Despite UFC 167 being the 20th anniversary for the UFC, tonight's event had just as much pressure to be a five-star event. The main card featured a night in which there was not a single fight that went the distance. Also in the prelims we got a chance to see Uriah Hall rise back from the brink of being cut to making Leben quit between rounds.
The first fight on the main card was between Dustin Poirier and Diego Brandao. It was a fight in which Dustin Poirier used great speed in his stand-up game which eventually got him the victory via TKO due to strikes. It would be a great match to see him face off against Frankie Edgar after he faces Penn or possibly in a rematch against Cub Swanson who beat him via unanimous decision. Another option for Poirier would be a clash with fellow UFC 168 winner, Dennis Siver, who defeated Manny Gamburyan by decision in the prelims.
Next on the card was a fight in the lightweight divison in which Jim Miller took on Fabricio Camoes. Miller was able to submit Camoes off of his back with an armbar in the first round. I think a good fight to make for Miller would be against Donald Cerrone if he beats Martins in there clash early 2014.
The evening kept rolling with another fight in the UFC's Heavyweight Division. Travis Browne and Josh Barnett met in the center of the Octagon and instantly went to work. Travis Browne got the better of the stand-up striking exchanges which led Barnett to look for a takedown. While Barnett shot for the take down and pressed Browne against the cage, Browne landed a knee and a series of elbow strikes to the side of Barnett's head, which left him out cold. Dana White has already announced that Browne's next opponent will be submission specialist, Fabricio Werdum.
The next match was the most exciting fight of the evening in the first title fight of the night, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Tate and Rousey came out swinging to the fences as soon as the fight began. Both women were landing clean shots until the fight inevitably went to the ground. For three rounds, Rousey and Tate scrambled on the ground for position. There were times that Tate was in conntrol and Rousey and vise-versa. It took Ronda Rousey five armbar attempts at the armbar before the final one was enough for Tate to tap in the third. Miesha Tate's grappling defense was one of the best performances of submission defense that I have seen in a long time. Tate gave Rousey her toughest fight in her MMA career. The fight between Rousey and Tate was just as exciting if not more exciting as the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight title fight. After the fight, Dana White announced that Rousey would be returning to action very shortly to headline the UFC 170 card and defend her title against Sara McMann. It will feature two Olympic medalists from the same year fighting for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship.
The main event was between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva who both had a lot to prove in their fight. For Weidman it was an opportunity to prove that his first victory wasn't a fluke. For Silva it was an opportunity to prove that he could beat the only man to beat him in the UFC. As soon as Silva came out to exactly the same song that he used at UFC 162, it felt like deja vu. Anderson Silva was in the blue corner for the first time since he won the title at UFC 64. When the fight began Weidman was able to get a takedown early in the first round. Silva was able to get back up instantly but was forced to get into a clinching situation with Weidman. Weidman got the better of the clinch game and eventually dropped Silva and controlled him with great ground and pound from the guard. Silva was able to use his jiu jitsu in order to survive the barrage of punches until the round ended. In the second round we saw Silva get looser on his feet and began to look more comfortable. The second wouldn't last that long as Silva threw two kicks that would seal his fate. The first one he threw was speculated to have fractured his leg when it was checked by Weidman and the second one thrown broke Silva's leg.
Chris Weidman successfully defended his UFC Middleweight Championship via TKO by way of checked leg kick. Vitor Belfort will be the next man to face Weidman for the belt. This could be the last time that we saw Anderson Silva in the UFC. We hope to see a healthy Anderson Silva whether he fights again or not.
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