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This time it took just a little over six minutes for the second fight between UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen to conclude. A UFC legend also called it quits this past Saturday Night when Tito Ortiz fought for the last time in his illustrious career. Also, Damian Maia made a successful welterweight debut and a featherweight contender returned to form.
Round One: A Clean Sweep
There is one thing that is even more certain now than ever before, that is that Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in MMA history. The same does not hold true for challenger Chael Sonnen, who was thoroughly destroyed by the UFC Middleweight Champion. While Chael Sonnen looked dominant in the fights opening round, Anderson Silva just waited until it was time to level Chael Sonnen with a brutal knee strike and several follow up strikes to see the fight end. The real question left after the UFC 148 main event is who will be the next fighter to truly challenge Anderson Silva?
Next Round For Anderson Silva: The Mark Munoz/Chris Weidman winner or the Hector Lombard/Tim Boetsch winner
Next Round For Chael Sonnen: A change in weight class
Round Two: A Legend Retires
There is no doubt that Tito Ortiz was one of the most important fighters to ever enter the octagon, both in the UFC’s early days all the way to today. This past Saturday Night, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion called it a career after a decade-plus inside the octagon. However, the career ending fight ended in controversy as opponent Forrest Griffin took home the decision victory. Even odder was the way that the UFC Ultimate Fighter Champion conducted himself following the three round affair.
Next Round For Tito Ortiz: Retirement
Next Round For Forrest Griffin: Alexander Gustafsson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Thiago Silva
Round Three: Money In The Bank
Chad Mendes competed for the first time since losing to UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo back at UFC 142 and he looked like a man on a mission. Chad Mendes came out roaring against Cody McKenzie, who was making his featherweight debut at the event. The fight did not last long for Cody McKenzie, as Chad Mendes dropped him with a body blow before finishing him off with some ground and pound. The only real positive for Cody McKenzie in the fight is that Ronda Rousey worked his corner and I ordered the pay-per-view in high definition.
Next Round For Chad Mendes: Ricardo Lamas, Chan Sung Jung or Cub Swanson
Next Round For Cody McKenzie: Javier Vasquez, Dustin Poirier or Ross Pearson
Round Four: A Successful Debut
While Cody McKenzie was soundly defeated in his featherweight debut, former middleweight Damian Maia made a successful transition to the welterweight division. Even though the submission specialist achieved victory, it came in a very odd way against Dong Hyun Kim. Very early into the fights opening round, Damian Maia scored a takedown on Dong Hyun Kim and the fighter quickly tapped out. According to someone close to Dong Hyun Kim, the fighter suffered some kind of serious spasms during the takedown that caused him to tap out.
Next Round For Damian Maia: Yoshihiro Akiyama, Siyar Bahadurzada or Jon Fitch
Next Round For Dong Hyun Kim: Rick Story, Matt Brown or Dan Miller
Round Five: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!
There was a total of eleven fights at UFC 148, with six on pay-per-view, four on FX and just a single fight on Facebook. Of those eleven fights that aired throughout the three different media platforms, only three of them did not go to a decision. The only fights that did not go to a decision were Anderson Silva/Chael Sonnen, Damian Maia/Dong Hyun Kim and Chad Mendes/Cody McKenzie. That means fights that featured finishers like Melvin Guillard, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Mike Easton all went the distance.
Next Round For Decisions: Hopefully Less
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