Free | 23/6
Posted: 5/27/2012
LAS VEGAS Junior Dos Santos flattened Frank Mir with a huge right hand and finished him on the ground at 3:04 of the second round Saturday night, emphatically defending his heavyweight title at UFC 146 on Saturday night.Dos Santos (15-1) picked apart the two-time ex-champion with superior boxing throughout the fight, eventually stunning Mir before finishing him with one last blow to the head. Dos Santos then wrapped himself in the Brazilian flag while celebrating his first title defense since taking the belt from Cain Velasquez last fall.'I'm feeling awesome!' the ever-smiling Dos Santos shouted to the pro-Brazilian crowd. 'It's not bad for a nice guy, huh? ... Frank Mir is a really good fighter, too. I came here to defend my belt, and I did it.'Velasquez stopped Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva late in the first round after administering a bloody beating that both thrilled and horrified fans at the MGM Grand Garden. Roy Nelson, Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve also won on a pay-per-view card topped with five heavyweight fights, a first in UFC history.Dos Santos never faced trouble in the fight's eight minutes after easily avoiding an opening-minute takedown attempt by Mir, who hoped his superior jiu-jitsu skills would allow him to avoid Dos Santos' unparalleled striking ability. Mir, who turned 33 on Thursday, has the most heavyweight victories in UFC history, but he couldn't match Dos Santos' skills.'He's a champ,' Mir said. 'He's fast. I couldn't get out of the way. He hit me hard. There were just too many of them, and they were hard shots. I couldn't do anything about it.'Dos Santos kept the fighters on their feet except when he staggered Mir late in the first round and again midway through the second. Mir stumbled back several steps after Dos Santos' decisive right hand, and Dos Santos added one last head shot before referee Herb Dean saved Mir.'That surprised