In a move that took me back to playing Street Fighter II, Anderson Silva did his best Dhalsim impression in knocking out Vitor Belfort to mark his eleventh straight title defense. The middleweight champion circled around the challenger for the better portion of the first round prior to the spectacular highlight-reel finish, knocking him out with a straight front-kick to the face.
“We must have called at least 1,000 fights and we’ve never seen this before,” announcer Joe Rogan told his partner Mike Goldberg. Indeed this was another first to add to “Spyder” Silva’s legacy. Now the possibility of the largest superfight in the mixed martial arts looms provided Georges St. Pierre gets past Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto.
Also on the card, Jon Jones summarily dispatched of fellow prospect Ryan Bader by submission in the second round of their matchup. An acclaimed wrestler, Bader was no match for Jones in the takedown department and saw himself eventually fall prey to a devastating guillotine choke. With this win, it was officially announced that “Bones” Jones would get his light heavyweight title shot sooner than later, as he is now confirmed to take on current champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 129 in Newark, New Jersey.
Jones’ Team Jackson teammate Rashard Evans was originally slotted for that title shot. Unfortunately, a knee injury in training will prevent him from capitalizing on Rua’s return after his own lengthy layoff. With that, “Bones” Jones now has the opportunity to lay claim to a belt many have long said was his in waiting.
In another bout, two former UFC champions locked horns in Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin. This fight went all three rounds, concluding in victory for the Team Couture product, Griffin. Suffering from a clear size disadvantage, Franklin was gradually overcome by the bigger fighter despite being game in the fight. Time will tell what the next steps are for these two veterans moving forward.
The PPV card was rounded off by two bouts that went to decision. In a bantamweight scrap between Miguel Torres and Antonio Banuelos, the taller Torres was able to use effective boxing to get a safe victory over the shorter fighter. Finally, Jake Ellenberger was able to out-point the debuting Brazilian Carlos Eduardo Rocha with the deciding takedowns after surviving a first round assault of submission attempts to take the victory in their bout.
UFC 126 – Full Card Results
- Anderson Silva defeats Vitor Belfort by KO (Front Kick) in Round 1, 3:25
- Forrest Griffin defeats Rich Franklin by unanimous decision (29-28,29-28,29-28)
- Jon Jones submits Ryan Bader by Guillotine Choke in Round 2, 4:20
- Jake Ellenberger defeats Carlos Eduardo Rocha by split decision (29-28,29-28,27-30)
- Miguel Torres defeats Antonio Banuelos by unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-27)
- Donald Cerrone submits Paul Kelly by Rear Naked Choke in Round 3 , 3:48
- Chad Mendes defeats Michihiro Omigawa by unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-27)
- Demetrious Johnson defeats Norifumi Yamamoto by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Paul Taylor defeats Gabe Ruediger by KO in Round 2, 1:42
- Kyle Kingsbury defeats Ricardo Romero by TKO (Punches) in Round 1, 0:21
- Mike Pierce defeats Kenny Robertson by TKO (Punches) in Round 2, 0:29
