Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 61
Feb 25, 2015 - 12:30:49 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 61

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor

UFC Fight Night 61 hit Fox Sports 1 last Sunday. Here's the rundown:

UFC Fight Night 61

GOOD/BAD: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Sean Strickland

The fight started off well, then fell apart as things slowed way down. Ponzinibbio won the decision in a solid, but unspectacular, fight. The first round was GOOD, the second and third rounds were BAD.

BAD: Iuri Alcantara vs. Frankie Saenz

Alcantara looked bad in this fight. I don't know what the deal was, but he didn't look himself at all. Saenz took the decision as he outworked Alcantara. I think my expectations were too high, but this wasn't a good fight at all. It was perhaps average, but nothing more.

BAD/UGLY: Rustam Khabilov vs. Andriano Martins

Now, this fight straight sucked. Martins won the split decision, but neither guy truly won. This is one of those fights that you forget about on your way to the bathroom. This was just terrible. Neither guy came to fight tonight.

GOOD: Sam Alvey stops Cezar Ferreira

Alvey caught Ferreira with a beautiful counter that dropped him. He had done almost nothing leading up to the finish, but I guess it's quality over quantity. The combo that got Alvey the win came out of nowhere. Nice win, but he didn't look so good before getting the stoppage.

GOOD: Edson Barboza vs. Michael Johnson

Johnson won the decision with his relentless pace and crisp striking. Barboza was landing good shots of his own, but Johnson was landing a lot more. Johnson showed a tenacity that you love to see in a fight, as he came out and tried everything he could. This was the best fight of the night without question. There were more explosive moments for sure, but this was the best fight.

GOOD: Frank Mir stops Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

I don't have a very high opinion of either of these guys, but I thought Silva would take it. For Mir's sake, it's a good thing he won because there was no way the UFC could keep him around if he had lost his fifth in a row. Since he won, though, I guess he deserves another, but I don't know who you put him in there against because most guys would beat him. Mir's in that same category as Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, known fighters who've taken so much abuse over the years that they're incapable of beating most everyone. Even in the shallow heavyweight division, Mir has a very short list of guys that he can beat.

If Mir is interested in some of these "senior tour" type fights, then more power to him. Maybe the UFC could put together a fight between Mir and Henderson or Shogun if those two want to move up. Or maybe Antonio Rodrigo Nogureira wants to fight him again, I don't know. What I do know is that if Mir gets in the cage with some of these younger guys, it's not going to end well for him.

Mir has said that the thought of a potential rubber match with Brock Lesnar was motivation for him leading in to this fight. At first thought I think this would be a horrible idea. Why should Mir get to benefit from being the guy Lesnar were to fight in his return? Thinking about it, though, it starts to make more sense. Whether or not Lesnar should return to MMA is a different topic, but let's say that he does. Mir is absolutely a guy that Lesnar could beat. In fact, it's likely that he would annihilate Mir. He destroyed him the second time they fought, and all he has to try to avoid is getting suckered into a submission. So, it's a fight that Lesnar could win, and it's an opponent that Mir could beat. It's not likely, but he could as we don't know what kind of condition Lesnar would be in after this time away.

The only problem would be if the winner thought that he could make a title run after this fight. Neither Lesnar nor Mir are likely to get close to a title shot ever again, let alone win one. It shouldn't be expected either. Age, injuries, overall health, etc. have all conspired to make the odds of that very long indeed. There's nothing wrong with that, it happens to everyone eventually.

As for what Bigfoot Silva should do after this loss, I have no idea. The list of guys he can beat is pretty small as well. Maybe he could go into coaching? What I do know is that he's one more knockout away from basically being forced into retirement. He's already not looking so good as it is, and if his chin is gone, he might as well call it a career. No sense risking further injury.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank