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Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor: (9.5)
Wow, I was totally wrong in my predictions for this event. I got a few right but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Frank Mir beating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira probably isn't the biggest surprise, Mir is a quality fighter, it's the manner in which he won that's most surprising. He beat down Nogueira with boxing. He finished Nogueira, that's never been done in over 35 previous fights. That's impressive, not even Fedor Emelianenko has done that. This sets up a monster fight between Mir and Brock Lesnar. Brock's not the same fighter he was in their first fight but Mir just beat one of the best fighters in the world. My initial inclination is to still favor Brock because of his unbelievable athleticism but I might be swayed over to Mir after his performance tonight.
Rashad Evans is the best Light Heavyweight in the world, bar none. I have to admit, I wasn't totally convinced before but now I'm sure. I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of a Rashad vs. Quinton Jackson fight. Rampage showed that he's back tonight. I had my doubts but this was one fight I was happy to have picked wrong. The only reason I had picked Wanderlei Silva to win was because I didn't know if Rampage was back to his normal form but it's clear he is now. Wanderlei's not hurt by this fight much in my rankings. What happened tonight is what you get when 2 big strikers go at it, somebody gets KTFO. Back to Rashad, he proved himself one more time. I may not always be right with my picks but there's no way I can get this wrong. Rashad Evans deserves to be on anyone's pound-for-pound list.
The rest of the show was secondary to these 3 fights. Cheick Kongo deserves a big fight at Heavyweight. Unless they sign Nogueira vs. Randy Couture the UFC should match up Nogueira with Kongo. Yushin Okami is making a case for a Middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva. The other winners had good fights and progressed in their careers but nothing major will come from those fight results. I went an atrocious 2-8 in picking winners. That drops my career record to 57-51.
Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist: (9.0)
This card didn't surpass UFC 91, but they are certainly equals. There were enough newsworthy happenings here that I'm having to look at the results to be reminded of them all. The light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions took center stage here as both just got a lot more interesting after tonight.
Questions that need to be answered after this event are: What happens to Wanderlei Silva after getting knocked cold for the third time in two years? Will Rampage be able to sidestep his pending legal issues to get a shot at Rashad Evans' title? And if he's available, does he get first crack (I think he should)? Can Frank Mir beat Brock Lesnar again? Was the unbelievable performance against Nogueira a one-time thing, or is Mir better than ever for good? And reaching beyond tonight, where does Randy Couture fit into the picture? And will the winner of the reported Shane Carwin-Gabriel Gonzaga fight at UFC 96 get a shot a whoever holds the belt?
I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but seriously. How much better is the heavyweight division after tonight? If Frank Mir can go five rounds and if his boxing is really as good as it looked tonight, how good can he be? If you ask me, we're talking a BJ Penn level of fighter. And looking at the other heavyweights on the card, Kongo and Hardonk might not be top-level fighters yet, but they're a heck of a lot of fun to watch. I'm rambling, but this card has just got me so juiced. You'll excuse me for not mentioning the other fights on the card, but now isn't the time. This was just great stuff, and it'll go down as an historic card when it's all said and done.
Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief: (9.0)
This was a great way to end the year. We were treated last night to the crowning of a new champion in the light heavyweight division in a great fight, we have the other half of the heavyweight tournament decided in what was one of the most shocking and unexpected finishes of 2008, and we were treated to a return to form from the man known as Rampage.
Starting at the top of last night's card, Rashad Evans showed some extremely vicious ground and pound against Forrest Griffin in winning the Light Heavyweight Title. After Forrest used a bevy of leg kicks to effectively attempt to wear down Evans through the first two rounds, Evans caught one of those kicks in the third and proceeded to do what he needed to do. Griffin was able to recover at first, but Rashad took an opening to pound Griffin's head to the mat and then use it as a speed bag with left hands for a short while before the fight was stopped. It was an impressive performance from the new Champ. Rashad Evans won people over as a fighter last night, but his demeanor is such that he's just not going to be a fan favorite. He's the guy that people want to watch getting the smile knocked off of his face, and yet time and time again he wins and smugly laughs down at everyone that wanted him to lose. He's very much along the lines of Tito Ortiz, where people just love to hate him, and it may be a while before he suffers that first loss.
Rashad's next challenge may come in the form of Quinton Jackson, as Rampage returned to a dominant looking form against Wanderlei Silva last night. The new training camp over in London has definitely paid off, and depending on what happens with his legal troubles early in '09, he could be next in line for that title shot, unless they decide to go with Rampage vs. Forrest in a rematch with the winner getting a shot at the Champ. Rampage's knockout of Wanderlei was sick, and that very well may have spelled the end of Wanderlei in the Octagon. There are only so many times you can be knocked out before the risk becomes too great to get back into action, and that knockout last night was as bad as anyone's suffered in a long time.
Finally, last night we saw a Frank Mir that has never been seen before. Through a round and a half of action, Frank Mir used a perfect game plan and some greatly increased boxing and stand up skill to absolutely pick apart Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira en route to handing Nogueira his first tko loss ever. It was an incredible display that was entirely unexpected, I think even by Mir himself, and the end result sets up an extremely exciting unification bout for the UFC Heavyweight Title in 2009. The rematch between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar will be huge. No one would have thought that a few months ago, but it's now the case. The way the first fight ended, with Mir very much getting saved by the ref standing Brock up due to hits to the back of the head and subsequently catching Brock in the knee bar, there's a lot of intrigue as to how Brock will come out against Mir after two more fights under his belt. And with the way Mir looked last night, if he can keep his training and motivation up for every fight like he did for this one then he is back as a top heavyweight. Him finishing Nogueira, and being the only man to hold that distinction, shoots him up the rankings and the hype for that rematch with Lesnar next year may be second to none. I cannot wait to see those two back against each other after last night's performance from Mir.
There wasn't anything special on the undercard, but nothing was bad there either. Add to the fact that none of the main fights disappointed and this was one of the best shows of 2008, and a perfect way to cap of a great year for the UFC. 2009 is poised to be even bigger, and we start with a great January. This is going to be a fun year for MMA fans.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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