As someone who appreciates martial art technique, of course I enjoy seeing a close match up, where two fighters struggle back and forth to take the lead in the Octagon. But every now and then, a fighter walks in and so thoroughly demolishes his opponent that you can’t help but revel in the unquestioned domination. Fans of the UFC who enjoy online betting in Canada have also helped push this dynamic sport to a new level of popularity. Here are ten of our personal favorites – in no particular order.

Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin, UFC 101

If Silva hadn’t already registered as a legend in everyone’s mind by this point, this fight secured that status. He had already scored wins against Chris Leben, Dan Henderson, and Rich Franklin (twice), but he ran a clinic on Griffin in the 3:23 they spent in the Octagon together. It was difficult to pick one fight of Silva’s. As anyone who has seen him fight knows, pretty much anytime he enters the Octagon, he moves like Neo in The Matrix. What makes this fight particularly impressive is that by the end, Forrest actually waves him off and surrenders. Astounding.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jason Miller, UFC 52

In the lead up to this fight, Miller said he was going to make GSP take advantage of Canada’s free healthcare. GSP made him eat his words. For the entire three-round fight, GSP so utterly dominated Miller, that it almost feels like you’re watching a video of a 9-year-old boy trying to fight his much-bigger 12-year-old brother. There isn’t a minute where Miller even seemed to have a chance at winning this fight.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II, UFC 155

JDS won his first battle with Velasquez in just 64 seconds. It was the only fight Cain had ever lost, and at the time of this writing, it still is. In this rematch, Velasquez was so terrifyingly dominant, that by halfway through the second round, I was convinced it wouldn’t go to a third. But it did – and to a fourth, and to a fifth. Dos Santos took and survived one of the most vicious beatings ever witnessed in the Octagon. It was frightening to watch. In photos from after the match, Junior looks like he’d spent the last hour making out with a hornet’s nest.

Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, UFC 156

Overeem was 4-to-1 favorite to win the fight. The UFC had basically given him another win to add to his record. Well, they tried to give it to him, at least. For the first two rounds, it was a pretty exciting fight, a lot of back and forth, but the ‘Reem was clearly leading the charge. Joe Rogan even pointed out in the commentary that “Alistair’s got his hands down, chin up — not worried at all about ‘Bigfoot.'” Maybe he should have been, because when the bell rang and round three started, a raging bull let loose out of Bigfoot’s corner. Quickly pinned against the cage, Overeem could do nothing to stop the onslaught of blows from Bigfoot. It’s hard to say for sure, but watching the replay, it looked like Overeem was already unconscious when the last five or six blows landed, and it was only the force of Bigfoot’s uppercuts keeping him upright against the cage. This might not have been a one-sided battle, but the ending was so severe that this fight definitely deserves the massacre label.

BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson, UFC 80

By 2 minutes into the first round, Penn was already dominating this fight, controlling Stevenson on the ground, applying tons of pressure and landing vicious blows. At about 30 seconds from the end of Round 1, Penn landed an elbow to Stevenson’s forehead that opened up a gushing wound worthy of a Wes Craven slasher films. Amazingly, the ring doctors were able to stop the bleeding enough between rounds for the fight to keep going, but Stevenson was on the receiving end of more brutal punishment for the rest of the fight. Penn locked in a rear-naked choke 4 minutes into Round 2, but by that point, BJ could have finished the fight any way he wanted.

Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar II, UFC 100

Mir had beaten Lesnar in their first meeting, but Brock had learned a lesson or two since then, and this fight turned out quite different. Right from the beginning, Lesnar took Mir down, and proceeded to demonstrate how he earned a record of 106–5 in NCAA college wrestling. Total control from the top, Frank Mir had no answers to Brock’s pressure. In the second round, Mir tried a different tactic and attempted to turn the fight into a slugfest. Lesnar slammed Mir to the ground, and pounded his face with anvil-sized fists until the ref stopped the match.

Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen, UFC 159

A lot of people wrote this fight off as a slam-dunk for Jones. But Sonnen was the guy who had almost beaten Anderson Silva twice. He has incredible wrestling, and is hilarious to listen to when he talks smack. It was arguable that Sonnen was going to present at least a bit of a challenge to Jones. But that never happened. Not only did Jones bash Sonnen unrelentingly, he landed three takedowns on a man who had never been taken down in his UFC career, and all within the first 4 minutes of the first round. Before the end of that round, Jones delivered enough crushing blows that the fight was stopped.

Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture, UFC 68

At the time of the fight, Couture was 43 years old, while Sylvia was two days shy of his 31st birthday. Couture hadn’t fought as a heavyweight in close to five years, and Sylvia was 41 pounds heavier than Couture, was seven inches taller, and had a whopping 11.5” reach advantage. It was almost laughable. What happened next though was unbelievable. Couture absolutely controlled every second of the fight. While the match the distance, and not much blood was shed, there is no question that this fight was a massacre. The final score was 50-45, but I personally would have scored Sylvia an eight in at least two of those rounds.

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, UFC 146

I tried to avoid repeating anyone in this list, but how could any list of massacres ignore this one? And this one has Cain beating the winner of another fight in this list, so here we go! This fight was a blood bath, literally. Bigfoot tried to land a kick early in the fight, but Velasquez grabbed his foot and topped the giant to the ground. Cain proceeded to open a massive cut on Silva’s forehead that ended up covering both fighters in the thick, red life-juice. The fight was completely one-sided, and before the end of the first round, Silva had lost not only a pint or two of blood, but the fight as well

Gary Goodridge vs Paul Herrera, UFC 6

I threw this one in for the laugh factor. Over in just a few seconds, it’s a reminder of how much the sport has evolved its 20-year run. Goodridge, in a full martial arts gear no less, quickly trapped both of Herrera’s arms in a crucifix lock and proceeded to deliver the most thorough elbow beat down anyone has ever received in the Octagon. Less than 15 seconds after the start of the fight, Herrera was unconscious, and Goodridge had secured his place in UFC history. No matter the UFC event and no matter the fighters involved, fans of the UFC can always visit the top rated betting sites at Online Betting Canada to get in on the action.

The UFC has made a lot of noise about its schedule to end 2013.

I can’t argue with the organization, because the year is ending (barring injuries) with a tremendous series of title fights. Here is how I rank which title fights I am most looking forward to:

7. Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland at UFC 165 (for UFC Interim Bantamweight title) – Barao is really a fighter that deserves more pound-for-pound credit. The guy has been a wrecking machine for quite some time. No disrespect to Eddie Wineland, who is a gritty fighter, but I don’t think he is in the same class as the champion. Wineland has a puncher’s chance, but this should be an easy defense for Barao.

6. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate at UFC 168 (for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight title) – I have a great deal of respect for Rousey and her skills. She has already established herself as a dominant champion in this division. I just don’t see Tate being able to win this fight. Rousey made quick work of her the first time and I don’t think that will change the second time. Tate would have to overpower Rousey with striking, and that is not her game. I think a fight with Cat Zingano would have been much more entertaining and had a greater possibility for an upset.

5. Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 (for the UFC Heavyweight title) – This is the trilogy fight for these two, but both fights have been decisive loses for each man. I think the second fight told more about the matchup than the first. Velasquez was able to tire dos Santos in the first round with his aggressive pace. As long as Velasquez can avoid the big punch from the challenger, he should be able to dominate this fight again with his wrestling and ground control.

4. Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 (for the UFC Light Heavyweight title) – Jones has been absolutely dominant in this division, but Gustafsson appears to be a new challenge for Jones. Like the champion, Gustaffson has the ability to use his length to gain a striking advantage. The length edge that Jones always has on his opponents won’t quite be as much of an advantage in this bout. The question coming into this fight is can the challenger handle Jones’ wrestling, and can he go 25 minutes if need be?

3. Georges St. Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 (for the UFC Welterweight title) – GSP has been the kingpin of this division for a long time, but Hendricks seems to have the right style to finally dethrone the champion. Hendricks has the wrestling background to contend with St. Pierre, but has the powerful hands to knock him out. The question will be if Hendricks can deal with St. Pierre’s jab and technical striking, and if he can go 25 minutes. If the fight ends quickly, Hendricks will be the champ. If the fight goes into the later rounds, you would have to think GSP will retain his title.

2. Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva at UFC 168 (for the UFC Middleweight title) – Was it a fluke when Weidman beat Silva? I think so, but the champion will have a chance to prove me wrong at UFC 168. I am looking forward to see how Silva approaches this fight. I truly believe if he is focused on winning and not putting on a show, he can’t be beat. I feel he could have beaten Weidman whenever he wanted to in the first fight, but was trying to embarrass the opponent instead, and got caught. This time around, will Silva take the fight seriously? Will he try to prove a point again? Weidman will probably have to have the fight of his life to win.

1. Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 (for the UFC Lightweight title) – Of them all, this fight has me the most excited. The first fight between these two was tremendous and non-stop action. Now, both fighters are greatly improved. Henderson has evolved as a powerful striker with great wrestling and scrambling ability. Pettis is one of the most skilled and dynamic strikers in all of MMA and he is tremendous at fighting off his back. Both men can go 25 minutes and have plenty of motivation to win this fight. I expect this fight to live up to the hype.

As expected, the fallout following Anderson Silva’s epic loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 continues, particularly in Brazil where Silva has achieved God-like status. The loss was embarrassing for Silva, particularly the manner in which he lost. The fact that many are even questioning whether he threw the fight makes matters even worse for Silva.

“Nobody likes to lose,” Silva told “Fantastico” from his academy in Los Angeles.”I trained four months to win, [and] I lost in the worst way. I have never lost by knockout, and of course it will be marked on my history. After everything passed, I felt that I needed to answer many questions to myself. I don’t want to take anything from Chris Weidman, but I lost to myself, and that’s the worst loss that can happen.”

Arrogance was always a part of his game, but he definitely paid the price of believing his own hype and fighting recklessly. It will be fascinating to see if he can come back focused the next time around. We’ve seen this pattern in many sports including boxing, and talent tends to bounce back when coupled with the motivation of a humiliating defeat. It’s hard to imagine Silva not using this as the springboard to even more impressive wins in the future. That’s what great champions do, and now he will be put to the test. Weidman will have his work cut out for him.

Of course this has shaken up the world of MMA betting. Controversial fights always helped boxing, and it will help the UFC as well as it just draws even more interest in big fights and MMA betting odds. With a rematch set, we can only imagine how much hype will be there for this next fight and how much action there will be in places like Las Vegas. Silva’s potential redemption will be the story of the year.

It didn’t take long for Anderson Silva to change his mind about his fighting future.

Just moments after being knocked out by Chris Weidman in the main event of UF 162, the long-time middleweight champion said he no longer wanted to fight for the title, and a rematch with Weidman wouldn’t be happening.

A week later, the rematch has already been booked.

Weidman will make his first title defense against Silva as the main event of UFC 168 on Dec. 28 in Las Vegas.

The champion, Weidman, is the clear underdog in the rematch, as many feel Silva can beat Weidman as long as he doesn’t clown around.

It is not often that a champion comes into a fight, especially a rematch against an opponent he already beat, as the clear underdog.

Only a few come to mind when it comes to title fights.

Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre at UFC 83: Serra shocked the world by winning the UFC Middlweight Championship, beating GSP at UFC 69, but most looked at the win as a fluke. Serra did little to fight off those opinions in the rematch, as St. Pierre dominated the bout and finished him off with body shots in under 10 minutes.

Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn at UFC 118: Edgar won a controversial decision over Penn at UFC 112 for the UFC Lightweight Championship, and shocked the MMA world just by lasting 25 minutes with Penn. Many expected a motivated Penn to come out and run through Edgar in the rematch, but the opposite happened. Edgar fought a nearly flawless 25 minutes and earned the decisive decision over Penn. It was a fight that put Edgar on the map and forever dethroned Penn as the king of the lightweights.

Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61: It was at UFC 59 that Arlovski looked to be set to successfully defend his UFC Heavyweight Championship against Syliva. He had rocked the challenger with a big hand that sent Sylvia crashing to the mat. However, Sylvia got up, and as Arlovski was in a flurry trying to finish the fight, Sylvia caught Arlovski right on the button and finished him for the shocking comeback win. Months later, the two had the immediate rematch and many expected Arlovski to get the best of Sylvia, but that didn’t happen. In a rather tame fight, Sylvia won a 25-minute decision. Arlovski was too timid and seemed to be afraid of getting knocked out. The former champion never seemed to be the same fighter after losing to Sylvia.

Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in UFC history.

Nothing that happened Saturday night can change that.

But, there is no denying that the way in which he lost the title to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 tarnishes his career, if even just a little bit.

We all think of great champions in any sport and we want to see them going out as a champion, giving a heroic effort, but being bested by someone who is just better than them.

With all due respect to Chris Weidman, Silva lost Saturday’s fight more than Weidman won it.

We have seen it before, Silva with his hands down, challenging his opponent to knock him out. But, unlike some previous times, Silva was making no attempt to actually win the fight.

He did his usual dodges and taunts, but instead of throwing his usual pin-point punches, he preferred to go with some open-hand slaps. He was disrespecting Weidman, as if to say “you are the guy that is supposed to destroy me?” The fight was shaping up to be more like bouts Silva had with Thales Leites or Demian Maia, where he wanted to embarrass them for 25 minutes as opposed to do his job and finish his opponent.

I have no doubt in my mind that Silva could have won that fight. I am not saying he didn’t want to, but he clearly wanted to do it with a message. We have seen fighters pay before for taunting, and Silva finally paid for his taunting.

It would be hard to imagine someone putting on a 16-fight UFC win streak like the one Silva just had. During the run, there were so many impressive knockouts and finishes. His talents are truly once-in-a-lifetime. Unfortunately for Silva, he didn’t go out as a champion. He went out as a clown, and that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.