UFC 100: What happened when Brock Lesnar defended the Heavyweight Championship against Frank Mir?
UFC 100 was headlined by the big re-match from UFC 81, wherein Frank Mir defeated Brock Lesnar, in Lesnar's UFC debut via submission.
Although Lesnar at the time accepted the Mir defeat in good grace, he was incensed by Mir's post-fight comments in which he derided Lesnar's abilities. This added a huge amount of intrigue and intensity to the Heavyweight Championship clash.
It couldn't have been more different than their previous encounter. The larger Lesnar took Mir down and patiently smashed with deliberate elbows that bashed up Mir's face.
Lesnar immediately took Mir down once more in the second round but allowed Mir back to his feet. The former Heavyweight Champion nearly made Lesnar pay for that by tagging him with a big right hand and a flying knee.
Lesnar and Mir ended up back on the mat once more and Lesnar repeatedly smashed Mir in the face until the referee, Herb Dean jumped in for the TKO finish. It was a sweet, brutal revenge for Lesnar who made sure Mir knew it post-fight as he angrily put Mir back in his place and derided the crowd post-fight as well. What a wild spectacle.
A stacked card saw George St. Pierre defend the Welterweight Championship versus Thiago Alves. It was classic GSP in this encounter. He took down his challenger at will and pounded away with strikes as well. GSP walked away with a Unanimous Decision victory and his Welterweight crown.
In another featured bout, The Ultimate Fighter coaches, veteran Dan Henderson and young Brit, Michael Bisping competed against one another in a fight built around Bisping's non-stop trash talk of his opponent.
The legendary Henderson took the verbal assault on the chin but then delighted in taking the young upstart apart inside the Octagon.
Hendo patiently continued to work Bisping with his jab, which nonsensically, Bisping kept walking into. His corner told him to avoid Hendo's big time right hand at all costs but the arrogant Brit didn't listen and got knocked clean out with a huge Hendo haymaker. Bisping was stiff as a board before he hit the canvas. A truly terrifying knockout.
Yoshihiro Akiyama edged out Alan Belcher on a split decision in a terrifically entertaining encounter where both men threw big time hands which dropped one another. It was a bout which could truly have gone either way but it was the Japanese sensation who got the nod.
In the final match that took place on the main card Welterweight contenders, Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago competed in a close contest that also went to a decision. It was not as entertaining as the Akiyama/Belcher clash as this was much more of a technical battle. Fitch walked away with the Unanimous Decision win.
UFC 100 was a historic event which did monstrous pay per view business. An incredible 1.6 million people purchased the show which at the time was a UFC record. In fact, a full nine years later and this show is still the third most purchased UFC card, behind only UFC 202 and UFC 229. The action wasn't bad either. A must see for anyone who hasn't already done so.