Frank Mir put on an amazing performance Saturday night at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 in not only defeating one of the top UFC Heavyweights, but finishing a man that has never been stopped in 37 MMA fights.  Mir came in with an excellent gameplan and stopped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship Title.

Frank Mir knocked Big Nog down three times with clean striking in the first round but never took top position against him.  Unstead he forced Nogueira to stand and trade with him rather than taking the fight to the ground and allow Antonio to recover.  In the second round Mir hit him with two stiff left hands and dropped him.  Mir is the first man to stop Nogueira.

Frank Mir will now face Brock Lesnar in what is sure to be a huge UFC event sometime early next year to unify the UFC Heavyweight Championship belts.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

I didn't do to well for my UFC 91 predictions last time around.  Let's see how UFC 92 goes.

For this event I will make predictions for the big three bouts that will be taking place.  I will start with what might be the biggest draw for MMA fans. 

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

This fight makes me nervous, anxious, excited, all of the above.  Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva have faced off two times before with the same results: Wanderlei Silva via big knockouts.  I have a hard time believing the same will happen again though. 

Rampage has improved much since his Pride Fighting days and is more dedicated to his training.  Rampage most recently lost his Light Heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei Silva seems not to have lost any of his speed since his days of glory in Pride Fighting Championships in Japan.  Wanderlei displayed excellent striking and strength in his recent win over Keith Jardine.

Both fighters are at the top of, not only the Light Heavyweight division, but pound for pound MMA fighters in the world.  I will take Wanderlei Silva in this fight, not because he's beaten Rampage twice before, but because of Quinton Jackson's rocky life since he lost his title to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei Silva by decision in UFC 92's fight of the night.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir

This is an exciting fight because Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir are the two best Heavyweight brazilian jujitsu MMA fighters on the planet.  Big Nog has not fought in almost a year.  He last beat Tim Sylvia to capture the interim Heavyweight Title.  Frank Mir last fought against Brock Lesnar defeating Lesnar with a knee bar after taking early punishment.

I can't say I'm overly impressed with Mir.  His last win came against Lesnar who had fought one MMA bout before that.  He has never shown stamina in his bouts, something that Nogueira is famous for.  Look for Big Nog to keep his interim Heavyweight Title and fight Brock Lesnar sometime in the spring to unify the belts.

Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans

Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans is a matchup of Ultimate Fighter alums.  Forrest Griffin is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion after beating Quinton Jackson at UFC 86.  Rashad Evans is coming a stunning knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 88.  This bout is for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Title.

I was shocked by Rashad Evans knockout of Chuck Liddel as I'm sure most of the MMA world was.  Rashad has shown us that he is a different fighter than the lay and pray wrestler we saw during his time with the Ultimate Fighter show.  Forrests' change has been just as dramatic seeming to always outwork his opponents and being as technical a striker as the UFC has to offer.

I am anxious to see what kind of gameplan Greg Jackson will put together for Rashad Evans.  Regardless, we should not be to surprised to see nipple twisting from Rashad before the bout begins.  I don't think he can outwork Forrest Griffin, so look for Rashad to try to knockout him out.

I predict that Forrest will be able to successfully defend his title for the first time.  I'm looking forward to his next title defense which, if the MMA gods are listening to me, will be against Wanderlei Silva.

The UFC is working out a deal to bring UFC 99 to Germany June 13th.  This is big news for German Mixed Martial Arts fans who have been waiting for years for this.

Apparently the UFC is trying to make Randy Couture Vs. Chuck Liddell 4 the headline.  It is not known whether the match would take place at Heavyweight or Light Heavyweight.  Chuck Liddell has never fought at Heavyweight in the UFC but Couture has.  The two faced off at Light Heavyweight in their previous three bouts, two won by Liddell, the first won by Couture.

Couture would be a draw for the German fans as he spent four years stationed in Germany and speaks German.  The UFC would likely add more local draws to the fight card.

I hate doing predictions.  But this fight is huge and deserves one.

Couture is going into this fight as an underdog yet again which is only bad news for Brock Lesnar since "The Natural" just does not lose when he is an underdog.  I know the whole dont-bet-against-Randy-Couture thing is a bit overplayed but really, how can you bet against him?  Anyone can look back now on his most recent wins against Gabriel Gonzaga and Tim Sylvia and say they aren't that significant but at the time they happened, and the way they happened, they were very definitaly significant wins and not expected.  Randy Couture has a way of coming up with game plans that are taylor-made for his opponents and for developing tool sets that make him a very diificult matchup for his opponents.

Randy Couture has experience in big time fights and is comfortable in just about any position in the Octagon.  He is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion and has had a year off from fighting.  Most fighters would not benefit from a year out but I don't think Randy will have a problem with "ring rust" as he has kept up his training.  I expect "The Natural" to be in the best shape possible and have a great gameplan to nuetralize Brock.

Brock Lesnar.  Massive true heavyweight, athletically gifted and possibly a better wrestler than Couture.  Lesnar also brings to the Octagon the experience of being on "the Big Stage."  Lesnar spent a few years in the WWE and "fought" in front of huge crowds.  As new as Lesnar is to MMA, he is an extremely talented athlete who can pick up different skills very quickly.  He has only fought three professional mixed martial arts bouts with two wins and one loss to Frank Mir via submission.

I think Lesnar will not gas in this match against Couture, five rounds or no, unless Couture can keep this match standing.  If Randy can stuff Brock's takedown attempts, than he should get the opportunity to test Lesnar's chin for the first time, and utilize his dirty boxing skills.  Randy showed awesome boxing against Tim Sylvia in winning the Heavyweight title and I believe that will be his gameplan against Lesnar.  Keep the fight standing, slow Lesnar down with dirty boxing and maybe get the KO/TKO.

Brock's gameplan should be to take Randy down and ground and pound his way to either the TKO or a decision.  Lesnar's wrestling ability and size advantage should enable him to keep this fight on the ground and keep Randy on his back.  Randy has never really shown submission skills so Brock won't have to worry about that aspect.

As for my prediction, I think Randy is a master at gameplans and fight preperation.  Nobody is as dedicated to winning and winning smart.  I think Randy will be able to stuff the takedowns and test Brock's chin repeatedly.

Randy by TKO in the fourth round.  Yeah, I said it, TKO in the fourth.  We'll see if I have to eat my words in my next post.

Fedor Emelianenko is widely considered the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world.  He has beaten just about every top heavyweight on this planet.  He completely annihilated Tim Sylvia with a 36 second 100% beat down.  The only thing standing in his way from being the absolute greatest MMA heavyweight of all time is facing Randy Couture.

Randy Couture recently re-signed with the UFC after a super ugly contract battle after Randy left the organization because he felt he was being disrespected and because the UFC could not sign Emelianenko.  Randy himself is a legend in the sport seeming to always come out on top when labeled the underdog.  He's been champion in the UFC as a light heavyweight and as heavyweight.  He is 45 years old and, if you look at his previous fights at heavyweight last year, would seem to be at his prime when most MMA fighters are wash-ups.

The entire MMA community is foaming at the mouth at the prospect of these two in a cage.  A fight with Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko would very definately be the biggest fight in all of MMA history.  They both want to fight each other.  There is a ton of money on the table.  There is huge demand.  But the UFC and Fedor cannot come up with a deal.

Randy is signed up and ready.  Fedor's representatives call the UFC's offer unacceptable.  I say we just get these two in a cage.  The UFC needs to do everything in their power to sign Emelianenko to a one fight deal and get him in the Octagon with Randy Couture.  This should be the only match Joe Silva should be working on.  The MMA world needs to know, once and for all, who the greatest MMA heavyweight is.