Brock proved his brute power but his inexperience got the better of him. He needed to respect Mir's guard a little more. I think Brock has the makings of a juggernaut as his BJJ & striking continue to develop. Big Tim dropped Nog in the 1st and had the advantage standing up, but Nog finally got him down & caught him in the guillotine choke.
Hopefully, Randy comes back soon and takes his strap back from Nog!
Nogueira Becomes First to Hold UFC, PRIDE Belts
Saturday, February 02, 2008
by Sherdog.com Staff
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) became the first man to hold championship belts in both the UFC and PRIDE FC heavyweight divisions Saturday with a submission win over Tim Sylvia (Pictures) in Las Vegas.
Against Sylvia, a two-time UFC champion who hoped to join the displaced Randy Couture (Pictures) as the only fighters to earn three belts in the promotion's heaviest division, Nogueira showed why he was generally considered the second best heavyweight mixed martial artist of his generation.
It was tough sledding early for "Minotauro" inside a sold-out Mandalay Bay Events Center for UFC 81. Sylvia, standing 6-foot-8, kept his punches tight while landing the occasional jab and hard right hand.
The first round belonged to the 31-year-old American after a combination put Nogueira, fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the canvas. Yet as he's done throughout his impressive career, the Brazilian recovered.
Though he failed to dump Sylvia (24-4) on his back during an excellent sequence in the second, Nogueira, also 31, put the fight on the floor in the third.
Instantly he passed to side-control, where Sylvia, of Davenport, Iowa, was vulnerable to submissions and strikes. A missed armlock set up the fight-ending guillotine choke, which Nogueira (31-4-1, 1 NC) took from the bottom at 1:28 of the third.
The Brazilian heavyweight, who dominated Japan's top mixed martial arts promotion save for two losses against Russian Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), earned an interim title, so designated in the aftermath of Couture's resignation and subsequent legal battle with the UFC.
Sometimes the unknown produces the most memorable moments. Such is the case tonight, when in just his second professional fight Brock Lesnar (Pictures) faced former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir (Pictures).
A 30-year-old NCAA championship wrestler who paid his bills as a star in pro wrestling, Lesnar dwarfed Mir, who weighed 255 pounds Friday, in the center of the Octagon.
Lesnar (1-1) engulfed Mir and brought the 28-year-old Las Vegan hard to the canvas. Lesnar, fighting out of Minneapolis, Minn., unloaded a series of heavy fists encircled by triple-XL gloves.
But Mir (11-3) survived. After a quick return the feet that saw him eat a big right hand, Mir went back on the canvas with Lesnar and first went after a massive arm. As it turns out, the attempt led the tactical Mir into a kneebar, which he cranked for the tapout 90 seconds after it began
Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) (26-7-2) rebounded from a deflating loss to Anderson Silva by controlling late-replacement Jeremy Horn (Pictures) before finishing with a choke at 1:37 of round two.
The technical Marquardt's athleticism and strength trumped Horn's experience. Grabbing the neck ot Salt Lake City's Horn (79-17-5) during a scramble, Marquardt forced the tap from his fellow middleweight.
Ending a four-year absence from competition, New York's Ricardo Almeida (Pictures) returned in the UFC middleweight division with a quick submission over Alaskan Rob Yundt (Pictures) (6-1).
Stepping in on short notice when Alan Belcher (Pictures) was forced out of the fight with an illness, the muscular Yundt left his neck exposed just long enough for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion to lock it up with an arm inside.
An aggressive slam from Yundt did little but put him in worse position, as Almeida (9-2) finished the choke from the mount at 68 seconds following the opening bell.
Despite a reach and size disadvantage, lightweight Tyson Griffin moved to 11-1 with a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Brazilian Gleison Tibau (Pictures) (15-5).
Griffin, fighting out of Randy Couture (Pictures)'s Las Vegas gym, concentrated on a stand-up striking affair, and showed improved kickboxing with digging punches to the body and combinations aimed at the Coconut Creek, Fla.-based Tibau's head.
Undercard results
Chris Lytle (Pictures) (25-15-5) stopped UFC newcomer Kyle Bradley (Pictures) (13-5, 1 NC) in 33 seconds in a welterweight clash.
Tim Boetsch (Pictures) (7-1) made the most of his opportunity to fight as a late replacement, stopping fellow light heavyweight David Heath (Pictures) (7-3) at 4:52 of the opening period.
Marvin Eastman (Pictures) (15-7-1) took a unanimous points victory over Terry Martin (Pictures) (16-4) in a plodding middleweight affair.
Robert Emerson (Pictures) (7-6, 1 NC) took a close split decision lightweight contest versus Keita Nakamura (Pictures) (14-3-2).
***Reference article...
http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=11133
