Big fights all produce surprises

Three big fights, three stunning outcomes.

Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship star Rashad Evans completed his development Saturday by becoming champion of the organization’s most talent-laden division, light-heavyweight. Evans pounded Forrest Griffin unmercifully in a third-round technical-knockout victory at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Evans’ masterpiece not only kept him unbeaten (18-0-1) and ruined Griffin’s first title defense, it also capped a night of unexpected results on a card UFC had boasted as the most stacked in its history.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir gained a rematch with current champion Brock Lesnar by defeating interim champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by second-round TKO, and Irvine’s Quinton “Rampage” Jackson avenged two losses earlier this decade to Wanderlei Silva with a first-round knockout.

Evans, 29, from Albuquerque, didn’t back down from Griffin’s early preference to follow scoring blows with pressure, once snapping back a left to Griffin’s face and talking back to him in the second round.

“It took a while for me to get warmed up,” Evans said after beating the man who preceded him as the first champion of the UFC’s reality television series, “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Evans grabbed Griffin’s right leg in a pivotal third-round moment, causing the champion to fall back on the mat during the first minute. Evans applied more than a dozen tomahawk-style hits to the face of Griffin (16-5), briefly tired and then smashed a few more elbows and forearms before gaining position atop Griffin to deliver four rights and seven left uppercuts that rocked the dazed champ’s head and ended the fight 2:46 into the round.

“I don’t remember being hurt,” Griffin said later. “I remember waking up.”

Mir (12-3) moved a major step closer to recapturing his own belt by showing far sharper striking skills than Nogueira (31-5-1), knocking the interim champ down twice in the first round with two stiff lefts.

Another left backed up Nogueira in the second, and as he tried to shield himself to no avail with his right hand, Mir delivered the decisive blow. Nogueira hit the deck again, Mir pounced and referee Herb Dean stopped the fight 1:54 into the round.

Mir wiped sweat from his brow and faced ringside spectator Lesnar, the current heavyweight champ who lost by submission to Mir earlier this year and now must defend his belt against the ex-champ.

Mir is more than four years removed from a nearly career-ending motorcycle accident that cost him his belt, and he was overcome as the victory was announced.

“I faced demons after my crash,” Mir said afterward. “To get a win over him after the [stuff] I’ve gone through. People . . . they tell you you can’t do things. I’m proof . . . I faced my mythological monster.”

Jackson also provided a comeback story. Less than six months after a dangerous car chase that ended with his arrest in Newport Beach, he rebounded from losing his UFC light-heavyweight title earlier this year to Griffin by knocking out longtime nemesis Silva 3:21 into the first round.

The pair spent most of the fight standing and posturing until the 32-year-old Silva (32-9-1) rushed toward Jackson’s right side.

Jackson (29-7), who twice had been knocked out by Silva in the former PRIDE Fighting Championships, ducked Silva’s blow and unleashed a left hook that crushed Silva directly on the chin, leaving him unconscious on the way down and rendering three final Jackson punches as a formality to the fight’s stoppage.

Jackson celebrated with his new England-based training crew, declaring that “Rampage is back, baby!” He earned at least $325,000 for the bout (with a $100,000 bonus for winning), according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Asked if he was ready for Evans next, Jackson said it’s “up to the UFC.” In a likely reference to his legal case that resumes with a Jan. 8 preliminary hearing in Orange County Superior Court, Jackson acknowledged that he still has to “get my mind right.”

Silva could attest that Jackson’s left fist works just fine.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com