UFC 116: Brock Lesnar, Leben and Bonnar Highlight a Night of Comebacks

This past Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada fans were privy to one of the most exciting mixed martial arts cards to be put on since this sport's existence.

UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin was regarded as literally and figuratively one of the biggest main events for 2010 with behemoths Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin facing off for the coveted heavyweight title.

The rest of the UFC 116 card had some exciting fighters, but for the most part it wasn’t anything to write home about. In fact, many fans and media outlets were worried that UFC 116 might be a dud despite all the hype.

Not only did the main event live up to its expectations, but the rest of the televised card exceeded expectations by leaps and bounds. Once again, the fans can thank the architect Joe Silva for giving them their money’s worth.

An interesting angle opened up on Saturday night as UFC 116 wore on, the night was chock full of comebacks in every sense of the word. Four out of the five fights on the main card showcased fighters coming back from the dead to pry the victory from their opponents grasp.

First fight with a comeback story was Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar in a much anticipated rematch. In the first fight, Bonnar lost early in the third round due to a nasty cut caused by an accidental head butt by Soszynski.

The match was very close up until the doctor stoppage and one of the main reasons why both fighters and the UFC wanted to set up an immediate rematch.

In the rematch, Soszynski was getting the better of the exchanges against a once again very game Stephan Bonnar. By the end of the first round, Bonnar had at least three cuts opened up on his face and had to have been trying to hide his face from the referee and doctor.

The fight continued on to the second round, Soszynski was getting the better of Bonnar once more. All of a sudden, Bonnar landed a knee to Soszynski’s head in the clinch that crumpled the Canadian fighter and after that it was all Bonnar and the ref called the fight just past the midway point of the second round.

Bonnar not only came back from a painful first round, but he came back from a dark time in his career. Prior to UFC 116, Bonnar had injured his knee in 2007 and had a record of zero wins and three losses since his return in January 2009.

Even Dana White had the following to say about Bonnar when talking with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting post fight: “I was actually starting to wonder myself if Stephan still had the desire and fire to fight.”

Chris Lytle even had a little comeback of his own in what would be his third straight victory when he submitted Matt Brown via straight armbar/triangle choke early in round two.

Prior to submitting Brown, Lytle found himself in a very tight Matt Brown arm triangle that had him gasping for air and on the verge of tapping out or passing out.

In the co-main event, fans witnessed a back-and-forth war between two warriors in Yoshiro Akiyama and Chris Leben. Akiyama was originally slated to fight Wanderlei Silva who had to pull out due to a rib injury suffered in training camp.

Akiyama was considering not fighting at UFC 116, but talks with Dana White seemed to change his mind and his new opponent was Chris Leben.

Wait a minute...didn’t Leben fight at UFC 115 just over two weeks ago? Yes he did, and he took the fight with Akiyama on less than two weeks' notice.

The fight between Leben and Akiyama was very close, but Akiyama seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges and was mixing up his strikes with takedowns nicely.

There was a good chance that Leben was behind on the scorecards going into the third round. Leben admitted himself that he didn’t remember all of the fight and he was definitely on Queer Street at one point in the second round.

Despite being rocked, Leben worked hard off his back in the third round, constantly moving and throwing strikes from the bottom until he sunk in the triangle choke submission and forced Akiyama to tap with just seconds left in the third round.

Leben has always been a resilient guy with a strong chin, and it isn’t the first time we have seen him come back from the dead, but what really made this comeback impressive was the fact that he didn’t have to use his left hand to knock his opponent out. Leben utilized an all-around game and submitted Akiyama off his back.

Back in 2008, Leben lost a one-sided affair to Michael Bisping and was found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs after the fight. Leben came back almost a year later only to lose to Jake Rosholt via arm triangle choke.

Life and fighting weren’t looking so good for Leben in late 2009. However, since the loss to Rosholt, Leben has banged off three straight victories in a span of six months and the gritty victory against Akiyama marks his biggest victory since his debacle in 2008 and catapults him back into the middleweight title mix.

Last, but not least, the main event between two monstrous heavyweights, Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar.

Both Carwin and Lesnar are decorated amateur wrestlers, both fighters nearly cracked an NFL roster and both fighters are the biggest, strongest and most athletically gifted fighters in the heavyweight division.

The UFC 116 fan poll had Lesnar and Carwin at a deadlock 50 percent as to who was walking away with the strap.

When the first round was underway at MGM Grand this past Saturday, Lesnar couldn’t have looked any worse. Brock Lesnar proved the critics right, his stand up is rudimentary and not exactly the cream of the crop in the heavyweight division.

Carwin fired an uppercut that had Lesnar running away like a school girl. Carwin smelled blood and followed Lesnar to the ground where he proceeded to throw and land some of the most devastating ground and pound ever witnessed over a span that lasted close to three minutes.

Lesnar’s face was bloodied and swollen, but somehow he managed to keep blocking shots with his arms and attempt to kick Carwin off or regain half guard for the three minute barrage.

Lesnar got the fight back to standing with a minute to go in round one and held Carwin against the fence until the round ended.

Of course, Carwin had to be tired after giving everything he had to try and clinch the “real” heavyweight title that Brock possessed, but one had to wonder how was Brock even able to stand on his own two feet after what he endured in the first round.

Not only was Brock standing at the start of round two, he came out with a smile on his face. Brock didn’t fool around with the stand up too long before he secured a double leg take down on the visibly tired Shane Carwin. 

Once on the ground and in top control, Brock methodically moved from half guard to mount and finally to side control where he sunk in an arm triangle forcing Carwin to submit past the halfway point of the second round.

Brock came back from what was most definitely a 10-8 first round on the judges’ scorecards in Carwin's favour and he did it in dramatic fashion.

Brock Lesnar proved to the critics that he has an iron chin, because nobody else in the heavyweight division has been able to withstand even two of Carwin’s punches without falling asleep.

Lesnar also showcased a tremendous amount of grit and heart in this victory because a lot of fighters would have had trouble answering the call after the first round that Lesnar endured.

Finally, Lesnar proved to the naysayers that he doesn’t have to lay on his opponent in order to win, he showcased some offensive submission skills and that is something even his die hard fans would have never expected at any point in his career.

Not only did Lesnar come back from a first-round world beating against Carwin, but he also came back from one of his biggest challenges in his life to date, a potentially fatal illness.

Carwin was slated to face off against Brock back in late 2009, Lesnar had to pull out due to illness and that illness was diverticulitis. Brock basically had a hole in his intestines and was faced with the possibility of having to live with a colostomy bag and possibly never competing again.

Never mind not competing, Brock’s life had pretty much been turned upside down.

Miraculously, the heavyweight champion recovered and Carwin defeated Frank Mir in the mean time and after Brock’s comeback victory this past Saturday the rest is history.

A lot of comeback stories out of UFC 116 this past Saturday and a lot of “feel good” stories as well.

Bonnar is back into the win column after a difficult three years; Leben has come back from a tough two years and launched himself right into the mix at 185 pounds; and Brock Lesnar has come back from near-death experiences on not only one, but two occasions and still holds the heavyweight title.

There is a line up of young lions waiting for their shot at the heavyweight strap that include the likes of Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson and what will hopefully be a rematch with Shane Carwin.

Carwin definitely has a solid chance at beating Brock Lesnar and despite the loss may be the only heavyweight that has a chance at dethroning the champ.

One thing is for certain, if Lesnar gets through the list of contenders waiting in the wings of the heavyweight division, he will have gone on one of the most successful runs of title defenses in the heavyweight division to date.