UFC 107

Well, I managed to catch UFC 107 (or the main card anyway) in the early hours of this morning, and, not surprisingly, at least in my mind, Frank Mir stole the show. in the co-main event with Cheick Kongo, Mir showed why he's the best healthy heavyweight in the world. don't get me wrong, i was pretty sure he would win, but not so quickly and emphatically. my prediction was a close points victory...but Mir has bulked up, he's worked hard to come back from his accident, and his ground work (always exemplary) now looks even better alongside his lethal striking. to down a fighter like Kongo, who has a granite chin, in the first minute, is something special. once he got the frenchman in a choke it was only a matter of time, but the speed and power with which he did it...wow. UFC have to seriously think about Mir as the next champion...Lesnar or no Lesnar. we all want Brock to be well, but there is a thriving division below him, and Mir is right at the top.

someone else at the top of their division is lightweight champion BJ Penn. his 5th round stoppage of Diego Sanchez was also surprising, in that no one, myself included, thought Sanchez would make it to the championship rounds. the fact that he did speaks volumes for his heart, but the cold fact is that he was outclassed by a guy at the peak of his powers, a guy who is rapidly running out of challengers. BJ was unstoppable, and never looked troubled in this one.

the person i'd really like to see take him on is Kenny Florian, who was pretty impressive in his 2nd round stoppage of everyone's favourite underdog, Clay Guida. how can you not like a guy that comes out singing his (awesome) entrance song (the taste of ink by the used) at the top of his lungs? if only he had the striking to go with his heart and mat skills. sigh. k-flo had him bloodied up in the 1st, with a wicked elbow to the head, and took him down with a sweet right hand and a choke in the 2nd. Florian has really improved his work since his last loss to BJ, and would be a plucky challenger, if nothing else.

elsewhere on the card, Jon Fitch defeated Mike Pierce in a forgettable welterweight bout which had gone through at least 3 incarnations in the run-up to event. i don't really blame the two fighters, as there was nothing between them, and the crowd was flat after seeing Guida beaten so quickly.

making his debut on PPV was the young dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve, who had a nice points win over the returning Paul Buentello. the latter got in his usual flurry of punches, but was worn down by a body triangle which lasted for most of the 1st, and a series of unanswered thigh kicks throughout the 3rd. i'll be keeping an eye on the winner, if he can do some more filling out and add a few more weapons, he'll be a contender. at 6"11, and with an 83 inch reach, he's got most of them already.

i should be watching WWE TLC tonight, and a blog on that will conclude the fighting writing for this week.