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By Jaime C. Feal
Chris Weidman made Anderson Silva pay dearly for his arrogance. Silva repeatedly put his hands down and taunted Weidman, and ultimately paid the price by getting knocked out in the second round. Weidman is now 10-0 and the new UFC Middleweight champion. Mark Munoz got back on the winning track by dominating Tim Boetsch in a key middleweight clash. “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” was in vintage form, landing heavy ground and pound throughout. Cub Swanson continued to rise up the featherweight ladder towards a title shot with an impressive knockout victory over German strike Dennis Siver. In the co-main event, former lightweight champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar ended his streak of three straight decision loses, all in title fights, with a decision victory of his own over the highly regarded Charles Oliveira.
Featherweight Division (145 lbs.):
Dennis Siver (21-8, 10-5) vs. Cub Swanson (19-5, 4-1 UFC)
Round 1:
Swanson misses with a leg kick, Siver staying compact. Now each fighter lands an outside leg kick. Good combination to the body lands for Siver. Swanson misses with a spinning kick and falls on his back. Siver jumps on top, looks to pass. Siver passes, in side control now, looking for a choke. Swanson defends well, but eats a knee to the ribs. Siver lands a nice elbow, now looking for a kimura. Siver not having much success with submissions, but landing good elbows still, and controlling the round. Siver moves to mount, Swanson quickly hip escapes. Swanson tries a guillotine from the bottom, uses it to stand up. Outside leg kick lands for Swanson, too little too late. 10-9 round for Siver.
Round 2:
Both men pawing with the jab, looking to set up something big. The featherweights land a couple light kicks. Spinning back kick just misses for Siver. Swanson loads up on a right, Siver ducks under nicely. Outside leg kick lands for Siver. Nice counter left hook from Swanson, then fights off a takedown attempt. Swanson tries a crazy capoeira kick that misses. Pace starting to slow down now as both fighters tiring. Cub lands an outside leg kick, then a jab and an inside leg kick. Siver responds with an outside leg kick. Good left kick to the body from Swanson. Nasty uppercut catches Siver, then Swanson positions himself beautifully to land on top in mount. Swanson lands solid punches from mount, dominating the round now. Siver just covering up as Swanson throws down punches from mount. Siver reverses at the end of the round. 10-9 round for Swanson.
Round 3:
Siver with a good left hook. Swanson lands a high kick. Hard left hook finds the mark for Swanson. Siver catches a kick nicely, can’t do anything with it though. Jab from Swanson, and Siver looks gassed. Counter right lands crisply for Swanson, who is taking advantage of the tiring Siver. Nasty one-two lands with speed for Swanson, who follows it up with another big right hand, left head kick. Swanson is teeing off on Siver now, and drops him. Swanson unloading with punches on the downed Siver, ref Herb Dean gives him every chance to recover, then finally waives it off.
Cub Swanson wins by TKO at 2:42 of Round 3.
Middleweight Division (185 lbs.):
Roger Gracie (6-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Tim Kennedy (15-4, 0-0 UFC)
Round 1:
Gracie lands a left hook. Kennedy with a snapping outside leg kick. Another outside leg kick from Kennedy. Gracie looks for the takedown and gets it. Gracie looking to take the back of Kennedy, who is trying to stand up. Kennedy is on his knees, struggling to keep Gracie off his back. Kennedy is able to stand back up, and the middleweights grapple on the cage. They break, and Kennedy lands an outside leg kick. Gracie gets another takedown, gets the back. Gracie had a body triangle. Kennedy defending against the choke well. Kennedy spins and reverses to the top as the round closes. 10-9 round for Gracie.
Round 2:
Jab from Gracie, outside leg kick from Kennedy. Another leg kick from Kennedy, now clinches up with Gracie and lands a knee. Kennedy looking for a takedown and gets it. Kennedy has the back and is landing huge punches. Gracie rolling for something, lands an upkick. Kennedy back to the heavy ground and pound. Gracie is able to get back to his feet, but took some damage there. They clinch up again, and Kennedy is scoring with dirty boxing and knees to the body. Kennedy drags Gracie down again. Gracie has the full guard, nothing happening, ref stands them back up. Good left hook from Kennedy. 10-9 round for Kennedy.
Round 3:
Outside leg kicks landing for Kennedy. More kicks from Kennedy, then briefly takes the back of Gracie standing. Kennedy lands a couple knees to the thigh before they break. Gracie looking for a takedown, Kennedy defending well. Gracie gets him down for a split second, but Kennedy gets up right away. Kennedy scoring with dirty boxing in the clinch. Ref breaks the fighters off the cage. Outside leg kick for Kennedy, then an uppercut. Good punches now from Kennedy, took over the fight. Kennedy clinches up with Gracie, closes it out with more dirty boxing. 10-9 round for Kennedy.
The judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 for the winner by unanimous decision, Tim Kennedy.
Featherweight Division (145 lbs.):
Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (15-4-1, 9-4-1 UFC) vs. Charles “do Bronx” Oliveira (16-3, 4-3 UFC)
Round 1:
Edgar quickly jabbing, Oliveira trying to kick. Edgar lands a nice right hand that has Oliveira backing up. Edgar takes him down and begins to ground and pound. Edgar gets back up after Oliveira goes for a leg in a scramble. Oliveira lands a knee as they get up. More jabs from Edgar and a right. They clinch, and Edgar takes him down again. Oliveira has him in full guard. Edgar defending against submissions while landing punches, then Oliveira scrambles up. Good jab from Edgar, Oliveira responds with a nice knee. Good right hand from Oliveira. Edgar muscles Oliveira down, lets him up. Good jab from Oliveira. Hard left hook from Edgar, then a nice uppercut. Edgar throws him down, and again lets him up. Nice uppercut to the body from Oliveira, then he gets caught by an Edgar hook. Another takedown for Edgar. Oliveira lands some elbows from the bottom. 10-9 round for Edgar.
Round 2:
Oliveira trying some kicks but not really landing. Edgar rapidly feinting and moving as usual. Jab from “The Answer” lands. Left to the body lands for Edgar. Hard outside leg kick from Oliveira. Another leg kick by Oliveira, but he gets taken down by Edgar, who then lets him up. Jab from Oliveira. Edgar dances away. Oliveira gets put on his back yet again. Edgar in Oliveira’s guard. Good right hand from Edgar, Oliveira responds with elbows off the bottom. Two more good rights from Edgar land. Oliveira gets up, he is cut over the nose. Good one-two from Oliveira. Nice left hook lands for Edgar. The featherweights are still maintaining a frenetic pace. Jabs from Oliveira. Outside leg kick from Oliveira, Edgar catches him with a right hand counter. Oliveira pushing forward, the fighters trading punches now with both landing. Edgar gets a slam takedown to end the round. 10-9 round for Edgar.
Round 3:
They begin mixing it up in the center of the Octagon. Edgar starts tagging him with hard punches. Oliveira looks staggered but is throwing back. Good trip takedown by Edgar, lets Oliveira up. Stepping-in elbow connects for Oliveira. Edgar is bleeding from his nose. Really nice combo by Oliveira has Edgar backing up. Good knee to the body from Oliveira. Starting to win for the first time is the Brazilian. Oliveira still matching the pace of Edgar, defends a takedown. Hard left hook from Edgar. Oliveira comes right back with some solid punches and an elbow. Right hand from Edgar stuns Oliveira. Edgar is pouncing now, landing big shots, Oliveira is hurt and desperate. Another heavy right hand from Edgar. Oliveira survives and recovers, but gets taken down. Edgar pounces with hammerfists. Finally the fight slows down a bit as Oliveira ties up Edgar. Oliveira still on his back, not doing anything now. Edgar landing some punches, then a big right hand. 10-9 round for Edgar.
The judges score the fight 30-27, 29-28, and 30-27 for the winner by unanimous decision Frankie “The Answer” Edgar.
UFC Middleweight Championship (185 lbs.):
Anderson “The Spider” Silva (32-4, 15-0 UFC) vs. Chris Weidman (9-0, 5-0 UFC)
Round 1:
Silva in his familiar southpaw stance. Weidman with the forward pressure, gets a takedown. Weidman lands two big right hands, passes to half guard. Weidman landing big left hands. Silva regains guard, looking for upkicks. Weidman going for a leg lock. Silva spins out of it and gets back to his feet. Left hook from Weidman. Silva with his hands down on the cage. Silva now with his hands on his hips, defiantly asking Weidman to strike with him. Silva turning it on, hard leg kicks and a good jab. Both fighters taunting each other, crazy fight. Outside leg kick from Silva. Jab from Weidman. Too much taunting from Silva. 10-9 round for Weidman
Round 2:
The fighters touch gloves and go to work. Good left hook from Weidman, outside leg kick from Silva. Weidman shoots for a takedown, stuffed by Silva, who is talking to Weidman again. Silva with his hands down, Weidman catches him with a big left hook that drops Silva. Weidman nails him with more punches that put Silva out cold. Shocking victory for the new champion, Chris Weidman.
Chris Weidman wins by Knockout at 1:25 of Round 2.
