UFC 126 Results: Silva vs. Belfort

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Main Card
Anderson Silva def. Vitor Belfort via first-round KO
Forrest Griffin def. Rich Franklin via unanimous decision
Jon Jones def. Ryan Bader via submission (guillotine choke)
Jake Ellenberger def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha via split decision
Miguel Torres def. Antonio Banuelos via unanimous decision

Undercard
Donald Cerrone def. Paul Kelly via submission (rear-naked choke)
Chad Mendes def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision
Demetrious Johnson def. Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto via unanimous decision
Paul Taylor def. Gabe Ruediger via second-round KO
Kyle Kingsbury def. Ricardo Romero via first-round TKO
Mike Pierce def. Kenny Robertson via second-round TKO

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Silva (27-4) eyes his eight middleweight title defense taking on Belfort (19-8), a former UFC light heavyweight champ and UFC 12 heavyweight tournament winner.

Belfort walks out with a preternatural calm on his face, like a man walking on the beach. Silva walks out to his usual entrance song, DMX's "Ain't No Sunshine." His son walks in alongside him. Crowd is pro-Belfort. They touch gloves and here we go.

Round 1: Both measure each other early, not a punch thrown in the opening minute. They dance around each other, very patient and cautious. Belfort catches a Silva kick and takes him down. Silva right back up. Belfort landed a left hook that was square. Silva danced backwards. Out of nowhere, the threw a front kick that landed right on Belfort's chin. Belfort crashed backwards and looked like he was out. The ref Mario Yamasaki let it go, and Silva pounced on him, landing a few punches for the knockout.

Winner: Anderson Silva via knockout, Rd. 1 (3:25)

The two hug in the cage afterward, after Silva celebrated his highlight reel win.
2/05/2011 11:59 PM ET By Mike Chiappetta

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Former UFC light heavyweight champion Griffin (17-6) meets former middleweight titleholder Rich Franklin (28-5) in a battle between two UFC fan favorites.

Round 1: Griffin caught Franklin's first kick and took him down. This is just what he said he'd hoped for. Griffin smothered him, using his size well from the top as Franklin stayed busy trying to escape. Griffin landed big elbows from the top. Franklin looked unbothered but could do nothing to change position. Griffin continued with unending activity from the top, and Franklin couldn't work free. The short punches and elbows easily gave Griffin round one, 10-9.

Round 2: I bet Franklin won't throw that kick again. Franklin having a bit of a problem with the distance, but he gets in enough to land a left hook. Lots of activity for both early in the round, but neither landing too much. Well, I was wrong, Franklin tried another kick, Forrest caught it, took his back and dragged him down. Griffin landed some strikes from the back. Franklin worked back to his feet, and broke free midway through the round. Griffin buckled Franklin with a right but Franklin fired back quickly. MMA Fighting scores it for Griffin 10-9.

Round 3: Franklin comes out head-hunting. A few bombs skip past Griffin's head and he thinks better of it and goes for a takedown. Franklin defends. It looks like both fighters are tiring, with Griffin taking gulps of air from time to time. Griffin scores with a left hook, then a body kick. Franklin fires off a right that lands. Most of this round has been in the center of the cage but neither able to find their target with any regularity. Griffin takes Franklin down with 1:20 left. Franklin reverses with 50 seconds left. Then Griffin gets up and takes Franklin down before Franklin gets to his feet. Very close round, but MMA Fighting scores it for Griffin 10-9. It will go to the judges.

Winner: Forrest Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2/05/2011 11:33 PM ET By Mike Chiappetta

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The Ultimate Fighter 8 light heavyweight winner Bader (12-0) puts his undefeated record on the line against the surging Jones (11-1), whose one loss was due to illegal elbows.

Round 1: An audible "Bader" chant goes up just before we begin. Bader opens with a left hook that misses. Jones shoots low for a single and takes Bader down. Bader tried a guillotine but Jones was quickly to side control and out. Jones moves to north-south. Bader just tried to clamp him. Jones went for a choke but Bader's arm was in, giving him space. Jones let it go but still had Bader against the cage. Bader got back to his feet midway through the round to a pop. Jones scored with a head kick. Bader shot in for a takedown, but with no set-up, Jones stuffed it easily and ended up on top. Jones landed a few elbows. Bader got back to his feet but Jones took him right back down and fed him more elbows. A dominant round for Jones, who closed it with a power left from the top, 10-9.

Round 2: Left hook from Jones that draws an ahh from the crowd but it only grazed Bader. Jones with a jumping head kick, then a leg kick. Bader can't get his offense started, but he does counter with a straight right as Jones wades in seconds later. Jones is owning the center of the cage. Bader is sliding along the outside. Jones continues with leg kicks. It's there any time he wants it. Jones throws a body kick, Bader caught it, but somehow Jones kept his balance and took Bader down with 1:10 left. Jones locked in a power guillotine and Bader had no choice but to tap out.

Winner: Jon Jones via guillotine submission

Afterward, Jones was awarded a chance to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for the light-heavyweight championship after it was revealed Evans blew out his knee, knocking him out of the fight. The fight will take place at UFC 128 in Newark, New Jersey.
2/05/2011 11:06 PM ET By Mike Chiappetta

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Torres (38-3) went back on the winning track last September with a submission win over Charlie Valencia. Banuelos (18-6), most known for his affiliation with Chuck Liddell, is coming off a win over Chad George at WEC 51.

Round 1: Torres and Banuelos feel each other out. Torres in orthodox stance extends his left hand, taking advantage of his reach advantage to size up Banuelos. Banuelos works punch combos to close the distance, but Torres evades well. Torres continues to throw out jabs as Banuelos continues searching for an opening to move in. The crowd is getting restless. Torres throws a leg kick that Banuelos catches and uses to take Torres down. Not wanting to climb into Torres' jiu-jitsu game, Banuelos lets Torres up. Torres lands with a straight right and is starting to be more active with his jabs to score instead of just feeling Banuelos out. Banuelos looks for the big shots, but Torres playing it safe. Crowd boos. 10-9 Torres.

Round 2: Pace is a little faster to start round two. Torres begins to mix up kicks to leg and body. Torres is playing it safe here understanding he has a significant reach advantage. Banuelos is looking to find his openings to counter Torres, but he's finding it extremely difficult. You can tell Banuelos wants to bang though. Torres is content with tagging Banuelos over and over with the jab. At the end of the round Torres allows the exchange and Banuelos lands his best shots (a left hook and overhand right) of the fight. 10-9 Torres.

Round 3: Banuelos at this point is willing to punch air to stay active. About a minute-and-a-half in, Torres begins to throw combos. Torres' head kick is blocked. Nice jab by Torres, which is the story of this fight. Torres controlling the cage in the last minute, stalking the hurt Banuelos. Torres lands a nice uppercut. Banuelos misses a back kick. They exchange but Banuelos can't get through. The bell sounds and Banuelos yells out a bad word begining with the letter F. 10-9 Torres.

Torres wins via unanimous decision. 30-27 3x

This wasn't the fight everyone was expecting, but Torres stuck to his game plan and did what he had to do to win his UFC debut.
2/05/2011 10:05 PM ET By Ray Hui

[RhacHead]

Can you believe how Jones just shut down Bader? I know Rua is an excellent fight and current champ for Light heavy but I'm pretty sure Jones is going have that belt at tthe end of UFC 128!

[mainbutter]

Can you believe how Jones just shut down Bader? I know Rua is an excellent fight and current champ for Light heavy but I'm pretty sure Jones is going have that belt at tthe end of UFC 128!

Yeah no kidding! I kinda thought that Jones would have to fight one more opponent before getting a title shot, but I'm glad he's not going to need it!