One of the most highly anticipated fights in UFC history and it didn’t disappoint. I’m not sure how Silva got so dominated in the first but he certainly came through in the second. A whole bunch of decisions besides that though that weren’t exciting fights so not a great event from that perspective. It looked like most of the fighters had jet lag and just didn’t want to be embarrassed.
Bonuses and Results for UFC 147: Franklin vs. Silva II:
Fighter Bonuses:
KO of the Night: Anderson Silva – $75,000
Fight of the Night: Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin – $75,000/each
Results:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
- Anderson Silva def. Chael Sonnen via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:55 to retain the UFC Middleweight Belt
NOTES: Great fight that lived up to the hype. In the first round, Chael once again dominated Silva and kept him on the ground almost the entire time. The second round though showed why Silva is the best p4p fighter in UFC history. His striking is lethal and just disabled Sonnen.
- Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
NOTES: Ortiz gassed early but didn’t give up so props to him. Griffin just landed so many more strikes that it was an easy call on the decision. Good final fight for Tito though.
- Cung Le def. Patrick Cote via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
NOTES: Cote just didn’t execute the right game plan. Perhaps a bit of early grappling and ground game would have worn Le out like in his previous fights, but he kept it standing so Le was able to outstrike and outpoint.
- Demian Maia def. Dong Hyun Kim via TKO (injury) - Round 1, 0:47
NOTES: Kim got hit just right and it looked like a rib or two got busted. Bad break for Kim and life again for Maia.
- Chad Mendes def. Cody McKenzie via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:31
NOTES: Wicked body shot took Cody right out. Similar to how McKenzie lost once during his TUF season. Usually Mendes drains the life out of a fight but not this time.
- Mike Easton def. Ivan Menjivar via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
NOTES: Pretty lackluster fight. Good striking but no real exciting moments.
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)
- Melvin Guillard def. Fabricio Camoes via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
NOTES: A few submission scares for Melvin but he was able to avoid and get the decision in a fairly uneventful fight.
- Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Gleison Tibau via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
NOTES: A stalemate of a fight with not too much excitement. Khabib pushed the pace more though and got the decision, but Tibau should have gotten at least one round or a split.
- Constantinos Philippou def. Riki Fukuda via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
NOTES: Outstanding boxing and great takedown defense by Philippou earned him an easy decision on this one despite him receiving a few low blows and a nasty eye poke.
- Shane Roller def. John Alessio via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
NOTES: Back and forth battle between these veterans. Alessio dropped Roller in the first but then Roller dominated on the ground for the second and third.
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
- Rafaello Oliveira def. Yoislandy Izquierdo via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
NOTES: Oliveira had more control throughout the fight keeping it mostly on the ground
Post-Fight Press Conference:
http://www.ufc.com/media/148-post-pc
yes! I think I might have got me a tee shirt this time!!!
Did this fight live up to the hype? Was it a big let down? A bit5 anti-climactic…spinning back-fist..? Chael deserved to lose just for that Hollywood maneuver
In retrospect, I guess I just wanted to see some blood…
@nurseRon: Right on nurseRon, yes, you did win. Congrats and t-shirt is on it’s way.
@HowardC: I think the fight lived up to the hype. No blood but it turned into a serious beat down. It would have been epic though if Silva told him to stand back up so he could slowly break every tooth and bone in his body.
@JS: yeah I was freaking out when 3 seconds in it was looking like round 6 of the first matching. Then that knee live looked high, but proved to be the shot that started the end for big mouth. Fucking Kenny Florian, did you guys catch his post show? He was jabbering on “did the thigh hit his head”? Who cares, the rule is no knee to the head, period! Dude is starting to sound more like a media dork and not an x-top ranked pro fighter. Sucks too because his commentary is usually pretty good…Did anyone see the Cote loss coming? And the dumb luck of Maia getting a TKO? I’ll bet Vegas lost a few bucks on those guys!
Never cared for Florian much. What he said was dead wrong. In the post-fight presser Dane White said it was legal, and Chael said “I don’t care about legal or illegal. I could see it coming, that’s just the way it goes.”.
Maia definitely caught a huge break. He said in the post-fight presser that this was the second most important fight for him behind his title match.
On Cote, just a very bad game plan. He should have done whatever it takes to grapple or take it to the ground early to wear down Le. He was the favorite.
I’m happy for Maia but really where does he go from here? He’s already peaked and getting late in the ranks to realistically shoot for a title shot and does he have prayer with Condit or Diaz let alone GSP. 170 is a tough place to be right now!
I don’t see any of the current title holders being challenged except for maybe Benson (I love the guy) and Cruz…But I’m going out here on this one and predicting Struve will be making a run at the title in his next 2 to 3 fights, depending on what happens with Overeem and if Mr Bones makes the jump! I was looking at his stats and out of 29 fights he’s only had 1 D and one DQ win. The dude is a serious finisher, either way to a fault but I like that!
I also see big things for Gustafsson. Maybe a real challenge like Machida or Rashad or put Showgun to bed finally. Love to this guy hang with Jonny some day?
@JS..I was hoping for Chael to take more of a beating – a bitch slapping really – but I’m sure a Silva knee to chest got the point across. On Cote, a bad plan? Did he even have one? Seemed like he underestimated the competition. Florian likes the sound of his own voice…. @ NurseRon: Agree that Maia caught a break. I think he knows it too. He made a comment about how Kim went down funny and something just wasn’t right with it.