UFC 92: What happened when Frank Mir and “Big Nog” competed for the right to face Brock Lesnar?
UFC 92 took place on December 27, 2008, and was a much-anticipated event.
The highlight of a stacked UFC end of year card was unquestionably the highly anticipated Heavyweight collision between former Champion, Frank Mir and Interim Heavyweight Champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Mir started out strong as he surprisingly out struck Nogueira, dropping the Brazilian and very nearly finishing him in round one.
It didn't take too much longer for him to do exactly that. Mir became the first man to stop Nogueira in history. He earned a title fight with Brock Lesnar with the victory. Lesnar was in attendance and appeared to be extremely happy at the prospect of a rematch with Mir. That bout took place at UFC 100.
The headline clash saw a new Light-Heavyweight Champion crowned as Rashad Evans defeated Forrest Griffin via TKO midway through the third round. It was a brilliant fight as Griffin won both of the opening rounds with excellent combinations. However, Evans shocked him when he unloaded with a brutal barrage of left and right hands. Griffin was out. The UFC had a new champion and superstar.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson bounced back from his loss of the Light-Heavyweight Championship to Griffin to defeat the legendary but fading, Wanderlei Silva. The pair exchanged leg kicks and punches before "Rampage" smashed Silva with a left hook that knocked the Brazilian out cold. Silva looked shot but "Rampage" was impressive.
C.B Dollaway defeated Mike Massenzio via TKO in just three minutes. Dollaway withstood an early onslaught from Massenzio and at one point looked to work a submission but moved over into mount to win by stoppage. Hugely impressive performance by Dollaway.
The opening card bout saw Cheick Kongo take on Mostapha Al-Turk in a fight controversial for its much-delayed finish. Al-Turk was stunned by Kongo with a pair of big right hands. Kongo pounced on the fallen Kongo and unloaded with well over 20 shots to the head. Al-Turk was clearly out of it well before that but the referee for some reason just let it go. Unbelievable.
UFC 92 was a stacked card on paper and delivered with all main card fights ended via KO or TKO. The event drew one million pay per view buys.