Was Lesnar-Mir UFC’s ‘Thrilla in Manilla?’

[MuscleSportMag]

When boxing fans are asked what was the greatest fight of all time, the majority of them will say ‘The Thrilla in Manilla’ without hesitation. The third and final match-up between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier took place on October 1, 1975 in the Philippines and was even better than the first two battles between them.

After 14 exhausting rounds, Ali won by a TKO and the art of pugilism was never the same. Casual fans were hooked and a new generation of followers ensued.

This past Saturday night in Las Vegas, UFC 100 may have just helped the sport of mixed martial arts take that next step into the mainstream. The marquee bout was Brock Lesnar against Frank Mir, two names that are familiar outside of the inner circle.

Lesnar, a larger than life character who is a former WWE superstar, scored a TKO over Mir at 1:48 of the second round to become the undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion and unify the two belts that the combatants each had.

There were 11 fights total on the card and although many were extremely entertaining (such as the Yoshihiro Akiyama-Alan Belcher Middleweight bout, voted the Fight of the Night), the one that will be spoken about – possibly for years to come – will be the main event.

Since MMA first burst onto the sports scene with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, it has grown immensely but still has more of a niche or cult following. The sport is not sanctioned in every state, with New York being a glaring hole. Many of the uninformed still consider it a ‘blood sport’ or ‘human cock fighting,’ part of the reason why MMA is still fighting to get the recognition it deserves.

Over the years, colorful fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell have become popular and recognizable even outside of the cage. While they have enjoyed success and held championships during their reign, Kimbo Slice may be even more recognizable in today’s pop culture even though he hasn’t done a thing.

All of that may have changed with the top league, UFC, having a barnburner with its pay-per-views hitting their century mark. Lesnar’s popularity may be at an all-time high, even though he is far from a crowd favorite. He added to that reputation by admittedly acting “unprofessional” following the win over Mir. Following what he called a “rip the dog” session from UFC head honcho Dana White, Lesnar apologized for his actions (and words) at a press conference.

There was a lot of bad blood between the two headed into the contest and some of that poured over in the heat of battle and the immediate aftermath. Mir defeated Lesnar in the former wrestler’s octagon debut at UFC 81.

While some may view the unsportsmanlike conduct by Lesnar as a detriment, the other side of the coin is that the entertainment factor comes through even more when real human emotion takes over. Picture yourself having another shot at the guy who got the best of you last time in the alley outside the bar. This time around you kick his ass. Talking a little trash is sure to follow so put yourself in Lesnar’s shoes for a moment before passing judgment.

If trash talking was a turn-off for fans, Ali was the king of it and is still considered the greatest fighter of all time. If Lesnar could attain even a fraction of his popularity, then the UFC and MMA in general will do quite well.

[xnotoriousx]

Yeah but atleast ali was good at trash talking. Brock is just lame.

[sooners04]

I wouldn't compare the Thrilla in Manilla to this AT ALL, SORRY, not even in the same league, building, arena, etc....etc...etc...

"Come on gorilla, we in Manilla"----"Come on gorilla, this is the thrilla"
Muhammed Ali

[Brown Ninja]

Brock literally is a gorilla

[xnotoriousx]

MMA (new or old school) has nothing on old school boxing. Nothing. Damn boxing was so good until don kings punk ass came along.

[roid_rage]

MMA (new or old school) has nothing on old school boxing. Nothing. Damn boxing was so good until don kings punk ass came along.

Don punk ass king was the one that arranged that fight.. what the heck are you talking???? MMA is way more entertaning and it will be waaay more big than Boxing ever was, sory boxing, old ass borring sport.

[xnotoriousx]

Try knowing what you're talking about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_King_(boxing_promoter)

[roid_rage]

Try knowing what you're talking about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_King_(boxing_promoter)

WTF are you talking about??? ...

From your own link...

Donald "Don" King (born August 20 or December 9, 1931) is an American boxing promoter particularly known for his hairstyle and flamboyant personality. His career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila", as well as orchestrating the ascent and fall of Mike Tyson. King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including Larry Holmes and Evander Holyfield.

LOL...

[LickAlotOfPuss]

yeah you cant compair boxing to the ufc. In boxing only punches are allowed. In the UFC punches kicks knees elbows are all allowed, it sounds like the ufc would be more exciting. I also dont know why lesner vs mir has created such a hype, in my mind it wasn't a great fight, and i didn't expect it to be. As an mma fan and a partitioner of the sport i really appreciated the gsp vs. thiago alves more than lesners performance. The only reason why brock is popular is because he is big and he has an ego the size of him, he isn't a very well rounded fighter, very slopy

[lee.jones73]

lensner should never of had a title shot so quick its disgusting theres men who been fighting in ufc for years and took them ages to get a title fight and lensner comes in and in 3-1 gets a shot??????? yes i think he good hes huge and quick and think he would eventually become champ but not that quick its wrong, id love to see him get knocked the f**k out

[higherdesire]

How did you feel when anderson silva got the same treatment?

[higherdesire]

or how about how they spoon fed bisbing a decent record in order ot get UFC across the pond. even giving him fights he lost (Matt Hammil) just to put him in the ring with a real fighter and get his head torn off. They are making some bad moves in my opinion towards too much money decisions. Still good fights and fighters and the best orginazation out there, but things like kimbo not having to fight into the house, brock getting to quick of a shot, all of it is the begining of something too Don Kingish for me.

[Hunter]

or how about how they spoon fed bisbing a decent record in order ot get UFC across the pond. even giving him fights he lost (Matt Hammil) just to put him in the ring with a real fighter and get his head torn off. They are making some bad moves in my opinion towards too much money decisions. Still good fights and fighters and the best orginazation out there, but things like kimbo not having to fight into the house, brock getting to quick of a shot, all of it is the begining of something too Don Kingish for me.

I strongly agree with this. Also they dont treat there fighters the way the deserve and the ufc game was an excellent example of this.

[kaptainkeezy04]

WTF are you talking about??? ...

From your own link...

Donald "Don" King (born August 20 or December 9, 1931) is an American boxing promoter particularly known for his hairstyle and flamboyant personality. His career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila", as well as orchestrating the ascent and fall of Mike Tyson. King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including Larry Holmes and Evander Holyfield.

LOL...

that is fvcking funny!!!!

[quarry206]

WTF are you talking about??? ...

From your own link...

Donald "Don" King (born August 20 or December 9, 1931) is an American boxing promoter particularly known for his hairstyle and flamboyant personality. His career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila", as well as orchestrating the ascent and fall of Mike Tyson. King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including Larry Holmes and Evander Holyfield.

LOL...

Though alot of people think of don king for the freak show he became, and ****ing things up in the late 90's.. but the truth is the sport of boxing grew under don king... don king did what dana white is doing now. he took a popular sport and made it into a marketable sport. he put drama and sold story line. he realized the talent might be at 180lbs, but americans wanted to see the 230's-240's fight it out.

just as don king said
"in the sport of boxing, if you didn't have don king, you would have had to invited him"

[Brown Ninja]

Don King is a moral man

[Dog-Slime]

yeah you cant compair boxing to the ufc. In boxing only punches are allowed. In the UFC punches kicks knees elbows are all allowed, it sounds like the ufc would be more exciting. I also dont know why lesner vs mir has created such a hype, in my mind it wasn't a great fight, and i didn't expect it to be. As an mma fan and a partitioner of the sport i really appreciated the gsp vs. thiago alves more than lesners performance. The only reason why brock is popular is because he is big and he has an ego the size of him, he isn't a very well rounded fighter, very slopy

Dont get me wrong Im a huge GSP fan and have been well before he was the champ. But how is gsp taking down alves laying on him and beating him up without ever finishing the fight so much better than brock lesnar taking down mir and beating him till the ref stops it? Makes NO sense to me.

There is a lot of Brock bashing that goes on and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon of how he is shit and/or never deserved a title shot. What about shogun he only has a 2-1 (same as brocks was) record in the UFC? Randy was also given a title shot with that same record I believe.

Yeah but shogun had a bunch of wins in pride etc etc... I hear you say? Well Brock was 106–5 in his college wrestling career and 33-0 his senior year. But he is only good cuz he is big???

[gunslinger2]

lensner should never of had a title shot so quick its disgusting theres men who been fighting in ufc for years and took them ages to get a title fight and lensner comes in and in 3-1 gets a shot??????? yes i think he good hes huge and quick and think he would eventually become champ but not that quick its wrong, id love to see him get knocked the f**k out

If he should or should not have got a shot don't really matter, the people wanted to see it because they thought they would get to enjoy a "real" fighter beating the crap out of some poor pro wrestler. After Lesnar destroyed Couture people wanted to get all pissy about it and boo him. Then he destroyed the only other real heavyweight competition in the UFC Frank Mir.

Now it seem like everyone is trying to make excuses for why these guys lost. Give me a break. If I walk in off the street and beat the shit out of the two top guys in the UFC then I deserve the belt, nuff said.

[Dog-Slime]

^No shit atleast someone has some sense. You aint gotta be a Lesnar fan to notice that the man is an incredible athlete. Like I said the man was 106-5 in his college wrestling career and i bet he didnt have much if any weight on his opponents then. Sure it helps him that he does now but the man is good at what he does. If all it took was size like everyone seems to think about brock then what do you think would happen if Jay Cutler went into a fight with Frank Mir? I'll tell you what he would get his big ass whipped...

[Navy-boi-kai]

I agree i dont like Lesner..but the guy is a power house!! Very good athlete as well!! There is somethings that he needs to work on no doubt. But he is new to the sport and he is growing!!! In MMA you only have two choices you learn and grow or you dont learn and well you dont go anywhere!!! He isnt the best no, but he is a very competitive hard hitter and he can give anyone run!!!

[Brown Ninja]

They just announced carwin vs brock
should be a very interesting fight. I still have brock by rape

[gunslinger2]

They just announced carwin vs brock
should be a very interesting fight. I still have brock by rape

Yup.

[ectomorph28]

Don punk ass king was the one that arranged that fight.. what the heck are you talking???? MMA is way more entertaning and it will be waaay more big than Boxing ever was, sory boxing, old ass borring sport.

Man, you're an idiot.

I dont care what happens, which sport becomes more popular etc.

The bottom line is MMA will never reach the status of boxings golden era.

I really dont think you understand the magnitude of some of the biggest fights in boxing history. Countries, politicians got behind its fighters. Hell, they still do ie. Manny Pacquiao etc.

[ectomorph28]

And as bad as Don King, Dana White is no different.