UFC 168: Salaries

Main Card:

Chris Weidman ($200,000 + $200,000 =
$400,000) def. Anderson Silva
($600,000)
Ronda Rousey ($50,000 + $50,000 =
$100,000) def. Miesha Tate ($28,000)
Travis Browne ($28,000 + $28,000 =
$56,000) def. Josh Barnett ($170,000)
Jim Miller ($46,000 + $46,000 = $92,000)
def. Fabricio Camoes ($8,000)
Dustin Poirier ($23,000 + $23,000 =
$46,000) def. Diego Brandao ($20,000)

Preliminary Card:

Uriah Hall ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000)
def. Chris Leben ($51,000)
Michael Johnson ($18,000 + $18,000 =
$36,000) def. Gleison Tibau ($39,000)
Dennis Siver ($33,000 + $33,000 =
$66,000) def. Manny Gamburyan
($25,000)
John Howard ($16,000 + $16,000 =
$32,000) def. Siyar Bahadurzada
($17,000)
William Macario ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Bobby Voelker ($12,000)
Robert Peralta ($12,000 + $12,000 =
$24,000) def. Estevan Payan ($10,000)

UFC 168: Recap

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.

UFC 168 Results

Main Card:

Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva due to injury (leg fracture) Round 2
Ronda Rousey def. Meisha Tate via submission Round 3
Travis Browne def. Josh Barnett via TKO (elbow strikes) Round 1
Jim Miller def. Fabricio Camoes via submission (armbar) Round 1
Dustin Poirier def. Diego Brandao via TKO (punches) Round 1

Preliminary Card:

Uriah Hall def. Chris Leben via TKO (corner stoppage) Round 1
Michael Johnson def. Gleison Tibau via KO (punches) Round 1
Dennis Siver def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision
John Howard def. Siyar Bahadurzada via unanimous decision
William Macario Patolino def. Bobby Voelker via unanimous decision
Robbie Peralta def. Estevan Payan via KO (punches) Round 3
145 lbs.: Estevan Payan vs. Robbie Peralta -- Peralta wins by KO (punches) - 0:12 rd. 3

UFC 168: Weigh-in Results

Main Card:

UFC Middleweight Championship: Chris Weidman (184) vs. Anderson Silva (185)
UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship: Ronda Rousey (135) vs. Miesha Tate (135)
Josh Barnett (252) vs. Travis Browne (242)
Jim Miller (156) vs. Fabrício Camões (156)
Dustin Poirier (146) vs. Diego Brandao (153)

Preliminary Card:

Chris Leben (185.5) vs. Uriah Hall (185)
Gleison Tibau (156) vs. Michael Johnson (156)
Dennis Siver (145) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (146)
John Howard (171) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (171)
William Patolino (171) vs. Bobby Voelker (171)
Robbie Peralta (145.5) vs. Estevan Payan (145)

UFC 164 Results

Last night was definitely a night of thrills that truly entertained. From the the prelims to the main event there was not a single dull moment. Lots of stars rose to the occassion at UFC 164 which was headlined by UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson taking on charismatic challenger Anthony Pettis. 

The main card was kicked off with a phenomenal featherweight fight between two of the sport's youngest rising stars and Top 10 contenders. In a fight in which Erik Koch was the favorite over Dustin Poirier, Poirier came out into that fight showing a very skilled grappling game to go along with his impressive standup striking skills. Early in the fight Koch snapped in a tight triangle that looked like it would quickly end the fight but Poirier endured and was one step ahead of Koch for the remainder of the fight. Poirier earned a much deserved unanimous decision. 

 The next fight featured the heavyweight return of Branden Vera in a tough match with longtime MMA fan favorite."Big" Ben Rothwell. Vera was relatively large in his fight last night opposed to his recent fights at 205. Vera did a good job at staying on the outside and throwing kicks from the outside and avoiding damage. Vera was able to land clean shots for the entire first two rounds. In the third round, Rothwell came into the third round knowing that he needed to go for broke and so...he did. "Big Ben" came out like a hyped up wildman out for revenge. Rothwell swung to the fences and put Vera on the mat to earn the tko victory. 

 Chad Mendes faced off with Clay Guida in another exciting Featherweight fight that was a long time coming. After injuries.had.postponed this fight for months, this fight finally happened. Clay Guida fought in his usual style of dancing around to throw off his opponent. For the most part it seemed to be working but Mendes still managed to put off some great shots on Guida. The fight was stopped in the third round when Chad put together a series of strikes that were able to stun Guida and stop him by strikes for the first time in his career in the third round.

Frank Mir and Josh Barnett were the co-mainevent fight of the evening. Frank Mir showed up in the best shape that he appeared to be in in years. Frank Mir and Barnett clinched early in the fight with Barnett getting Mir backed into the cage with Barnett controlling Mir while they were both striking in tight quarters. Barnett was definitely getting the better of the exchanges in the clinch. Within two minutes of the fight, Barnett landed a clean knee to the face that put Mir into enough trouble for the referee to stop the match.

Finally the event that we all were looking to see was the Pettis vs. Henderson. Henderson came out strong controlling Pettis against the cage using a unique calf kick to help stifle Pettis' offense. Pettis was able to break away from the cage and attack Henderson with a series of kicks to the body. Henderson took Pettis to the ground which proved to be a mistake when Pettis was able to catch Henderson in an armbar which forced Benson Henderson to verbally submit. Henderson admitted to his arm snapping during the fight. Anthony Pettis became the new UFC Lightweight Champion.

Anthony Pettis def. Benson Henderson via verbal submission (armbar) - Round 1, 4:31

Josh Barnett def. Frank Mir via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 1:56

Chad Mendes def. Clay Guida TKO (punches) - Round 3, 0:30

Ben Rothwell def. Brandon Vera via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 1:54

Dustin Poirier def. Erik Koch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

Gleison Tibau def. Jamie Varner via split decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)

Tim Elliott def. Louis Gaudinot via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

Hyun Gyu Lim def. Pascal Krauss via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:58

Chico Camus def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Soa Palelei def. Nikita Krylov via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 1:34

Al Iaquinta def. Ryan Couture via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Magnus Cedenblad def. Jared Hamman via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 0:57