Jon Jones maintained his hold on the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on Saturday with a fourth-round submission win over Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 152.

Jones came into the fight as the heavy favorite and he dominated most of the fight. Jones did nearly get caught in an armbar in the early going, but escaped and controlled the fight from there. Jones used his grappling and elbows to bloody up Belfort, and in the fourth round, caught the challenger in an Americana for the victory.

Belfort deserves credit for his effort and taking the fight on short notice in a bigger weight class, but Jones is just the better man.

With Dan Henderson dealing with his injury, there is no clear contender for Jones in the 205-pound division. That champion is becoming as dominant in his class as Anderson Silva is at 185 pounds.

In the co-main event, Demetrious Johnson won the first ever UFC Flyweight Championship with a decision victory over Joseph Benavidez.

The fight had a fast pace and was very competitive, as expected. The difference in the bout was the array of leg kicks that Johnson landed on Benavidez. The kicks slowly wore down Benavidez and allowed Johnson to control the pace. Benavidez still did enough to earn the victory on one of the scorecards, but Johnson was the victor on the other two cards, and in the eyes of most of the fans.

Johnson now is the first 125-pound champion in the UFC. It will be interesting to see how this division grows in the near future with a thin roster of talent in the weight class.

In another big bout, middleweight Michael Bisping defeated Brian Stann by decision to improve his ranking in the 185-pound class.

Bisping was able to out-point Stann with his technical striking and wrestling ability. Bisping actually utilized some nice takedowns in the latter stages of the fight to neutralize Stann.

Looking at Bisping, his resume is pretty strong and it appears he deserves a title shot. He has never been given a crack at the gold but has steadily been near the top of the division for years.

Check out the full results after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

After a close first encounter, a second fight was deemed necessary.

After UFC 150, we may need a third.

Benson Henderson managed to retain his UFC Lightweight Championship over Frankie Edgar in the main event of Saturday’s card, as two judges saw him winning a 48-47 decision, while another saw Edgar winning 49-46.

Most MMA writers feel that Edgar actually did win the fight, but most will also agree that neither man really dominated the fight.

Both fighters had high moments, but Edgar took on less damage this time around and Henderson didn’t seem to get into the same flow as he did in their first meeting.

Still, Edgar has now lost twice in a row to Henderson, no matter how close. It will be hard for the UFC to grant Edgar another title fight, as they have already committed to giving Nate Diaz the next shot.

In the co-main event, Donald Cerrone KO’d Melvin Guillard in an exciting and quick contest.

Guillard actually landed a big punch to open the fight and looked to be on the verge of an upset, but Cerrone gathered himself, and a minute later, landed a kick and right hand combo that put Guillard out cold.

The win for Cerrone keeps him in the discussion of top lightweight contenders, as his lone loss in the UFC is to Diaz by decision. Guillard now falls back out of the top 10, as he has been finished in the first round in two of his last three fights.

For complete results for UFC 150, click on the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

UFC 149 saw a new champion crowned, an interim champ that is.

Renan Barao pushed his winning streak to 29 fights by beating Urijah Faber via unanimous decision to win the UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship on Saturday night.

Barao made not have gotten the finish, but he decisively beat Faber thanks to his reach and his kicks. Each round he managed to out-point Faber and stay out of danger, leaving “The California Kid” puzzled throughout.

Barao certainly beat Faber in easier fashion than the actual champ, Dominick Cruz. It will be interesting to see if Cruz can find a way to stop the runaway train that is Barao. Barao may very well be the best 135-pounder in the world.

Faber has now lost his last five championship bouts, dating back to his time as a featherweight in the WEC. Though he is still highly competitive, he will likely not get another title fight anytime soon.

In the co-main event, Hector Lombard had a very unimpressive UFC debut.

The man considered to be a potential threat to Anderson Silva proved to be more of a threat to himself, as he was very tentative against Tim Boetsch. Neither man did much to impress, but two of the three judges believed that Boetsch did a little bit more, which earned him a split decision.

The poor showing from both men may open the door for Chris Weidman to earn the next middleweight title shot following his brutal KO win over Mark Munoz last week.

For complete results from UFC 149, check out the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

The sequel looked a lot like the original, only a little bit longer.

Rich Franklin once again defeated Wanderlei Silva by decision in another exciting fight to headline UFC 147 in Brazil on Saturday, but this fight went five rounds instead of three.

Each fighter had their moment in the contest, with Silva nearly finishing Franklin to end the second round following a flurry, but “Ace” survived and went on to dictate the rest of the fight with his crisp, technical striking.

The win was impressive for the former middleweight champion, as he took this bout on short notice and fought in Silva’s raucous home country.

Now, the question is, what is next for both men?

Franklin is still one of the best, but he isn’t quite enough any more to challenge for a title. Silva is clearly far from what he was in the PRIDE days, but still entertaining. He has become somewhat of a gate keeper in the middleweight division.

In the co-main event of Saturday’s card, Fabricio Werdum improved to 2-0 in his return to the octagon, as he ran through Mike Russow.

Werdum continued to show his improved striking, as he quickly overwhelmed the inexperienced Russow with an array of strikes. Once Werdum rocked Russow, he quickly finished up on the ground and earned the TKO stoppage midway through the first.

Werdum is making a strong case to be considered a top 5 UFC heavyweight with his two impressive showings since coming back to the UFC. Perhaps a battle with the likes of Frank Mir could be next in the cards.

For complete results from UFC 147, check out the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

Jon Jones has been as impressive as anyone in his short UFC career, but on Saturday, he continued to impress.

The UFC Light Heavyweight Champion ran through another opponent at UFC 135, beating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by submission in the fourth round to retain his title.

The first three rounds saw Jones dictate the fight with his long reach, especially with his kicks. Jackson was never able to get inside that long reach, but did show some good takedown defense in the fight.

Once the fourth round came, Jones caught Jackson with a big straight punch that seemed to stun Jackson. The fight then soon went to the ground and Jones quickly secured a rear-naked choke and forced a tap of Jackson. It was just the second submission loss of Jackson’s career and his first since 2001.

Jones seemed to only hurt himself in the fight as opposed to take damage from Jackson. He appeared to injure his feet from throwing a number of kicks at Jackson. Hopefully he doesn’t have a broken foot so he and Rashad Evans can face off sooner rather than later.

In the co-main event, Josh Koscheck knocked out Matt Hughes at 4:59 of the first round to get his first win in over a year. Hughes put on an impressive striking display in the early portion of the round but eventually got cracked, and that led to the finish.

Hughes hinted that Saturday’s loss could be his last fight, but didn’t say the actual word “retire”. I will touch more on that tomorrow.

For full UFC 135 results, check out the jump. Read the rest of this entry »