Updated Jul 7, 2013 10:27 AM ET
Anderson Silva--------------------Chris Weidman
UFC 162 From LAS VEGAS
Somebody other than Anderson Silva possesses the UFC middleweight belt for the first time since 2006.And Silva has only himself to blame.
Chris Weidman took advantage of some of Silva’s usual showboating early in the second round to knock out the longtime champ. A left hook to the chin of a lackadaisical Silva dropped him and a few moments (and a few more Weidman punches later), the fight was halted.
“We expected him to do things like that,” Weidman said. “He’s done it plenty of times in a lot of fights. I don’t see him as being ****y. He’s trying to mentally defeat you in there. It got to the point when he was doing it, ‘You know what? Screw this. I’m hitting him.’”
Silva’s never shied away from showboating, especially as he ruled the middleweight division where he successfully defended the belt a UFC record 10 times.
But it was clear early on that Weidman — who improved to 10-0 — would be a challenge. Not only is Weidman a stellar wrestler, he showed with one punch he can be a powerful striker.
“People are going to say a lot of things now,” Silva said through an interpreter. “They are going to say Chris got lucky or I underestimated him. But we need to respect what he did and we need to respect he went in there and beat me. That’s pretty much it.”
Weidman was the aggressor early and had Silva in trouble on the ground a couple times in a wild first round. From the start of the second, Silva turned up the hot dogging — something that ultimately ended his reign.
“I don’t feel he’s disrespected his opponents out there,” Weidman said. “I think he was trying to get the mental edge and wait for you to get angry.”
It was Silva's first loss in the UFC and also his first loss by knockout as a pro.
Other Results From UFC 162 PPV:
Frankie Edgar, in his first non-title fight since 2009, eased to victory over fellow featherweight Charles Oliveira with a unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, in the co-main. Edgar, the former lightweight champion, used his boxing skills to set the pace in a rare three-round fight for Edgar, who entered on a three-fight skid.
Featherweight Cub Swanson made his latest argument for a title shot in the third round against Dennis Siver.Swanson dropped Siver with a massive combination. Swanson, with his foot atop Siver’s chest, continued to slug away before the fight was stopped — maybe a little too late — midway through the third. The win was Swanson’s fifth in a row, the fourth by knockout during that stretch.
The final fight on the main card featured Roger Gracie and Tim Kennedy, both fighters making their UFC debuts. The first two rounds were a grappling showcase, as you might expect when a fighter with the name “Gracie” is involved — the family known for pioneering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
The third round — with both fighters winded, especially Gracie — turned into a stand-up battle. In the end, Kennedy, a former Strikeforce fighter, earned a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
The quickest fight of the night came on the undercard broadcast on FX as Gabriel Gonzaga needed all of 17 seconds to knock out Dave Herman in the heavyweight bout. Gonzaga walked through a low kick by Herman and delivered a crushing right hand to Herman’s chin. Herman crumpled and the fight was stopped after Gonzaga followed with a couple more punches.
In post-fight awards Edgar vs. Oliveira and Siver vs. Swanson were both named Fight of the Night, earning $50,000 for each fighter. Weidman got $50,000 for Knockout of the Night.
Anderson Silva Loses Middle Weight Title By KO
Linear Mode
