Anderson Silva (top) extended his record number of UFC title defenses to nine after brutally destroying the only man to hand him a loss in the past seven years. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
The UFC made its triumphant return to Brazil with UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami in Rio de Janeiro. The card was loaded to the hilt with Brazil’s biggest stars as well as a few hometown heroes as the South American nation took on the world. In their bouts, the Brazilians had resounding success with “The Spider” Anderson Silva (29-4), “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-6-1), and “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (20-5) all taking home spectacular knockout wins and undefeated young Edson Barboza (9-0) taking a “Fight of the Night” winning Split Decision. With “Thunder” Yushin Okami (26-6), Forrest Griffin (18-7), “The Hybrid” Brendan Schaub (7-2), and “The Real Deal” Ross Pearson (17-7-1) all coming up short, the lone main card victor from the visitor’s dugout was Stanislav Nedkov (6-0) who scored a come-from-behind TKO win over “Banha” Luiz Cane (9-4). The fans were the real winners as the UFC again came out and proved why it is the greatest mixed martial arts organization in the world, bar none, but did the fighters come out as well as the fans did? To answer this, MMA Gospel brings The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Continue reading »
