UFC 81 Produces No Losers In Its Heavyweight Matchups

For the UFC heavyweights who competed in the main, and co-main events at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas on Saturday, UFC 81 was their chance to fire back at the critics and make a statement. The UFC heavyweight division is strong!

After being unable to sign a deal with Fedor Emelianenko and losing its heavyweight champion Randy Couture, the UFC heavyweight division seemed to dwindle a little bit. Added to the loss of the top two heavyweights in the world, were very lackluster performances by Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia.

Not to mention all the PRIDE heavyweight imports were losing inside the Octagon. Many of the fighters who were considered the top heavyweights in Pride were having difficulty finding themselves in the win column inside the cage. The biggest dissapointment being Mirko Cro Cop - who was considered, in Pride, to be the most feared striker in all of MMA. But after an average performance in his UFC debut victory against Eddie Sanchez, Cro Cop received a rude welcome to the UFC when he was knocked out via head kick by Gabriel Gonzaga. Cro Cop went on to lose his next fight via decision in a poor performance against Cheick Kongo. The first Pride heavyweight to step into the Octagon, Heath Herring, lost in his UFC debut to Jake O'brien. Fabricio Werdum lost via decision to Andrei Arlovski in his UFC debut in what turned out to be a hellishly boring fight. Nogueira made his UFC debut against Herring last July and aside from being fairly unimpressive in that fight, he nearly had his head kicked off by Herring. If Herring hadn't let him up, Herring would have most certainly won the fight.

The UFC desperately needed its heavyweights to step up and put on some great performances.

And that they did.

Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Tim Sylvia, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira all put on great performances in their bouts at UFC 81.

The co-main event featured the much anticipated UFC debut of former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar as he took on former UFC Heavyweight champ Frank Mir.

There were some major questions that were answered in this fight.

Is Brock Lesnar the real deal? Absolutely. He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can handle himself in there with top competition. He has the strongest ground and pound that I've ever seen. The man is a monster. He took Mir down in the opening 10 seconds of the fight. From there, he began a relentless onslaught that saw him dropping heavy, heavy bombs with the speed of a lightweight. He had Mir in big trouble early on, but was deducted a point and forced a standup after hitting Mir in the back of the head. After the fight was stood back up, Lesnar dropped Mir with a right hand and endup up in Mir's guard and began pounding away again. Mir attempted several arm bar submissions, but Lesnar was able to power out of them with relative ease. Lesnar stood up in Mir's guard and was caught with a kneebar and forced to tap out.

Is Mir still suffering from the effects of a motorcycle accident that nearly claimed his life? Definitely not. Fighting pretty much the entire fight on his back, he proved that he has the hip movement and mobility to be able to compete with the biggest and strongest in the division. The win reignites Mir's career and puts him back on track towards a title shot.

This was a win-win fight for both fighters. With the win, Mir proved that he's back and is ready to be one of the top heavyweights in the division once again. Lesnar showed incredible ability inside the cage. He showed that he is the strongest heavyweight in the UFC, he showed scary ground and pound, and even displayed the power he has in his standup with that right hand that sent Mir to the canvas.

The main event featured Sylvia vs Nogueira for the interim heavyweight championship.

Sylvia has become the man that the fans love to hate. He is booed with increased volume and regularity. Fans don't like him because of his awkward fighting style. He has become a very boring fighter to watch. After winning the title, he began fighting simply to not lose. Not to win. This survive-only style resulted in a number of very boring, very long 25 minute fights. Even in his win against Brandon Vera, he used his size to hold Vera against the fence and keep him there. This was the entire fight. He's also known for making excuses and being very cocky at times. This is why he has become a 6'8" target for criticism.

He wanted to make a statement and hopefully gain some respect from the fans. He did just that in his fight with Nogueira and in his post fight comments. He poured it on in this fight. He let his hands go and tried to finish the fight. He handed Nogueira a beating for most of the fight and nearly finished after knocking Minotauro down in the first. But anyone who knows Nogueira as a fighter, knows that this man can take a beating and still pull out the win. Sylvia ended up tapping out due to a guillotine choke in the third round after handing Nogueira a ten minute pummelling. At the post fight press conference, Sylvia showed both humility and humour in his comments. He joked with the press saying "I hate jiu jitsu". He gave respect for Nogueira acknowledging Nogueira as a legend in the sport and the number one heavyweight jiu jitsu practicioner. He event joked with Lesnar, poking fun at Lesnar's pre-fight comments saying "So he broke Tim Sylvia's arm, who cares. Who cares?! He almost broke you're leg!" With both fighters sitting next to each other, laughing, Sylvia ended his answers with "Brock's gonna go fishing, I'm gonna go hunting and kill some pigs, then we'll go back and work on our jiu jitsu." All of this made him more likeable. I for one, was disgusted watching Sylvia's previous fights, and didn't like him for his attitude. However, after this fight and the post-fight press conference, I have gained new respect for Tim Sylvia. If he keeps it up, I just might become a fan.

Nogueira squashed any notion that he was past his prime in this sport. He proved that he has the biggest heart of any fighter. This man takes punishment and keeps coming forward. He proved that any opponent he faces is going to have a very long night ahead of them if they think they're going to take that belt from him. He is the only fighter to hold a Pride belt and a UFC belt. Nogueira reminds me of Homer Simpson in the episode where Moe trains him to be a boxer. Homer's uncanny ability to take a beating was how he won his fights. He took a beating and when his opponent was tired, he just pushed him over for the win. OK, Nogueira isn't Homer Simpson, he can actually fight. But this is what I think of when I watch a fight like this where Nogueira takes a beating and pulls out the win at the end.

The heavyweight division has seemed to pick up steam after UFC 81. All four of these heavyweights came out winners and I can't wait to see these guys get back into the Octagon!