UFC 92: Surprising Victories

Hello folks. It's been a long holiday season for me as I am now just getting back to the site. Hopefully everyone had a fun and safe New Year's. UFC 92 was a night of great memories, fantastic knockouts, and what else but good ol' fashioned mixed martial arts. So as we begin 2009, let me quickly recap what I thought of UFC 92. 

My first posting about Mir vs. Nogueira seemed to play correctly. As I watched their fight, it almost seemed as if Mir read my article and listened to what I had said about how to win. Mir displayed great stand up, far better than he has ever shown.

I had stated that for Mir to win, he should adopt a Fedor-like style—that is, hit and hit hard and get out of situations that could cause him danger. And he did just that. He rocked Nogueira a few times and then one clean shot knocked him to the ground. Mir immediately went for the ground and pound, and when Nogueira went for full guard, Mir got out and made Nogueira stand with him. That is what cleared him to victory. 

My other comment is on the Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson fight, much anticipated since their last rival battle in Pride. Jackson lost in devastating fashion by Silva's vicious knees in the clinch, and it looked like Jackson might suffer the same fate at UFC 92. But let us not forget that some time has passed, both fighters have evolved in training, and both are wiser.

Jackson came in ready and focused after his unfortunate mishap with the law and his loss to Forrest Griffin. Jackson looked determined and was ready to knock out Silva. Silva, having beat Jackson twice already, of course was ready too. Maybe Silva came in a bit too confident and thought he would run over Jackson like the old days of Pride.

Well, as MMA fans watched, both fighters went at it when the bell rang, and no sooner than you can blink or scratch your head, Jackson caught Silva with a hard hook to the chin and down Silva went. It was a devastating KO that showed the power of Quinton Jackson.

As I stated in my first article, UFC 92 became the Christmas wish come true for all the underdogs.

As 2008 wrapped, some fighters fell, and some rose to new ranks. This is the world of mixed martial arts. There are no blueprints or guarantees when the Octagon door closes.

UFC 93 is coming up for 2009, and we have some good fights to look forward to. Let's see if Wanderlei, Nogueira, and Forrest can regain composure, regroup, and come back in 2009 with a fire that will ignite when the referee says, "Are you ready?"