UFC 126 Review

They said Vitor Belfort was the biggest threat. He was claimed to be the “most deadly assassin” the champion has ever faced. He came to “bring the fight, not to lose but to win.” He was built up as the perfect fighter to beat the champion, but with one swift straight front kick, Anderson Silva rebuffed all those statements and is still the UFC Middleweight champion. Belfort came out focused and calm but was never able to unleash his lethal left hand upon the middleweight champion. Instead, Anderson Silva added onto his already amazing legacy with a highlight real knockout. The kick, snapped Belfort's head back and crumbled him to the ground and just like that the biggest Middleweight fight in history was over 4:25 into the first round. 

With the victory, Anderson Silva continued to add onto his UFC records and legacy as the best fighter to ever compete within the organization. He now has a record thirteen consecutive victories in thirteen bouts in the UFC and has defended his Middleweight championship a record eight times. He won the championship from Rich Franklin in October of 2006 and has defended it in spectacular fashion ever since. Once again, Anderson Silva proved he is not only the pound for pound best fighter in the world but a true martial arts master. There is not one fighter or human being on this planet like Silva. In the cage, he is without a doubt the most creative and intelligent fighter of all time and he is getting better with every fight. Silva has cleaned house in the middleweight division of the UFC as there are currently no true top contenders for him to face, and a mega fight against Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is on the horizon if GSP can get past challenger Jake Shields in April.  At UFC 126, it was proven Anderson Silva is the best fighter of all time. 

In undercard action, two former champions met in the nights co-main event when former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffen battled the last man to hold the UFC Middleweight championship before Silva, Rich Franklin. This fight was Griffen's return to the UFC, after a year long absence to heal nagging injuries, and he picked up right where he left off with a unanimous decision victory. It was obvious from the weigh-in, that Griffen was going to be the much larger fighter in the fight and his size was the key to this victory. Franklin had a slight speed advantage but it was not enough to to cause Griffen any problems. Griffen used his size to his advantage and in the opening round, he took Franklin down and beat him up the entire time. The second and third round was largely contested on the feet but still Griffen got the best of the exchanges and in the end it was clear he was the winner. Griffen was just too big and Franklin could not find a way to neutralize the size difference. From here, the two go on separate roads as Griffen is looking at bigger marquee match-ups on his quest to regain the Light Heavyweight championship and Franklin has to go back to the drawing board. Franklin is without a doubt a great fighter but he is currently stuck in limbo and might even be considered the gate keeper of the division. His skill set is good enough to compete and put on exciting fights but he is just too small to compete with the ever growing elite of the Light Heavyweight division.

The other marquee matchup at UFC 126 was the contest between two rising up and comers in the Light Heavyweight division, as the top prospect in the sport Jon Jones took on the undefeated Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader. From the opening seconds of the fight, Jones showed why he has  gained so much hype as he immediately took down the acclaimed wrestler and put him on his back. From there Jones controlled Bader for most of the round trying various submission attempts until Bader was finally able to make it back to his feet. On the feet, Jones looked like he was a weight class above Bader and used his 84.5 inch reach to his advantage as he quickly found his range and picked apart the Ultimate Fighter winner. The second round was much of the same until Jones was able to secure a guillotine choke, forcing Bader to tap out for the first time in his career. The victory was impressive enough to not only gain Jones the Submission of the Night reward but for him to also be offered in his post fight interview the chance to fight UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March, since original number one contender Rashad Evans blew out his knee during training and would  not be able to compete. At just 23 years old, Jones still has a long way to go before he reaches his absolute potential and he is already in position to win a title in one of the UFC's toughest divisions. The scary thing is, Jones is still improving every time he fights and if he is able to beat Rua, Jones would rule the division as he continues to learn and evolve into a complete mixed martial artist. 

Another match up on the card featured the best welterweight you never heard of as Jake Ellenberger fought Carlos Eduardo Rocha. Ellenberger was originally set to fight top welterweight contender Jon Fitch at the event before Fitch was moved to the main event of UFC 127 against BJ Penn. Leading up to the fight, Ellenberger talked more about Fitch than he did Rocha and it almost costed him greatly. The first round was action packed as Rocha almost finished Ellenberger with a beautiful Americana but time expired before he was able to lock it in. The rest of the fight saw Ellenberger avoid the ground game and he stood with Rocha until the last minute of both rounds where he secured the victory with late takedowns. This game plan was enough to award Ellenberger with a split-decision victory over the up and coming Rocha. It remains to be seen if Ellenberger will be granted his wish to fight Fitch, since it was not the greatest performance he ever had inside the octagon, but never the less it was still his third straight victory and he deserves a step up in competition.  

The opening fight of the main card, had fireworks written all over it as former WEC Bantamweight champion Miguel Torres made his UFC debut against Antonio Banuelos. However, the fight did not live up to the hype as Torres was content on using his jab to keep Banuelos at a distance. Banuelos was never able to get into his range and was dominated for fourteen and half minutes before finally attacking with half a minute remaining in the fight. At that point, it was much to late and Torres went home with a unanimous decision victory in his octagon debut. Before the fight, Torres promised to show a new discipline and get away from the brawl and glory style that made him so beloved in his WEC days. He delivered on his promise, but he did not make any new fans with his performance. Still Torres was victorious and he gets closer to regaining the Bantamweight championship he desperately seeks. 

Overall, UFC 126 delivered a great night of fights. Watching the event, you could tell something incredible was going to happen and it occurred with a straight front kick to the face of Vitor Belfort courtesy of Anderson Silva's knockout of the night. Silva added to his legacy as the best fighter in the world as the ball of his foot perfectly connected to the chin of Belfort's face, reminding everyone how fantastic he truly is as the pound for pound best fighter in the world.