Another contender. Another win for Anderson Silva.
UFC’s longest-running champion made the accomplished Yushin Okami look mediocre in yet another successful Middleweight Championship defense Saturday. And this time it took place in his home nation of Brazil.
The Rio-based UFC 134 show saw Silva improve his UFC record to 14-0. Perhaps more importantly for Silva, the victory came over Okami, who scored a disqualification victory over Silva–Silva’s last loss–in a 2006 Rumble on the Rock fight.
Despite training with Chael Sonnen, who demonstrated a blueprint for fighting Anderson Silva in his near-victory last year, Okami had nothing for Silva. The fairly-even first round ended with Silva loosening up and crushing Okami with a high kick, and with a comfortable Silva thus present in round two, Okami had no chance. Silva ultimately dropped Okami, before finishing with some punishing ground and pound.
Earlier in the night, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua also got to avenge a loss–that to Forrest Griffin in his UFC debut. In that fight, a combination of Shogun’s injuries and size disadvantage seemed to throw him for an unexpected curve. In this one, Shogun put Griffin right down, before using ground and pound to get a first-round stoppage.
Full results follow:
Yves Jabouin b. Ian Loveland via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Yuri Alcantara b. Felipe Arantes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Erick Silva b. Luis Ramos via TKO (punches) at :40 of Round One
Raphael Assuncao b. Johnny Eduardo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Paulo Thiago b. David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rousimar Palhares b. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-25)
Thiago Tavares b. Spencer Fisher via TKO (punches) at 2:51 of Round Two
Stanislav Nedkov b. Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) at 4:20 of Round One
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira b. Brendan Schaub via KO (punches) at 3:09 of Round One
Edson Barboza b. Ross Pearson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Mauricio Shogun Rua b. Forrest Griffin via KO (punches) at 1:53 of Round One
Anderson Silva b. Yushin Okami via TKO (punches) at 2:04 of Round Two
