UFC 146 Results: Junior Dos Santos Stops Frank Mir; Cain Velasquez Rocks Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

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 me a lot," Dos Santos said. "Man, this guy can take a punch. My hand is hurt." Dos Santos downplayed the revenge element of beating Mir, who broke the arm of Dos Santos' mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in a fight last December. Mir (16-6) had won three straight fights since losing a title shot to Shane Carwin in March 2010, but couldn't reclaim the belt he held in 2004 before getting into a serious motorcycle accident and again in early 2009 before losing to Brock Lesnar. Velasquez (10-1) finished Silva at 3:36 of the first round, but only after pulverizing the 6-foot-4 Brazilian with a relentless series of blows after an early takedown. Silva (16-4) was cut on his face early in the beating, sending streams of blood down his face and onto the canvas, eventually coating both fighters' torsos. "I knew he was going to be a tough guy to finish, and he posed certain threats," Velasquez said. "But I'm happy I was able to go in there and perform. I took my time and waited to get good position to turn it on and finish the fight." The fight was stopped once to allow Silva's corner to clear the blood from his eyes, but Velasquez promptly resumed the beating until the fight was finished. The former Arizona State wrestler was ferociously impressive in his first bout since losing the belt to Dos Santos in just 64 seconds during the UFC's first prime-time Fox show. "What you've done in the past, you've got to get over that," Velasquez said. "This is a step in the right direction." The 32-year-old Silva appeared to be outmatched in his UFC debut after a lengthy MMA career highlighted by his dominant Strikeforce victory over Fedor Emelianenko in February 2011. Earlier, Nelson stopped Dave Herman with an overhand right just 51 seconds into the first round, and Miocic remained unbeaten with a second-round stoppage of fellow heralded prospect Shane Del Rosario. Struve, the 6-foot-11 Dutch heavyweight, stopped Lavar Johnson in the first pay-per-view fight. Nelson (18-7) added another impressive stoppage victory to his list, catching Herman (21-4) with a right hand that sent him sprawling backward onto the canvas. Nelson landed one more shot before the fight was stopped, and then climbed onto the cage to rub his ample belly while his hometown crowd cheered. "My plan was to wrestle, (but) my coaches had a different game plan, which was, `Hit him in the face,'" Nelson said. "Guess it worked. Clearly my hands have dynamite in them, or small rocks or whatever." Nelson had lost three of his previous four fights, including decisions to Dos Santos and Mir. But the portly, heavily bearded heavyweight – who bills himself as a kung fu fighter – is consistently popular and entertaining. Miocic (9-0), a firefighter and EMT from Cleveland, survived a back-and-forth first round before taking control in the second, taking down the previously unbeaten Del Rosario and finishing him off with ground-and-pound elbows. Del Rosario (11-1) had a severe cut over his right eye and a bloody face after his UFC debut and his first fight in 15 months. The Orange County fighter recovered from a back injury sustained when his car was hit by a drunk driver last year. Struve finished Johnson with an armbar just 1:05 into their bout. The 6-foot-11 Dutchman who has lost to Dos Santos and Nelson celebrated his third straight win, while Johnson, the veteran Strikeforce fighter who beat Pat Barry just three weeks earlier, struggled after stepping in as an injury replacement for Australia's Mark Hunt. Early on the UFC 146 card, veteran lightweight Jamie Varner upset previously unbeaten Edson Barboza, stopping the touted Brazilian prospect with a long series of blows to the head. Varner, the former WEC lightweight champion who was released from that promotion after an 0-3-1 skid, made the most of his chance to be an injury replacement for Evan Dunham in his first UFC fight since March 2007. Jason "Mayhem" Miller lost a lackluster decision to middleweight C.B. Dollaway, possibly ending the television host's MMA career. Miller (24-10), who has won just three of his last eight fights, previously said he would retire if he didn't beat Dollaway, who largely controlled the bout on the ground after Miller won the first round. A collection of celebrities including Charlize Theron, MC Hammer and many NFL players, including Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, attended the show in the UFC's hometown.

Rolling Thunder rolls in to commemorate Memorial Day

 

WASHINGTON - It's time to get ready to hear the rumble of Rolling Thunder. Hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders are converging on D.C. this weekend for their 25th Memorial Day ride. Riders have already begun arriving for the weekend of events to remember prisoners of war and those missing in action. "I have a brother I lost in Vietnam in 1968," says Mark Given, a Desert Storm veteran. He joined Rolling Thunder to make sure the sacrifices of people like his brother are not forgotten - especially on Memorial Day. Given was one of about six riders from Rolling Thunder on Friday morning who laid wreaths at historic Congressional Cemetery in Southeast, paying tribute to the fallen as a bugler played taps. Given's 12-year-old son, Martin, came with him from New Jersey this year. The youngster is named after Given's brother, "I carry his name on for who he was and for serving our country," he says. At the grave of an unknown soldier, Carlos Hollifield says laying a wreath is appropriate. "Our mission is to ensure that in the future we have no unknowns." Hollifield says there are still more than 100,000 Americans from all wars still unaccounted for. "We work to make sure that political leaders and citizens never forget our prisoners of war and our missing in action." The riders also placed a wreath at the gravesite of several War of 1812 veterans. Congressional Cemetery was the first national cemetery established in 1807.

Devils' Brodeur, 40, back in Cup final - NHL

K, N.J. -- With Martin Brodeur nearing his 40th birthday and entering the final year of his contract, this season at first had the look of a last hurrah for the New Jersey Devils' goalie great. Well, the hurrah part was right. It's been one hurrah after another, reaching a high point Friday night. Brodeur made 33 saves to help the Devils defeat the rival New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime in Game 6 to advance to the Stanley Cup finals against the Los Angeles Kings. Game 1 will be Wednesday in New Jersey. After the Devils missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996, no one might have been put under the microscope more than Brodeur. Longtime president and general manager Lou Lamoriello certainly had questions to answer after the early-season stumble under new coach John MacLean, but Brodeur was the focal point after a so-so season nagged by injuries. Now at 40, he's back after outdueling Henrik Lundqvist in the first Eastern Conference finals between the teams since their memorable showdown in 1994. New York won that one in seven games with Stephane Matteau scoring the series-clincher in double overtime. Rookie Adam Henrique did the honors for New Jersey on Friday night with a shot from just about the same spot where Matteau scored, from the right edge of the crease. "It's been a lot of fun this season, playing on a really good team, and I'm enjoying this ride," Brodeur said. "And I know what I can do, try to compete as hard as I can every night and try to give these guys a chance to win hockey games. And they've been scoring a lot of goals for me in the playoffs so far, and it's been great." Brodeur was the difference in the Devils' wins in Games 5 and 6, when the Rangers controlled most of the play in the final two periods. "He was outstanding, all playoffs," Devils forward David Clarkson said. "He kept us in games, stood on his head. It's amazing to see what he's doing right now and our bench just feeds off it." Brodeur was at his best Friday with the game tied 2-all in the third period. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards while prone on the ice and made a save on a shot by Artem Anisimov from between the circles. He also used his stick to poke check the puck off Anisimov's stick on a semi breakaway and again used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute of regulation just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease. "Actually, it was fun," Brodeur said. "But at the end of the day, we were in a position that the next goal is going to win. So in my head, the overtime started in the third period. And that's the way I approached the third period coming in. So every save was important. Every shot that we took on Lundqvist was important." Lamoriello enjoyed it, too. Any win over the Rangers is a good one for Lou. "It was two competitive teams that worked very hard at their game and paid a price for success," Lamoriello said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday. "This was a very competitive series. Put aside the rivalry, it was a competitive series." He scoffed when asked about Brodeur performing so well at 40. He pointed out that some 30-year-old people act like they are 50, and vice versa. He said the same holds true for athletes, adding athleticism and genetics also play a part. "[Brodeur] is just a real thoroughbred athlete," Lamoriello said. "He loves the game. His mind is 100 percent there and he feels good. It's Mariano Rivera." Brodeur refused to compare this Devils team to the ones that won Cups in 1995, 2000 and '03, or to the one that lost the Cup in seven games to Colorado in 2001. "Every team writes its own story," the Montreal native said. "I was fortunate to be part of great teams that had success, and I was part of great teams that didn't have success. ... It's not just a one-man show out there. A lot of guys are contributing, and there's a good feeling. But until you finish out these playoffs, we'll see then." Up next will be the Kings. They have posted a 12-2 record in beating Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix, the top three seeds in the Western Conference. The Devils were given Saturday and Sunday off while the coaches worked on their game plan. "They have played well at home and away and we just have to take a step back," Lamoriello said. "We haven't seen much of them except the games on TV."