UFC 100: Brock Smash
Published by Jim Genia on July 12th, 2009 in Current Events

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Like a rampaging comic book character, not quite as green but every bit as muscular and violent, an angry UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar leapt into the Octagon at UFC 100 and visited upon interim champ Frank Mir pure, unadulterated destruction. The words “Brock smash!” went unspoken, but really, they didn’t need to be said. The message and intent was clear. And when the final tally of the night was read – with welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre retaining his crown convincingly, ex-Pride champ Dan Henderson obliterating mouthy Brit Michael Bisping, Jon Fitch out-grappling Paulo Thiago and Alan Belcher getting robbed – nothing compared to the statement made in the main event. In five MMA bouts Lesnar has gone from pro wrestling refugee to the undisputed king of the UFC’s heavyweight hill, and defeated a legend in Randy Couture and a submission master in Mir in the process. At this rate, nothing short of the entire assembled Avengers team will be the only thing to stop him.

Prior heelhook victory notwithstanding, Mir sure can’t. In the opening round of their conflagration, the Las Vegas native found himself on the bottom just like in their UFC 81 meeting, only this time around a shrewder, more cautious Lesnar avoided Mir’s attempts to grab his legs like Dr. Bruce Banner avoids wearing expensive shirts (they’re just going to get ruined eventually, you know?). From there came the ever-increasing stream of punches, which banged up Mir’s face early, and despite a quick flurry and a jumping knee in Round 2 by the man who put away Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, those punches ended up sealing the deal in the end. In less than two minutes into the second frame Lesnar had Mir on his stomach against the cage, eating his massive fists until the referee stepped in. It was ugly, and even uglier when Lesnar continued with his trash talk post-fight and flipped off the booing crowd, but what do you expect from a UFC champ composed of mostly of meanness and brawn?

Welterweight juggernaut St. Pierre had almost no trouble taking challenger Thiago Alves down and pounding on him in their five-round affair, which, despite a game performance by the Brazilian and a pulled groin muscle by St. Pierre in the fourth round, wasn’t close at all. The Canadian deftly avoided Alves’ best – the knee that put away Matt Hughes, the hook that sent Karo Parisyan to the canvas – and though Alves was able to power back to his feet on numerous occasions, the bottom line was that if St. Pierre wanted it on the ground, it was going there. The champ took the unanimous decision when time ran out.

TUF 9 coaches Henderson and Bisping finally settled whatever fabricated differences they had, with Bisping ultimately proving why the old boxing tenet “circle away from your opponent’s power hand” is gospel. The star of the UFC’s UK MMA push, Bisping was overmatched on paper, his resume no where near as impressive and his skill set nowhere near as deep, but he made a go of it by attempting to stick and move. Unfortunately for him, his “move” involved walking into Henderson’s infamous right. That hand wobbled him in the first round. In the second, it completely and utterly starched him, and before the referee could step in, Henderson was airborne, dropping a forearm on the fallen Brit as an exclamation point on the bout.

Fitch’s meeting with the Brazilian who took out his teammate Josh Koscheck was a methodical, if not effective, exercise in high-level grappling. The American Kickboxing Academy exponent took Thiago down, fought to pry his head out of a potential guillotine, and worked his hands and legs like chess pieces to gain dominant position. Rinse and repeat for three rounds, with Thiago never really gaining the upper hand and Fitch snagging the unanimous decision. Meanwhile, in the opening bout of the main card, Belcher utilized a punishing low-kick and some well-timed punches to damage middleweight newcomer and Japanese judo star Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama battled back, his hands proving to be pretty darn heavy and his chin pretty darn solid, but when time ran out it was clear the American had gotten the most licks in. The judges disagreed, awarding Akiyama the split decision in what was clearly a felonious robbery.

UFC 100 was stacked, star-studded, a grand affair worthy of the hype, and best described by the tagline “Brock smash!” As the great Stan Lee would say, “’Nuff said.”