LAS VEGAS – On Saturday night, UFC president Dana White said he was frustrated that former heavyweight champion Frank Mir didn't perform up to par in the co-main event of UFC 130.On Sunday morning, White admitted he may have gone a bit overboard.
Speaking exclusively with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), White said in retrospect, Mir and his team actually put together a perfect gameplan, which the heavyweight executed to perfection. Sure, a finish would have been ideal, but current top contender Junior Dos Santos couldn't put away "Big Country," either.
"I think I was a little harsh on Mir," White admitted. "He came into that fight with the perfect gameplan, and he nailed Roy with some big shots. Mir dominated that fight from start to finish, and he deserves some credit for that."
White's retraction comes less than 24 hours after he berated Mir at Saturday's UFC 130 post-event press conference. At the time, White felt it was the second time in as many bouts that Mir had claimed a victory while doing little to wow the audience.
"Frank Mir has been a two-time world champion," White said on Saturday night. "He's been around a long time. He's a super-talented guy. I expect more of him."
Mir's win over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at this past September's UFC 119 was so lackluster, White refused to issue the former champ a "Knockout of the Night" bonus despite the 10-year veteran netting the only striking finish on the card.
It's that type of slow-paced main event that leaves White in fits, and the UFC boss admits Saturday's event left him with that same feeling – except this time it was main-eventers Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Matt Hamill that left the Las Vegas crowd showering the octagon with boos and White looking for answers.
"Overall, I thought the card was great," White said. "Brian Stann-Jorge Santiago, Demetrious Johnson-Miguel Torres, Rick Story-Thiago Alves, those were all great fights. Travis Browne and Stefan Struve, those guys come out to finish fights, and that knockout was amazing.
"But the main event and co-main event just didn't really wow that crowd, and you know how I get. I think I was just a little frustrated last night that we didn't end on a high note, and I was probably too hard on Mir."
In the evening's post-event press conference, Nelson blamed his unanimous-decision loss on being simply outwrestled. Most everyone in the room, including main-event winner Jackson, also pointed to a number of Mir knees that appeared to land flush. White also felt Mir outstruck his opponent.
"Roy said he didn't really get hit, but Mir landed some big knees, and he threw some elbows on the ground that had Roy's head bouncing off the canvas," White said.
A CompuStrike report confirms both theories are actually true – Mir landed 41 total power strikes (including 24 total kicks and knees) to Nelson's 15, and the winner was also successful on six of eight takedown attempts.
Saturday night, it was also revealed that Nelson had been battling illness heading into the UFC 130 bout. White said he wasn't alone – Mir quietly dealt with his own case of the flu in the days prior to the fight.
Add in a potentially fractured jaw and broken rib during the 15-minute affair, and White said Mir's clean sweep wasn't nearly as bad as he initially expressed.
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