UFC 126 - The Results

The most anticipated MMA fight in recent history will open fire. Anderson Silva has been UFC’s best, taking out every single fighter Dana White orders him to face. Vitor Belfort was a young kid from the pre-rules UFC days and his comeback has been heavily-favored by fight fans around the globe.

Basically, Vitor Belfort is the best fighter Anderson Silva hasn’t faced.

But those days are over.

GAME STARTS NOW!

MIGUEL TORRES VERSUS ANTONIO BANUELOS

Bantamweight Bout

I woke up late and never saw this bout. I could catch it on the Encore presentation. Torres defeated Banuelos via unanimous decision.

WINNER: MIGUEL TORRES

JAKE ELLENBERGER VERSUS CARLOS EDUARDO ROCHA

Welterweight Bout

Backstory: Jake was expecting a main event-like match as he really wanted to face Jon Fitch. However, Fitch was pulled out of the fight because Fitch will headline the next UFC PPV against “The Prodigy” BJ Penn. Rocha is a heavy welterweight but is nothing compared to Fitch.

ROUND 1:

Rocha showed Ellenberger that he should forget think about the missed Fitch fight because he is right there. Rocha exposed his superb grappling skills and his ability to raise the stakes down the mat. His high level jiu-jitsu skills were on here! He showcased a lot of moves quickly and effortlessly and Ellenberger was in red alert mode. However, Rocha couldn’t finish off Ellenberger. Perhaps there was a reason why most of Rocha’s fights never go to distance.

ROUND 2:

The action mellowed at this point as Ellenberger served up his stand up game and while knees were flying everywhere, Rocha couldn’t apply the locks he made in the first round. In the closing minutes, Ellenberger went for a takedown and if Rocha had time to deliver a move, he would have done it. Ellenberger wins this round!

ROUND 3:

This round featured a lot of kicks. Lots of. Ellenberger tags Rocha but when Rocha fell he merely pushes Rocha and doesn’t want to commit on a ground and pound battle. That was actually smart for Ellenberger since Rocha can’t capitalize on his strengths. Rocha gets up and then they again engaged on a stand-up battle. Ellenberger lands another hovering punch but Rocha answers with a kick. That kick might have been the reason why Ellenberger had a cut near his right temple. Ellenberger finishes the fight by scoring a takedown.

WINNER: JAKE ELLENBERGER VIA SPLIT DECISION

Postmatch, Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg wonders who in the blue hell scored it 30-27 in favor of Carlos Rocha.

JON JONES VERSUS RYAN BADER

Light Heavyweight Bout

I predicted Jon “Bones” Jones would lose to Ryan Bader but dammit, I forgot about his 10.5 reach advantage. Bader looks rock-hard but I wished he didn’t have geeky nickname. Who believes this guy was a geek in high school???

ROUND 1:

An action-packed started resulted to a takedown by Jones. At this point, Jones’ reach advantage is making things in his favor. At 6’4 and 84.5 inches, it seems as if he’s poised to join a Slam Dunk competition. Anyway, down the mat Bader applies a guillotine on Jones but he gives it up quickly after Jon Jones unleashed a barrage of elbows he’s been famous for. Then in a north-south position he tries to apply a choke. Bader escapes it and fans erupted when they stood face to face again. Bader tries a takedown but it was stopped by Jones which left Bader face down on the mat. Jones gets on the back of Bader by leapfrogging Bader. Jones takes down Bader again as the round close.

ROUND 2:

Jones continues to utilize his massive reach. Not only are his arms long, his legs are lengthy as well. Jones unleashes a combo of leg kicks and punches. Another takedown on Bader made Jones to control the match again. And in some instance Jones placed Bader in a bad spot and this poised Jones to lock in the guillotine. Jones wins!

WINNER: JON JONES VIA SUBMISSION

CO-MAIN EVENT – FORREST GRIFFIN VERSUS RICH FRANKLIN

Light Heavyweight Bout

The 14-month layoff doesn’t make Forrest rusty. But looking at Forrest, he looks like a heavyweight because Franklin gives up a lot of size to Griffin. Both guys tap fists before the ref could even say it.

ROUND 1:

Both guys test the other’s mettle. Griffin scores a takedown. We then saw an all-out brawl from down the mat but in the course of the ground and pound, Forrest, the one on top, was controlling the action! The rest of the round continued and ended with Forrest unleashing a series of punches and elbows while Griffin was busy not attacking but defending against Forrest and maybe he’s controlling Forrest by blocking his left arm.

ROUND 2:

Franklin looks significant tired after escaping the wrath of Forrest’s ground and pound. After a series of punches, Griffin takes down Rich. Now we see Griffin hugging Rich and Franklin is defending it via wrist control. Ace was trying to rid Franklin of Griffin and he succeeds. Forrest tags Rich and his feet wobble but Rich recovers. Big kick from Franklin! Good combination thrown by both guys. A great kick from Forrest closes the round.

ROUND 3:

Rich starts the round on fire. Forrest gives him his kick and fist combo. Forrest tries to take him down to no avail. Both fighters are connecting with their kicks. They are like mirror images of each other! Forrest gets the take down but Rich escapes it and takes a takedown of his own. Both fighters stand up and Forrest reverses it. Back and forth action from both fighters makes the fight fun! Still in the last moments of the fight both fighters are pressing the action!

WINNER: FORREST GRIFFIN VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION

All three judges score it 29-28 in favor of Griffin. Postfight, Forrest tells Joe Rogan that he was rusty. He doesn’t look like one... I called this fact earlier in my writeup.  Joe then makes Forrest happy by plugging his books. I will buy that book... once I saw a price down version of it in National Bookstore.

MAIN EVENT: ANDERSON SILVA (CHAMPION) VERSUS VITOR BELFORT

For the UFC Middleweight Championship

Anderson Silva is said to be offended by Vitor Belfort wanting to challenge him for his belt. The crowd isn’t in Anderson’s side. Belfort literally grew up in front of the fans’ eyes.

ROUND 1:

Southpaw against southpaw means it would be a boring start. Both fighters size up the other. Actually they are just circling the other and the crowd hates this. Vitor looks scared. Anderson was caught jogging and Vitor kicked him to the face. Anderson was again goofing around when Vitor exploded! Then the brawl begins! Vitor seems to be the busier among the two. But then again, maybe what Belfort did was a bad idea. Silva front kicks Belfort to the face and Belfort goes down! DEFEATED BY A FRONT KICK TO THE FACE! Vitor’s head bounced and he just fell down. Worst, Vitor’s hands were up top! It was like a kick straight from the Kung-Pow movie but unlike in that movie, the kick wasn’t supposed to be funny! Vitor for the first time in his career was knocked down! This was definitely the KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT!

WINNER: ANDERSON SILVA VIA KNOCKOUT

Postmatch, Silva wanted to tell everyone that Vitor Belfort is no fluke and Belfort wanted to tell everyone he wil be back to bring back the fire.

He should.

The match was unable to bring the awesome but fortunately the undercards impressed a lot of people. I want to see Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin in a five-round match. I also want to see Belfort return to glory but I don’t think he needs to Silva right now.

Come February 28 (March 1 US Time), expect a technical brawl of that proportions as BJ Penn faces off against Jon Fitch, Michael Bisping versus Jorge Rivera, Carlos Condit versus Chris “Lights Out” Lytle, and Dennis Siver versus George Sotiropoulos!

Game over!