Nobody who knew Johnny Tapia can be remotely surprised that he was found dead inside his Albuquerque, N.M., home on Sunday.

The only surprise, perhaps, is that he survived the first four times he was declared dead.

Johnny Tapia celebrates after defeating Eduardo Alvarez during an international featherweight contest. (AP)Tapia won major world championships in three weight classes and was one of the elite fighters of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Despite his brilliance in the ring, he was far better known for a life story that was far stranger than any fiction novel could ever be.

An 89-word passage from his 2010 autobiography, "Mi Vida Loca," probably best sums up the sad life of this small, troubled and talented man.

"My name is Johnny Lee Tapia. I was born on Friday the 13th. A Friday in February of 1967. To this day I don't know if that makes me lucky or unlucky. When I was eight I saw my mother murdered. I never knew my father. He was murdered before I was born. I was raised as a pit bull. Raised to fight to the death. Four times I was declared dead. Four times they

LAS VEGAS – A day that began with one of his Octagon girls getting arrested and one of his main event fighters for UFC 147 breaking a hand couldn't have ended any better for UFC president Dana White.

The all-heavyweight main card at UFC 146 was a huge hit, with all five fights ending in decisive fashion.

Junior dos Santos punched his way one step closer to stardom, beating down Frank Mir and stopping him in the second round to retain the UFC heavyweight title before a loud crowd of 14,592 at the MGM Grand Garden.

When White awakened Saturday, he learned of the arrest of Octagon girl Arianny Celeste on domestic violence charges. Then, he received a call that Vitor Belfort broke a hand in training and won't be able to fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 next month.

Junior dos Santos punches Frank Mir in the first round of their title fight. (Getty)

But dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Roy Nelson, Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve each had impressive – and early – victories on the first five-fight, all-heavyweight main card in UFC history that put a smile back onto

LAS VEGAS – Junior dos Santos did something Saturday that is a rarity in the UFC these days: He successfully defended the heavyweight title. A big right hand from dos Santos put Frank Mir down and ended the bout at three minutes, four seconds of the second round.

Junior dos Santos connects with a punch against Frank Mir. Dos Santos controlled the fight with his striking, keeping the fight standing and thus neutralizing Mir's vaunted jiu-jitsu game. Mir tried for a takedown in the early seconds of the fight, but other than that, there was little offense from the ex-champion.

"Man, that guy can take a punch!" an exultant dos Santos said in the ring after the bout. "He has a hard head."

Dos Santos hurt Mir near the end of the first round with a shot to the body that forced Mir back to the cage. At that point, dos Santos fired off a flurry of about six or eight punches, but the bell sounded and Mir survived the round.

Unable to get the fight to the ground, though, Mir was lost.

"He's the champ, he's fast and I couldn't get out of

UFC 146, featuring the heavyweight title fight between current champ Junior dos Santos and two-time champ Frank Mir, is live Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. Join the Yahoo! Sports MMA crew at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT to talk about all the action.

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Carl Froch and Lucian Bute should be lauded because they're doing what many of their peers won't agree to do: take a risky fight under somewhat disadvantageous circumstances where a loss could prove costly.

They'll fight for Bute's International Boxing Federation super middleweight championship Saturday in Froch's hometown of Nottingham, England, in a bout that will be broadcast on Epix and streamed on EpixHD.com, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

Bute is not only putting his title and unbeaten record on the line, he's agreed to leave his adopted home of Quebec to fight on the road.

There was little reason for Bute to do so – he was drawing overflow crowds whenever he fought in Quebec and was being paid handsomely to do it – but Bute wanted to seek out the best, and when a unification fight with Andre Ward couldn't be made, he turned to Froch.

Carl Froch and Lucian Bute (R) pose during their weigh-in on Friday. (Getty)

Froch had fought a grueling series of bouts against elite competition, all while away from home. After losing the Super Six title to Ward in

LAS VEGAS – Jennifer Mir chuckles heartily at the notion that the real Frank Mir is the massive brute who snapped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's forearm during a fight in December and then insisted afterward that breaking a human bone like a twig was all in a day's work.

She pulled out her telephone and started flicking through pictures. There was Mir dressed as the Mad Hatter, ready to go to a Halloween party with his kids. And there was a photo of him as Jack Sparrow, the Johnny Depp character from "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Then she pulled up photo after photo of her husband asleep at home, with their four children and one or more of their seven dogs sprawled on top of him.

Frank Mir, with his wife Jennifer, dressed up as the Mad Hatter for Halloween. (Credit: Jennifer Mir)

That, she said, is the real Frank Mir.

Mir is arguably the most decorated fighter in UFC history, and with a win on Saturday over Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 at the MGM Grand will become heavyweight champion for a record-tying third time.

Mir's 14 wins are the most in UFC history by a heavyweight

LAS VEGAS – Roy Nelson doesn't exactly fit the profile of a Mayweather boxer. The heavyweight contender, who meets Dave Herman on the main card of UFC 146 at the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday, winds up and fires as if he's throwing a discus.

His striking game is all about power and landing telling blows. He often seems as if he's willing to take three punches to land the one that ends the fight.

He's at the opposite end of the spectrum from Floyd Mayweather Jr., the world's top-ranked boxer who has turned defense into an art form.

Roy Nelson's fighting style and outgoing personality have endeared him to fans. (Getty)

Don't expect Nelson to do the shoulder roll Saturday, but you might see a bit of Mayweather influence in his game. Nelson has brought in Floyd's uncle, Jeff, who was one of Floyd's original trainers, to help him with his boxing.

Of course, only Nelson could invoke the Shaolin monks, dragons, lions and monkey kung fu into an answer about a question regarding Mayweather's influence on his boxing skills.

"The biggest thing is, I'm just trying to

LAS VEGAS – It would be demeaning to Junior dos Santos, the UFC's classy and oh-so-talented heavyweight champion, to suggest that his title-winning victory over Cain Velasquez was remotely close to a fluke.

Dos Santos disposed of Velasquez in savage, conclusive fashion on Nov. 12 in Anaheim, Calif., needing only 64 seconds to land a punishing right hand and then finish Velasquez on the ground.

But I have this nagging feeling that the best heavyweight in the world won't be in the main event on Saturday in UFC 146 at the MGM Grand Garden, where dos Santos and Frank Mir will meet in a hotly anticipated fight for the belt that once was wrapped around Velasquez's waist.

Meanwhile, Velasquez settles for a spot in the co-main event against ex-Strikeforce star Antonio "Big Foot" Silva as he begins his road back.

[Related: Order UFC 146 and see all the action]

It's far easier to win the UFC heavyweight title than it is to regain it, but if anyone is capable of doing so, it's