5 gruesome bone-breaking UFC moments

#4: Mir re-arranges Nogueira’s arm – UFC 140 – 12/10/11

Although Mir’s submission skills were notorious following the Sylvia fight, not many people expected a submission to occur in his UFC 140 rematch with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Widely recognised as the two best Heavyweight submission grapplers, Mir and Nogueira had fought once before, at UFC 92 in 2008. The fight hadn’t even hit the mat then, as Mir had surprisingly knocked out the legendarily durable Brazilian on the feet.

Nogueira had always claimed he was hampered by a bad staph infection prior to that fight, and so when a rematch was announced for UFC 140, he was gunning for revenge.

Unfortunately for him, it didn’t quite pan out that way.

With the general consensus being that the two men’s grappling skills would cancel each other out if the fight hit the mat, the fight was expected to largely take place on the feet again. Nogueira had recently knocked out up-and-comer Brendan Schaub, showing his hands were once again sharp, while Mir had put on the best kickboxing performance of his life in his previous fight, beating Roy Nelson from pillar to post.

Unlike the first fight, it was Nogueira who gained the early advantage standing. Using a stiff jab, he seemed to be beating Mir to the punch, and when the two men clinched, the Brazilian broke off with a knee that wobbled Mir’s legs. A combination followed, and Mir went down face-first.

That’s when Nogueira made a rare mistake.

Perhaps looking to cement his reputation as the division’s premier grappler, rather than look to finish the woozy Mir with more punches, Nogueira instead attempted to lock up a guillotine choke, dropping to his back in the process.

Mir had enough left in the tank to roll, alleviating the pressure on his neck, but in the process, Nogueira was able to hit a switch. From there he attempted to take Mir’s back, but without realising, his right arm was trapped underneath Mir’s body.

Mir spotted this and laced up the arm, rolling directly into a tight kimura. He stepped over Nogueira’s head in an attempt to finish it off, but the Brazilian gritted his teeth and tried to roll out.

Mir rolled with him, and as Nogueira continued to fight, the former champion yanked the arm further backwards....until it snapped completely, forcing Nogueira to tap out weakly and sending Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan into rapture.

The fight remains probably Mir’s greatest victory, when you consider that he became not only the first man to tap out the legendary submission artist Nogueira, but also the first man to break three arms in UFC history; along with the Sylvia armbar, Mir had also broken the arm of Roberto Traven in his UFC debut.

Mir never had a nickname in his career, but looking back, ‘Bonebreaker’ would’ve been appropriate.