Las Vegas, the MGM Grand & the UFC all had one thing in common the week of July 7th 2012 and that was the mass numbers of fight fans that crowded the city for the biggest UFC to date. Over 15,000 people sold out the MGM, plus record numbers attended the UFC Fan Expo, and the week leading up the fight was complete madness all over Vegas due to one thing and one thing only... Sonnen vs. Anderson 2! It was 'Brazil vs USA' crazy all week in Vegas, as folks had flags painted on faces, pasted on clothing, and carrying real ones as they repped their respective nations. When the show started Saturday night, any thoughts of home crowd advantage for Sonnen were quickly drowned by the throngs of Brazilian fans rooting for Anderson. Chants for both fighters filled the MGM Grand Arena at fight time and it seemed pretty evenly split with fans on both side.
Silva, the UFC Middleweight Champion, retains his title but not after some controversy hits the fight. It started at the weigh-ins where the champ shoulder-bumped Chael as they were doing the stare down. Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Kizer talked of fining Silva but Sonnen asked the Commissioner not to and Kizer listened and The Spider wasn't fined. Immediately before the fight itself, Referee Yves Lavigne caught The Champ rubbing the vaseline from his face onto his body & arms (which assumedly he has done before), and Lavigne grabbed a towel and made him wipe it off.
The first round started off just like their first fight, with Sonnen taking Silva down and ground and pounding Silva in half guard. Sonnen peppered Silva with elbows, looking to pass, as Silva stayed calm looking for a place to sweep and get out from Sonnen's top position. Sonnen however is great with top pressure and wasn't letting Silva go anywhere. He continually landed elbows and hammerfists to Silva's head, making the first round all Sonnen. No point was taken from Silva who grabbed Sonnen's short numerous times. Sonnen was very humble about this in the post-fight press conference even saying "He grabbed my shorts, I will grab someone else's shorts down the road." The second round is where it all ended. Silva finally stuffed Sonnen's takedown and then started his assault which made Chael start to throw things he normally might not throw. Chael jabbed, then executed a spinning back fist that missed and which put him on his butt. This is the point in the fight that had everyone freaking out! Silva fired a knee at Chael while he is down and it looks like it hits Chael in the face. But examination of the pictures and film shows it grazed his face and lands on his chest... a legal knee that rocked Sonnen and allowed the Champ to finish off the challenger for the second time at 1:55 in the 2 round by TKO!
Tito Ortiz, "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy", was the 9th fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, just 8 hours before his last fight in the UFC. His first fight in the UFC was way back in 1997 where he won in 31 seconds and before this retirement fight he'd fought 24 times in The Octagon against such storied opponents as Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture, Evan Tanner, Vitor Belfort, and Guy Mezger. His final fight would be with Forrest Griffin, a rubber match between the pair, with Ortiz winning the first fight in 2006 and Griffin the rematch in 2009. The first round Ortiz started off fast and stuck to his patented ground and pound game, the Tito-way of get the fighter down and grind and beat on them. He looked great and definitely took the first round in my opinion, even dropping Forrest a couple times. But his main issue was the energy he expended to grapple and clinch with Griffin. Forrest was able to break away and use his reach and striking to jab and kick Tito consistently and earn points throughout the fight.
It was weird when the fight was over as Forrest ran out of the cage and Dana White himself ran after and caught him, making him go back for the reading of the decision. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Forrest Griffin who then grabbed the mic and thanked Tito for the fight and it basically became the Forrest Griffin show. In the post fight press conference, Ortiz said how upset he was at Forrest for not letting him talk to the fans as it was his last fight in the UFC. Very unfortunate to see the 'Bad Boy' go out this way, but he will certainly always be remembered for great fights!
Cung Le & Patrick Cote went to war in a standup battle that was back and forth, both throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other! Le got the only takedowns of the fight and I think that's what helped him get the judge's nod in this very close fight. Cote opened up a cut on Le and was able to get Le into a brawl, which wasn't Le's gameplan. As Le strayed into the dirty boxing type brawl, he kept getting beat up. It was when he was able to stick and move that he was able to do damage to Cote and really got Cote moving for some of those serious patented Cung Le head kicks and strikes. The bout was one of those fights where both combatants laid it all on the line and the fans absolutely loved it. But in the end, someone has to win and the judges scored this one a unanimous decision for Cung Le.
Damian Maia had an impressive performance after stepping down to welterweight for the first time against Dong Hyun Kim. Maia stunned Kim with a takedown and unfortunately must have injured him during the process as Kim wasn't reacting so Maia stopped punching him. The fight was waved off for a Maia TKO at 47 seconds in. Maia is definitely a good guy for not crushing Kim into the mat like most fighters would be apt to do.
Chad "Money" Mendes rebounded from his January loss to 135lb Champ Jose Aldo in supreme fashion by getting the KO of the Night with a body shot to Cody McKenzie. McKenzie had Strikeforce Champion Ronda Rousey in his corner, screaming in support, but it didn't do him any good because 'Money' Mendes caught his leg kick and fired a strike to the body and dropped McKenzie. McKenzie turtled up but he started getting bombed on by the Team Alpha Male product Mendes who finished him at 31 seconds of the first and is making a statement at featherweight at UFC 148.
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