked diligently in the clinch, throwing short elbows and knees at every moment while Martin simply clinched and bored the crowd.

Eastman made the most of the referee’s intervention, throwing looping head kicks in abundance in an effort to make a show for the fans. Every time Eastman got the crowd to stop booing and cheer his action, Martin answered the crowds request for action with more dead-end clinching.

After three rounds, Eastman (15-7-1) was awarded a unanimous decision via 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 scores, all in his favor.

With the uncharacteristically lackluster performance Martin dropped to a still respectable 18-4.

Emerson hustles way to decision victory

The opening bout of the evening featured TUF 5 alum Rob Emerson taking on Keita Nakamura from Tokyo, Japan in a scheduled 3-round lightweight contest.

Indianapolis’ Emerson looked to control the action early as he won the early exchanges with Nakamura. Heavy and accurate right hands from Emerson prompted the crowd to cheer in his favor, and it became clear who the dominant fighter was—until a Nakamura left knee dropped Emerson to his back. With a minute left in the round, Emerson found himself fighting to survice. Nakamura failed to capitalize on the biggest opportunity of the fight as Emerson finished the opening round conscious and on his back.

The break between rounds was enough for Emerson to regain his composure as he outworked and methodically beat down Nakamura thoroughly throughout the next six minutes. The game Nakamura earned a few takedowns during the final two rounds, none of which did him any good and one of them did more damage as Emerson landed an elbow in a scramble to get to his feet. The sharp and unexpected blow opened up a cut under the right eye of the already battered Nakamura, who had promised to “beat him like his mama did” before the fight.

A clear victory for Emerson was awarded to the lightweight via controversial split decision as the scored of 30-27 twice and one 29-28 for Nakamura (14-3-2) were read and met with loud disagreement from the crowd.

“I tried to throw first,” said Emerson, 9-6. “He’s tough. He was kind of telegraphing when he was going to throw, so that let me know when to throw.”