LAS VEGAS — If UFC 100 represents mainstream, the world has changed.
Brock Lesnar, the former World Wrestling Entertainment fighter and current UFC heavyweight champion, battered Frank Mir in a second-round knockout to set aside a festering year of bitterness.
Lesnar, who used at least 17 unanswered uppercut blows on the canvas to beat Mir, then blew off some steam at the booing audience who padded his wallet with a $5.1-million live gate at Mandalay Bay.
With a likely million more watching on pay-per-view, Lesnar gave the 11,000-plus a doubly obscene hand gesture and stood firm as the disdain continued.
He gloated about his violent victory to the crowd, and gave a preview of his R-rated celebration plans.
Hope the kids were in bed.
Lesnar, who lost to Mir by first-round submission in his UFC debut last year (and did apologize for his post-fight actions Saturday), immediately got atop Mir and battered him with repeated rights to the head that bloodied the bridge of Mir's nose and swelled his face. It took only seconds to repeat the position against the cage in the second round, and referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the abuse at the 1:28 mark.
Lesnar's reprised villain role came after UFC officials used the occasion of the landmark event to call mixed martial arts sports' greatest live event.
This night didn't make you forget about the Super Bowl or World Series, which you can watch with your family.
In a one-sided display, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (19-2) defended his belt by subjecting challenger Thiago Alves to repeated takedowns and a third-round knockdown to win a dominant unanimous decision, 50-45, 50-44, 50-45 on the scorecards.
Alves left the octagon with a bloodied nose and eyes swollen because he sustained too many short punches while lying on his back. St-Pierre ended Alves' seven-fight winning streak, and said nice things about the youngster improving with maturity.
But the outcome only confirmed that the match UFC has to make is St-Pierre versus the world's top MMA tactician, Brazil's Anderson Silva.
Also, Michael Bisping, a proud Brit who coached against Temecula's Dan Henderson in the latest version of the UFC's reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter," riled up the crowd by circling the octagon and staring in menace.
