Kubrat Pulev Smashes Frank Mir, Gets Round One Stoppage At First Triller Triad Event

It was Triller time, and that meant the festivities were a mixed bag of delights, and you had a couple weird moments and then, what's this?..You had metal legends Metallica perform during the first Triad Combat card, on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. There was something for everyone, as long as you weren't a snob or a purist, then maybe you gave the mixing of boxing and MMA a pass.

I watched much of it on fight night, but did a juggling act, checking out fights on other platforms, so I came back and watched the main event, pitting MMA stalwart Frank Mir and ex heavyweight title challenger Kubrat Pulev in a clash set for nine rounds or less. (Yes, that's one of those Triller eccentricities we've come to, I dare say, expect in their one year in this realm).

I already knew the result, and here's how. On Sunday late morning, I walked down three flights, and went outside to bring a bag of garbage out and get my NY Times. The buildings' super, Jorge, greeted me, as he broke down refuse, ahead of city trash pick up. “Did you see those fights last night,” Jorge said to me, more than a bit excited. I figured maybe he was talking about the Kambosos triumph over Teofimo, but no, actually, he had watched Triad Combat. “You see Frank Mir get fucked up? I never seen a knockout like that,” the super said. “Man, they got something with this Triad thing!”

This was a memorable Triad Combat…or maybe not for Mir, who looked really dazed as the ref waved it off.

And no BS, Jorge the next day re-visited the issue. He repeated how much he loved it, and told me he wanted to invest. “I'll put in ten, fifteen thousand,” Jorge said. “I'll put in some of my bitcoin.”

And yep, I enjoyed the joshing from Team Boxing captain Shannon Briggs and Team MMA head Rampage Jackson.

They stirred the pot of their budding rivalry all week, and kept up the repartee, helped by emcee Nick Cannon, while helping advance the Triad Combat storylines and cement the team-centric nature of this concept.

Pulev holds a Triad Combat belt aloft as Briggs gives him an extra special “Let's go champ.” (Pic by Amanda Westcott)

Here is the release sent out by the Triller crew:

Arlington, TX (November 28, 2021) Saturday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, Triller Fight Club presented the highly anticipated debut of Triad Combat, the revolutionary, new sport leveling the playing field between boxing and MMA. With music icons Metallica performing throughout the evening including a full concert after the fights, the high-octane atmosphere for the over 20,000 in attendance was evident throughout the evening. The replay of this extraordinary event is available at FITE.

The battles were fought in a specially designed triangular ring utilizing two-minute rounds. In addition to Team Captains Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson for MMA and Shannon ‘Let’s Go Champ’ Briggs, among the celebrities in attendance were Unified Welterweight Boxing World Champion Errol Spence Jr. and former UFC World Champions Vitor Belfort and Tyron Woodley.

Briggs will battle Rampage, in the next installment of Triad Combat. (Pic by Amanda Westcott)

At the end of the evening, using team scoring, Jackson would lead his MMA charges to a 14-11 victory over Briggs’ team of boxers.

In the main event of Triad Combat, two-time heavyweight boxing world title challenger Kubrat ‘The Cobra’ Pulev used his exceptional power to score a battering left / right combination to the head of former UFC Heavyweight World Champion Frank Mir as the bout was called to a halt at the time of 1:59 in the opening stanza of their scheduled nine rounder. With Mir staggered from the punches, referee Dan Miragliotta called a halt to the action.

Co-featured at Triad Combat, boxer Alexander ‘The Great’ Flores valiantly survived an early avalanche of punches by MMA fighter Matt Mitrione to earn a seven round unanimous decision by scores of 68-64 twice and 67-65.

Flores gained some points for Team Boxing. (Pic by Amanda Westcott)

Flores would score at will in the second half of the fight as the tiring Mitrione would slow amidst his thirty-pound weight advantage.

Highly popular, former UFC star ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry tallied a hard earned split decision victory over boxer Michael Seals in a seven-round middleweight bout at the first Triad Combat. Despite getting dropped in the fourth round of their slugfest, Perry would stay on the offensive, aggressively scoring points in the second half of the fight. Scores at the end of the seven rounds were 67-65 twice for Perry and 67-65 for Seals.

“Sandman” entered…and grabbed Mir. (Pic by Amanda Westcott)

In an exciting, bombs away Triad Combat battle of Texas arch-rivals, MMA fighter Derrick Campos of Lubbock, Texas would drop boxer Brian Vera of Fort Worth, Texas twice enroute to a seven-round majority decision by scores of 67-63, 66-64 and 65-65. Campos lost a point in the second round for hitting Vera while he was down.

Vera's defense didn't impress much. (Pic by Amanda Westcott)

MMA fighter Albert Tumenov won a seven-round decision over boxer Scott Sigmon in the middleweight division. Tumenov’s heavy punches provided the difference in the Triad Combat slugfest, winning by scores of 70-63 on all three judges’ scorecards.

In a women’s featherweight fight, MMA fighter Alexa Culp of Missouri stopped boxer Angelina Hoffschneider of Denver, CO at the 0:46 mark of the initial stanza. Culp landed a barrage of punches to start the fight from which Hoffschneider had no answers.

Looked like Errol Spence dug the action in Arlington. (Pic by Amanda Westcott)

Opening the Triad Combat action in a spirited featherweight clash, boxer Harry Gigliotti won a hard fought, entertaining five-round split decision over MMA fighter Jacob Thrall by scores of 48-47 twice and 48-47 for Thrall.