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.

We just can’t have nice things.

There is a serious issue going on with the UFC as of late – injuries.

This past week, the scheduled super-fight between Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis for later this summer was scrapped when it was discovered that Pettis injured his knee.

I can’t tell you how disappointing it was to hear this news. I was looking forward to this fight as much as I have any other fight, ever.

The styles of both men would have made for a tremendous chess match and exciting battle.

But, alas, it is not to be.

I can’t say that I didn’t see it coming. There has been a rash of injuries that have cancelled fights in recent years for the UFC.

Even yesterday’s UFC had to go with a replacement main event when interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao had to back out of his title fight with Eddie Wineland due to an injury.

Prior to that, UFC 160 had its co-main event change to Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunter after Alistair Overeem was injured.

It seems like every announced PPV card ultimately gets changed due to injuries.

The UFC implemented an insurance plan for its fighters that cover training injuries a few years back. The plan is a great idea and something the organization needed to do. But, since that plan came into place, more injuries seem to be taking place in training.

I am guessing the amount of injuries isn’t increasing in training, simply the fighters are more willing to pull out of a fight because their medical care will be covered. Prior to that, a fighter needed to compete in order to receive that medical coverage. So, if a fighter was hurt in training, he needed to grit it out and fight in order to get his injury repaired after his bout.

The coverage plan can’t change, but the intensity of training can. Fighters need to be smarter in how they prepare. Their grappling and wrestling practices are causing too many injuries. Fighters need to do what they can to be ready for a fight, but they can’t do it at a risk of injuring themselves and having a fight be cancelled.

There are plenty of exciting fights that could take place in the UFC, including a super-fight like Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. But, what are the odds we will ever see it take place where both men will stay injury free in order to fight?

There was a time when two men ruled the UFC heavyweight division.

Those men were Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski.

The two had established themselves as the best heavyweights in the UFC at the time, and had a trilogy of fights for the UFC to capitalize on.

At that time, it was also clear that there were better heavyweight fighters out there, mainly in PRIDE, thus the trilogy didn’t have that feel of greatness.

Now, years later, the UFC finds itself with the heavyweight trilogy that it always longed for.

There is no question that heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and top contender Junior dos Santos are the top two heavyweight fighters in the world. They verified as much on Saturday with their knockout wins over Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt, respectively.

Now, the UFC is able to market a rubber match between the two after each one has decisively beat the other.

Velasquez and dos Santos have provided a legitimacy to the heavyweight division that has been lacking for a long time.

Sure, there have been some impressive fighters over the last decade, but none that were as technically skilled as Velasquez and dos Santos.

Brock Lesnar was a draw, and a physical freak, but he proved he wasn’t a fighter when he cowered in a ball at the first body kick he took.

Velasquez and dos Santos would have dominated the UFC in the early 2000s and the winner of this upcoming trilogy fight could rule the roost for quite some time.

The UFC finally has its mega heavyweight fight, and it is Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III.

Junior Dos Santos verified himself as the top heavyweight in the UFC as he knocked out Frank Mir in the second round of the main event of UFC 146 on Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Coming into his bout with the former UFC champion, Mir, Dos Santos was expected to win with his crisp striking, and that is exactly what led to the win.

After somewhat of an eventful first round that saw Dos Santos win thanks to his striking, the champion managed to finish off the fight in the second thanks to a big right hand that caught Mir flush on the cheek. JDS then followed up with a flurry on the ground to earn the TKO stoppage.

The win for JDS was as big for him as it was a big loss for Mir. The former champion likely won’t see another title shot anytime soon after losing his last three matches where a belt was on the line by devastating knockout.

Mir has had quite the career, but it is clear he doesn’t have the ability to contend with explosive strikers that have the ability to keep the fight standing. He has been brutally beaten by the likes of Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and now Dos Santos.

In the co-main event, Cain Velasquez destroyed Antonio Silva in Silva’s UFC debut. The former heavyweight champ bloodied Silva thanks to a big elbow across the nose and he followed up with a number of strikes thereafter.

The win for Velasquez probably pushes him right back up to the No. 1 contender spot, as Dos Santos knocked him out in their meeting last November.

For complete results from UFC 146, check out the jump.

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