No BJJ Needed in Rio
The UFC made a long-awaited return to the home of Mixed Martial Arts on Saturday for UFC 134. Brazil had been waiting for the top MMA promotion to return for over a decade and UFC finally decided to make their wish come true. Ever since Brazilian Royce Gracie brought Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) to MMA nothing has been the same. Now BJJ has become a must for fighters who wish to be successful in the UFC and the Gracies are still a major part of this training. With this popularity one would have assumed that BJJ would be on display at UFC 134 with at least one Brazilian in every fight. Yet that was not the case as UFC 134 finished without a submission showing that the Brazilians are more than just BJJ specialists. This was never more evident than in the main event when the reining Middleweight Champion and Brazilian Superstar, Anderson Silva, faced off against his toughest opponent yet in Yushin Okami. The last time these two fought was the last time that Anderson Silva got a loss on his record. It was not Okami that beat him however it was the lack of understanding from Silva. Silva had just moved promotions and did not understand the rules and so knocked Okami out with an illegal upkick that resulted in a DQ for Silva. Silva had this motivation to beat Okami as it would erase the only loss on his record whereas Okami was motivated to end Silva’s rein and become the first Japanese champion in the UFC. Okami’s plan was put to work right away as he came out swinging against Silva. The champion dodged most of the shots and ended up doing more of the damage in the round. Silva and Okami met in the clinch where Okami began dirty boxing Silva but the most damage was done by the knees of Silva. The round ended with Silva winning but not by a big amount. The second round started with Silva on a mission as he was determined to end the fight in any way to put on a show for his hometown crowd. He came out very aggressive throwing everything in his arsenal and land on many of the shots. Okami weathered the storm and continued to fight. Anderson Silva then dropped his hands encouraging Okami to come forward and tag him. Okami did just that as he hit Silva repeatedly with some good shots but could not finish it. Silva then countered with a straight right that dropped Okami. He got back up and Silva hit him again with a right then jumped on him to finish the fight. This marked the 9th time that Anderson Silva defended his championship belt giving him the UFC record for title defenses. The win also has wiped out the middleweight division leaving nobody to challenge Silva. Silva will most likely fight at 205 again as he will try to become the first modern era UFC fighter to win two belts at the same time. As for the middleweight division the only possibility for a rematch would be Chael Sonnen who almost beat Silva in their first fight. Okami will go back into the mix for the competition to be #2 in the middleweight division.
The rest of the fight card was stacked with legends and up and comers from Brazil all looking to impress in front of their home crowd. Before the main event a Brazilian legend and hometown hero Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who trained three miles from the stadium, faced off against a young up and comer in the heavyweight division in Brendan Schaub. They both stayed standing for the entire fight, although the entire fight did not last too long. Both fighters exchanged some shots and fought on the fence until Nogueira landed two big shots that ended Schaub’s night. With the win Nogueira staved off retirement and will march through the division to a title shot for one more time while Schaub is still young and will pick himself back up and keep moving. Another superstar in Brazil was a part of the co-main event as Mauricio Rua faced off against the man who beat him in his first fight in the UFC, Forrest Griffin. Both fighters came out as expected swinging for the fences. Griffin ended up getting the worst of it after both fighters found their range as he was caught with a big right. It put him down and Rua finished him off with a barrage of strikes from the top finally knocking Griffin out. The Brazilians had another win as they went 10-4 on the night and three of those losses were to another Brazilian. The first fight in over a decade in Brazil ended very successfully as Dana White has stated they will be back in 2012 and they may be creating an office there as well.
The bonuses of the night totaled $100,000 for each fighter involved as it seemed like every fighter was going for the purse. Due to the lack of submission on the night there was no submission of the night awarded. The “Knockout of the Night” went to the hometown hero as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira won it for his devastating KO against Brendan Schaub. The “Fight of the Night” went to a split decision bout between Ross Pearson and Edson Barboza that was won by the Brazilian Edson Barboza.
Full Results:
Anderson “The Spider” Silva def. Yushin “Thunder” Okami
(TKO; Rd. 2)
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Forrest Griffin
(TKO; Rd. 1)
Edson “Junior” Barboza def. Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson
(Split Decision)
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira def. Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub
(KO; Rd. 1)
Stanislav “Stucky” Nedkov def. Luiz “Bahna” Cane
(KO; Rd. 1)
Thiago Tavares def. Spencer “The King” Fisher
(KO; Rd. 2)
Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares def. Dan Miller
(Unanimous Decision)
Paulo Thiago def. David “Daudi” Mitchell
(Unanimous Decision)
Rafael Assuncao def. Johnny Eduardo
(Unanimous Decision)
Erick Silva def. Luis “Beicao” Ramos
(KO; Rd. 1)
Yuri “Marajo” Alcantara def. Felipe “Sertanejo” Arantes
(Unanimous Decision)
Yves “Tiger” Jabouin def. Ian “The Barn Owl” Loveland
(Split Decision)
Upcoming Events
Battle on the Bayou (Sept. 17th; 9:00 pm)
– Free Live on Rogers Sportsnet/Spike TV
– New Orleans, Louisiana (New Orleans Convention Center)
– Main Event: Jake Shields vs. Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger
– Notable: Court “The Crusher” McGee vs. Dongi “The Ox” Yang
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage (Sept. 24th; 9:00 pm)
– Denver, Colorado (Pepsi Center)
– Main Event: Jon “Bones” Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson [Light Heavyweight Title]
– Notable: Matt Hughes vs. Diego “The Dream” Sanchez
– Notable: Travis “Hapa” Browne vs. Rob “The Bear” Broughton
UFC Live 6: Cruz vs. Johnson (Oct. 1st; 9:00 pm)
– Free Live on Rogers Sportsnet/Versus
– Washington, DC (Verizon Center)
– Main Event: Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson [Bantamweight Title]
– Notable: Shane Roller vs. TJ Grant
The Sport Addiction 