LAS VEGAS — When a state athletic commission official asked Frank Mir where he was between rounds, he named the wrong casino.
That’s a pretty good indication Junior Dos Santos’ punches already were doing their job.
The UFC’s heavyweight champion knew exactly where he was and what he was doing — and Dos Santos swiftly showed Mir the door.
Dos Santos flattened Mir with a huge right hand and finished him on the ground at 3:04 of the second round Saturday night, emphatically defending his belt at UFC 146 on Saturday night.
Dos Santos (15-1) picked apart the two-time ex-champion with superior boxing throughout the fight, eventually sending Mir stumbling onto his back 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.”
Mir was staggered by multiple blows, including a big body shot, late in the first round, and he barely made it to the bell. After declaring he was at the Mandalay Bay instead of the MGM Grand Garden, Mir was allowed to keep fighting — but the beating didn’t go on much longer.
“My game plan is always to keep the fight on my feet and go for the knockout,” Dos Santos said. “I tried to get him a little tired in the first round, and then go for it. When you believe so much in your performance and yourself, it happens.”
Velasquez stopped Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva late in the first round after administering a bloody beating that both thrilled and horrified fans. 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.”
Mir stumbled back several steps after Dos Santos’ decisive right hand. Dos Santos followed him and 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.
