Josh Barnett made the most of his return to the octagon, putting pressure on Frank Mir from the start before finishing him with a knee against the cage to earn a TKO stoppage at 1:56 of the opening round.
Barnett came out swinging as he marched forward with knees and punches to start as Frank Mir returned fire. Mir found success inside with dirty boxing as Barnett kept pressuring. Barnett then took the action to the cage, controlling Mir before landing a brutal knee that sent Mir collapsing to the canvas. Barnett followed up with one more right hand before the referee could step in and stop the action.
Mir insisted he was ok after the stoppage, complaining that the stoppage was premature. Despite the initial protest from Mir, the TKO victory for Barnett (33-6 MMA) improves his UFC record to 5-1, giving him his first octagon victory since UFC 36 back in 2002.