Lesnar: Action and words

He also made sure that he would be cast as a villain to fans of the organization for as long as he chooses to be a participant.

Lesnar retained the belt by pounding interim champ Frank Mir with right hands until the referee called a halt to the bout at 1:48 of the second round in the main event of UFC 100 at Mandalay Bay.

He then got in Mir’s face and taunted the man that defeated him in the same cage more than a year ago.

"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass, and I told him that a year ago," Lesnar screamed into the microphone in a manner reminiscent of his World Wrestling Entertainment days. "I tore that son of a bitch out and beat the hell out of him with it."

Lesnar got on top of Mir in the first round and did little with the advantageous position until he landed some body shots and a couple of shots to the head in the closing seconds.

He did more with the same position in the second round. He again got to the ground on top, but this time was able to roll Mir over on his side against the cage. Lesnar then pounded Mir until the fight was stopped.

"I got against the cage and made a huge mistake," Mir said.

Lesnar then broke into a routine that was designed purely to market himself as the sport’s bad boy.

After the win, Lesnar continued taunting Mir, and the two had to be broken up before the skirmish was able to escalate. Lesnar then flipped off the crowd with both hands.

As Lesnar took the microphone, the boos grew louder.

"I love it. Keep going," he said. "Keep going. I love it, man."

Clearly hoping to cast himself as the fighter fans love to hate, Lesnar kept the act going.

"I’m going to go home tonight and drink a Coors Light. That’s a Coors Light because Bud Light won’t pay me nothing," he said of the fact that Bud Light is the official sponsor of the UFC. "And, hell, I may even get on top of my wife tonight."

In the co-main event, welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre methodically dismantled top contender Thiago Alves to retain the belt.

St. Pierre was patient but took down Alves every time the challenger got slightly off balance.

It was an impressive wrestling display, as St. Pierre completely neutralized the powerful striking ability of his opponent by taking Alves down 10 times throughout the course of the fight.

St. Pierre won all five rounds on the three scorecards. St. Pierre said he suffered a significant groin injury during the third round.

"When I was on my back, he pushed my leg down," he said. "It could’ve been a very bad night for me."

The severity of the injury was not known.

Dan Henderson put a much quicker end to his fight with Michael Bisping.

Henderson knocked Bisping cold with a huge right hand in the second round to win their middleweight showdown.

Henderson probably will be rewarded with a second shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Bisping was out flat on his back when Henderson pounced on top and took one more shot before the referee could step in and stop the fight.

"That one was just to shut him up a little bit," Henderson said.

The fighters built up a rivalry as opposing coaches on the ninth season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The war of words got increasingly bitter in the last few days.

Yoshihiro Akiyama won a split decision over Alan Belcher, and Jon Fitch improved to 17-1 in his last 18 fights with a decision over previously unbeaten Paulo Thiago.

On the undercard, UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman dropped the first round to Stephan Bonnar but rebounded to control top position throughout the next two rounds and take a unanimous decision.

Coleman, 44, had not won a UFC fight since Feb. 7, 1997, when he became the organization’s first heavyweight champion.

He lost his next three fights, then spent seven years in Japan in the Pride Fighting Championships before returning to the UFC in a loss to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in January.

Coleman said the win Saturday was the best of his career.

"Right now, this has to rank as number one, because I had a lot of doubters," he said.

Jim Miller scored a unanimous decision over Mac Danzig in a bloody fight. Miller opened a cut on Danzig’s right temple with an elbow in the first round. The blood continued to flow throughout the fight.

Jon Jones remained undefeated with a second-round submission of Jake O’Brien.

Also, Shannon Gugerty and Tom Lawlor gained first-round submission victories, and Dong Hyun Kim won a unanimous decision.