No one happy with Mir's knockout win

INDIANAPOLIS – About the only solace Frank Mir took out of Saturday night’s UFC 119 match with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, is that he won via late knockout and would have likely won had the fight gone to a decision.

A loss for the former UFC heavyweight champion at this point, coming off losing two of his three previous fights, would have been devastating.

“At least I can take a breath easy that it didn’t go to a judges decision,” said Mir (14-5), following a fight that was mostly comprised of Mir pushing Filipovic against the cage and little else. “An [expletive] win is better than an [expletive] loss. [The knockout is] the only highlight. Other than that I’m completely pissed off about my performance.”

Mir used a Muay Thai technique late in Round 3, pushing Filipovic’s head down and nailing him with a knee to the face coming up at the same time. Filipovic’s eyes were blank as he fell to the ground, and Herb Dean waved it off after Mir had landed one last punch at 4:02.

To say the fight was a disappointment would be an understatement, as the crowd of 15,881 fans at the Conseco Fieldhouse booed it much of the way, leaving a damper on what had been a strong live show up to that point.

Without saying a word, UFC president Dana White made a statement about his feelings on the fight. Mir had the only knockout of the 11-fight card, and White gave two fight of the night bonuses and a submission of the night bonus but skipped the usual knockout of the night award.

The fans evidently had similar feelings, as Mir was booed even after scoring a devastating knockout.

Regardless, the win will allow Mir to be put in a significant next fight against one of the major heavyweight names.

Mir’s strategy was to take Filipovic down and go to his strength, the submission game, and stay away from Filipovic’s stand-up. But while Filipovic seems to have lost something in his once-lethal stand-up game, his takedown defense was strong enough that Mir never came close to putting him on his back.

But it did the Croatian little good. Mir was able to power him into the cage at will, and he was never able to hurt Mir standing.

Filipovic (27-8-2, 1 no contest) came in at 227 pounds on five weeks notice as a late replacement. He didn’t appear to be in his best condition, although conditioning didn't appear to be an issue. Filipovic looked small next to Mir, who was 252 pounds. And Mir is hardly a monster in today’s heavyweight division.

“I thought on my part, no disrespect to Mirko, it was a pretty bad performance,” Mir said. “I could have pushed the pace more. While he’s throwing those strikes, he caught my attention early with how hard he threw that left hook. As far as striking, I could have been more busy. I got really frustrated pushing him against the cage. I was making mistakes that I wasn’t making a few weeks ago, lifting my arms in the clinch and letting him get underhooks. That’s the negative aspect, but without a single takedown, I stood for two-and-a-half rounds with Mirko and won with a knockout.” Mir, who has never been known for his conditioning, didn't tire during the 14-minute match, something that may be partially attributed to his new vegetarian lifestyle.

“Maybe if I was in worse shape, I wouldn’t have been thinking so much,” he said. “I didn’t huff and puff one time. I’ve never been known for conditioning. It wasn’t even a factor. I felt in great shape. Now I have to break old habits and not fight like a guy who is going to get tired.”

White gave two fight-of-the-night bonuses, both $70,000, to two slugfests that saw local fighters win. Matt Mitrione (3-0), a former football star at Purdue who briefly played in the NFL, won a decision over Joey Beltran (12- 4). The other was former lightweight champion Sean Sherk’s controversial split decision win over Evan Dunham.

The undercard featured two fighters coming in undefeated who were going to get the real test of whether they belonged at the top level. While on paper, the results were split, the reality was both Dunham (11-1) and light heavyweight Ryan Bader (13-0) seemed to pass the test against established stars of the sport.

Dunham’s loss to Sherk (38-4-1) was a decision few seemed to agree with, including White, who immediately after the fight used an expletive to describe his reaction to the judging. The key was the second round, as virtually everyone agreed Sherk won the first round, and Dunham won Round 3 strong. The Yahoo! Sports card was 29-28 for Dunham.

Sherk got a takedown early in the round and landed some punches. Dunham had two guillotine attempts, and late in the round, landed a hard knee to the chin and followed with punches and knees that were the most powerful blows of the round.

“I didn’t implement my game plan and I didn’t do what I needed to do in the first round,” said Dunham, who Sherk praised as a future lightweight champion after the fight. “I wanted to stand with him and when he came in for the shot, stuff the shot and frustrate him. If he got me down, I didn’t want him being able to hold me down. Finally, when I made the decision to stand up, I was just being too complacent and that’s a lesson learned.

Bader, a two-time All-American at Arizona State, used his wrestling to win a straight 30-27 decision over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-4), a win that puts him in the elite class in the division. Bader, a former "Ultimate Fighter" winner who was coached by Nogueira’s twin brother, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira during that season two years ago, was able to get six takedowns in the three rounds. Nogueira never got his standup game on track and never threatened with a submission on the ground.

“I think I’m close,” said Bader, when asked about a potential title shot at champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. “It’s my goal. I’m pretty young in the sport and I have a lot to learn. Ultimately my goal is to have the belt some day. It’s up to the UFC who they want to put me against. Whoever’s next, it’s going to be a tough fight, no matter what.”

Nogueira was able to block several of Bader’s takedowns, but the constant threat kept him from committing to his stand-up game. Bader didn’t cut a lot of weight to make 205, so he physically looked small next to Nogueira and couldn’t overpower him down, instead having to time when he was off balance.

Bader was able to follow the game plan that Jason Brilz used in Nogueira’s last fight on May 29 in Las Vegas, a fight in which many felt Brilz was robbed of the decision.

But Bader at this point also doesn’t have the level of stand-up as most of the light heavyweight division’s top contenders, and the division includes fighters like Rashad Evans, Jon Jones and Lyoto Machida who have far stronger wrestling games than Nogueira.