On a historic night for the sport of mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar avenged his early loss to Frank Mir with a TKO victory and in the process unified the promotions heavyweight championship at UFC 100. Mir/Lesnar was the main event of a stacked card and the culmination of a frenzied week of activity in Las Vegas.
The anticipation surrounding UFC 100 was unprecedented among the fight sport media and, more significantly, among mainstream sports media. MMA has long has been an object of scorn, disdain and ignorance among traditional sports media, and in this context the fact that every major outlet including ESPN, SI.com and Fox Sports featured UFC 100 as their top story of the day is downright amazing. The broader implications of UFC 100 remain to be seen, but it could very likely become a turning point for the sport where MMA transcended cult or niche status to burst into the mainstream consciousness.
Preliminary buy rates suggest that more than 1.5 million people purchased the event, which would not only make it the UFC's biggest PPV ever but put it in the top five of *all* PPV sporting events. While it fell short of the all time PPV record of 2.4 million buys set by the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight, the unprecedented interest has put MMA on the map to stay. The event's weigh in was a standing room only affair with over 2,000 fans turned away. A Fan Expo held in conjunction with UFC 100 counted over 30,000 visitors on Friday and an equal or greater number on Saturday. Even veteran fight media experienced in covering big boxing and MMA events worldwide have reported that the energy and general vibe around this event is like nothing theyve seen.
And the main event of the week was Saturdays UFC 100 fight card where Lesnar established not only his dominance of the promotions heavyweight division but his status as the biggest heel in MMA. To his credit, he had a perfect gameplan for Mir that allowed him to use his strength and power to maul his opponent on the ground while minimizing his exposure to submissions.
Mir, on the other hand, made a tactical mistake by letting Lesnar put him on his back and pound away. He clearly underestimated Lesnar's ability to defend his submissions and by the end of the first round had already suffered a nasty beating. Lesnar quickly took Mir down again at the start of the second round, ending the fight with a punishing ground and pound assault that prompted referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest at 1:48 of the second round.
Lesnar diminished his dominating performance with his postfight antics"he taunted Mir after the stoppage, prompting the crowd to boo him mercilessly. He responded to this with a double handed middle finger salute before a short and arrogant postfight interview that would have been much more at home in the WWE than in this setting. Mir was the consummate professional in defeat, giving credit to his opponent and generally displaying all of the class that Lesnar lacked. - 29772
The anticipation surrounding UFC 100 was unprecedented among the fight sport media and, more significantly, among mainstream sports media. MMA has long has been an object of scorn, disdain and ignorance among traditional sports media, and in this context the fact that every major outlet including ESPN, SI.com and Fox Sports featured UFC 100 as their top story of the day is downright amazing. The broader implications of UFC 100 remain to be seen, but it could very likely become a turning point for the sport where MMA transcended cult or niche status to burst into the mainstream consciousness.
Preliminary buy rates suggest that more than 1.5 million people purchased the event, which would not only make it the UFC's biggest PPV ever but put it in the top five of *all* PPV sporting events. While it fell short of the all time PPV record of 2.4 million buys set by the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight, the unprecedented interest has put MMA on the map to stay. The event's weigh in was a standing room only affair with over 2,000 fans turned away. A Fan Expo held in conjunction with UFC 100 counted over 30,000 visitors on Friday and an equal or greater number on Saturday. Even veteran fight media experienced in covering big boxing and MMA events worldwide have reported that the energy and general vibe around this event is like nothing theyve seen.
And the main event of the week was Saturdays UFC 100 fight card where Lesnar established not only his dominance of the promotions heavyweight division but his status as the biggest heel in MMA. To his credit, he had a perfect gameplan for Mir that allowed him to use his strength and power to maul his opponent on the ground while minimizing his exposure to submissions.
Mir, on the other hand, made a tactical mistake by letting Lesnar put him on his back and pound away. He clearly underestimated Lesnar's ability to defend his submissions and by the end of the first round had already suffered a nasty beating. Lesnar quickly took Mir down again at the start of the second round, ending the fight with a punishing ground and pound assault that prompted referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest at 1:48 of the second round.
Lesnar diminished his dominating performance with his postfight antics"he taunted Mir after the stoppage, prompting the crowd to boo him mercilessly. He responded to this with a double handed middle finger salute before a short and arrogant postfight interview that would have been much more at home in the WWE than in this setting. Mir was the consummate professional in defeat, giving credit to his opponent and generally displaying all of the class that Lesnar lacked. - 29772
About the Author:
Ross Everett is a widely published writer and a noted authority on sports betting and NFL football betting lines. He is a frequent sports radio guest where he gives advice on how to successfully bet on NFL. He lives in Las Vegas with three dogs and a lynx.
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