Amidst all the Oscars enjoyment - or lack thereof depending on your opinion or if you write for Slate - was a free UFC card on Fox Sports 1 featuring a heavyweight main event. Frank Mir, the former two-time UFC champ, took on Antonio "Big Foot" Silva in a virtual must-win for both guys.
As noted in my blog the other day, Mir hadn't won since 2011 and was the loser of four straight. Not a good look. Silva, meanwhile, had seen his star fade quickly. After two blistering KO's of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem, Big Foot got clobbered in a title fight against Cain Velasquez, fought to an epic draw against Mark Hunt, then got flattened again by Andrei Arlovski in his last fight.
Mir promised he was fully healthy for the first time in years after scaling back his training regimen and it showed. A couple minutes in, a lead jab was quickly followed up by a ranging, short left hook that caught Big Foot's chin and sent him toppling to the canvas. Mir pounded into side position and threw some hellacious ground and pound forcing the stoppage.
It was vintage Mir, and while it's hard to say where he stands in the division, he bought himself one more high-profile fight. Many speculate it'll be Brock Lesnar after his WWE contract expires, but I'm not buying into it. I'd rather see a clash against the likes of Arlovski or the rising Matt Mitrione to gauge if last night's win was a flash in the pan (see Tito vs. Bader back in '09) or if Mir has enough in him to make one final run at the crown before retirement.
And while the Mir victory was headline news, not to be outdone was unheralded Matt Dwyer. On the undercard, Dwyer landed a superman punch that put William Patalino on queer street. The follow up was unnecessary but still enjoyed by all except Patalino who probably has a headache this morning. Enjoy.
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