Here’s the absolutely savage finish of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 51 main event, in which Andrei Arlovski floored Antonio Silva with a right hand, dropped some of the nastiest hammerfists in MMA history on Bigfoot’s poor noggin, then did a little shimmy-shake to celebrate.
The performance was a hell of a step up from Arlovski’s snoozer against Brendan Schaub at UFC 174 in June. Do we need to start taking the Pitbull seriously as a UFC heavyweight contender again? And who would you like to see him fight next?
Here’s the absolutely savage finish of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 51 main event, in which Andrei Arlovski floored Antonio Silva with a right hand, dropped some of the nastiest hammerfists in MMA history on Bigfoot’s poor noggin, then did a little shimmy-shake to celebrate.
The performance was a hell of a step up from Arlovski’s snoozer against Brendan Schaub at UFC 174 in June. Do we need to start taking the Pitbull seriously as a UFC heavyweight contender again? And who would you like to see him fight next?
(Fight Pass shows only get the stock image treatment. / Photo via Getty)
You might not have noticed since all the other MMA sites were reporting about Floyd Mayweather Jr. tonight, but the UFC had an event on Fight Pass, UFC Fight Night 51.
Efrain Escudero made his (unsuccessful) return to the UFC against Leonardo Santos. Santos controlled the first round of the encounter. However, Escudero managed to drop Santos in the second with a right hand. It appeared to change the complexion of the fight as Santos became deflated and tired. In the third, Escudero was light on his feet and it looked like he’d pull away with the decision. This wasn’t meant to be. Santos found some source of inner strength (or Escudero stopped paying attention; who knows) and landed a huge takedown. From the takedown, he managed to take Escudero’s back and held the position until the round ended. This was enough to give Santos the unanimous decision victory.
Get the recaps for the other fights after the jump.
(Fight Pass shows only get the stock image treatment. / Photo via Getty)
UFC Fight Night 51 happened on Fight Pass tonight. You might not have noticed since all the other so-called “MMA” sites are too busy writing about Floyd Mayweather Jr. Ugh.
So was this event worth checking out? Kind of. When it becomes available for replay on Fight Pass, watch the main event. Despite that fight being the only one really worth watching on the main card, we recapped some other higher profile fights from the event.
Efrain Escudero made his (unsuccessful) return to the UFC against Leonardo Santos. Santos controlled the first round of the encounter. However, Escudero managed to drop Santos in the second with a right hand. It appeared to change the complexion of the fight as Santos became deflated and tired. In the third, Escudero was light on his feet and it looked like he’d pull away with the decision. This wasn’t meant to be. Santos found some source of inner strength (or Escudero stopped paying attention; who knows) and landed a huge takedown. From the takedown, he managed to take Escudero’s back and held the position until the round ended. This was enough to give Santos the unanimous decision victory.
In the co-main event, Gleison Tibau fought Piotr Hallman. Here’s a protip on this fight: Skip it. Tibau displayed his characteristic lack of conditioning. He torched his gas tank with a large flurry in the beginning. The rest of the fight was basically just non-stop clinching against the cage with zero activity. Hallman managed to cut Tibau with a knee to the head late in the third round. It didn’t matter though; Tibau got the decision because he spent more time pushing Hallman against the fence than Hallman spent pushing him against the fence. Even Jon Anik described this fight as “exhausting” to watch.
The main event: Andrei Arlovski took on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in a rematch of their Strikeforce bout from 2010. This time, Arlovski was the one who got his hand raised. The fight didn’t last long. Bigfoot was slow and plodding, Arlovski was agile and had much faster hands. Eventually, Arlovski tagged Bigfoot with an uppercut that dropped him flat on his ass. Arlovski pounced on Bigfoot and landed a series of hammer fists that put Bigfoot out cold. We’re hesitant to say Arlovski is “back” but he could be back.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Andrei Arlovski def. Antonio Silva via KO (punches), 2:59 of round 1.
Gleison Tibau def. Piotr Hallman via unanimous decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Leonardo Santos def. Efrain Escudero unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Wendell Oliveira via TKO (punches), 1:20 of round 1.
Iuri Alcântara def. Russell Doane via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Jéssica Andrade def. Larissa Pacheco via submission (guillotine choke), 4:33 of round 1.
Preliminary Card
Godofredo Castro def. Dashon Johnson via submission (triangle armbar), 4:29 of round 1.
George Sullivan def. Igor Araújo via KO (punches), 2:31 of round 2.
Francisco Trinaldo def. Leandro Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Sean Spencer def. Paulo Thiago via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Rani Yahya def. Johnny Bedford via submission (kimura), 2:04 of round 2.
With some of the promotion’s most crowd-pleasing stars returning to action in the near future, the UFC has released a bunch of classic fights to hype up their appearances.
First up: Donald Cerrone‘s comeback knockout of Melvin Guillard at UFC 150 in August 2012, in which Cowboy gets battered around the cage for a minute before stunning Guillard with a head-kick and finishing the job with a right cross. The 76-second performance earned Cerrone an extra $120,000 in Fight of the Night/Knockout of the Night bonuses. He returns to the cage this Wednesday against Jim Miller at UFC Fight Night 45 in Atlantic City. Set your DVRs, folks.
With some of the promotion’s most crowd-pleasing stars returning to action in the near future, the UFC has released a bunch of classic fights to hype up their appearances.
First up: Donald Cerrone‘s comeback knockout of Melvin Guillard at UFC 150 in August 2012, in which Cowboy gets battered around the cage for a minute before stunning Guillard with a head-kick and finishing the job with a right cross. The 76-second performance earned Cerrone an extra $120,000 in Fight of the Night/Knockout of the Night bonuses. He returns to the cage this Wednesday against Jim Miller at UFC Fight Night 45 in Atlantic City. Set your DVRs, folks.
In honor of Conor McGregor‘s long-awaited return to the Octagon this Saturday in Dublin against Diego Brandao, here’s his UFC debut last April, in which he smoked Marcus Brimage in just over a minute.
– Matt Mitrione vs. Derrick Lewis: Mitrione was supposed to compete at last weekend’s UFC 175 event until his opponent Stefan Struve collapsed in the locker room and was pulled at the last minute. “Meathead” has now been re-scheduled against Derrick Lewis — better known as “The Black Beast” — who has gone 2-0 in the Octagon so far, with both wins by first-round TKO. Lewis most recently finished Guto Inocente at the TUF 19 Finale. I smell a slugfest.
– Matt Mitrione vs. Derrick Lewis: Mitrione was supposed to compete at last weekend’s UFC 175 event until his opponent Stefan Struve collapsed in the locker room and was pulled at the last minute. “Meathead” has now been re-scheduled against Derrick Lewis — better known as “The Black Beast” — who has gone 2-0 in the Octagon so far, with both wins by first-round TKO. Lewis most recently finished Guto Inocente at the TUF 19 Finale. I smell a slugfest.
– Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz 2: According to Fox Sports’ Damon Martin, the two featherweights have been booked for a rematch of their UFC on Versus 4 fight from June 2011, which was chuggin’ along pretty well until Oliveira KO’d Lentz with an illegal knee. The fight was declared a no contest, but still won Fight of the Night. Oliveira remains one of the most exciting young talents at 145 pounds, and won Performance of the Night bonuses in his last two appearances, for his submissions of Andy Ogle and Hatsu Hioki. Lentz is coming off a decision win against Manny Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night 40: Brown vs. Silva in May.
Arlovski, of course, last stunk up the joint against Brendan Schaub at UFC 174, winning a split-decision in a fight that nobody really won. When asked why he would book Arlovski for a main event after such a flat performance, Dana White explained:
“I was disappointed in both of their performances. It doesn’t mean the guys are never going to fight again. I just let them know how I felt. The fight sucked. I’ve got Schaub hitting me up telling me that he got robbed. I’m like, ‘No, we got robbed’…Guys have bad nights. It’s not like I hate Brendan Schaub or Andrei Arlovski because of it. I just hated that fight.”
To put it another way: It’s a Fight Pass card in Brazil, against a Brazilian — so let’s not pretend that Arlovski is being rewarded for his efforts.
Arlovski and Silva previously met at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery in May 2010, with Bigfoot winning a unanimous decision.
Sadly, one of the greatest heavyweight fights in UFC history will now have an asterisk next to it. Yesterday evening, MMAJunkie broke the news that Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva tested positive for elevated testosterone following his five-round war against Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 33, December 7th in Brisbane, Australia. As a result, the UFC — which regulated the event and was responsible for fighter drug-testing — has suspended Silva for nine months retroactive to the date of the fight, and stripped him of his $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus. The bout with Hunt will be changed to a no-contest on Bigfoot’s professional record, although Hunt still gets to keep his draw, and will receive the $50k that would have gone to Silva.
According to a statement released by a UFC rep, “Silva is on a medically approved regimen of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), and had been in compliance with therapeutic guidelines on all pre-fight tests performed prior to the event. The results of his test on the day of the event indicated a level of testosterone outside of allowable limit. Silva has been informed that the elevated testosterone level is a violation of the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and his Promotional Agreement with Zuffa.”
Sadly, one of the greatest heavyweight fights in UFC history will now have an asterisk next to it. Yesterday evening, MMAJunkie broke the news that Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva tested positive for elevated testosterone following his five-round war against Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 33, December 7th in Brisbane, Australia. As a result, the UFC — which regulated the event and was responsible for fighter drug-testing — has suspended Silva for nine months retroactive to the date of the fight, and stripped him of his $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus. The bout with Hunt will be changed to a no-contest on Bigfoot’s professional record, although Hunt still gets to keep his draw, and will receive the $50k that would have gone to Silva.
According to a statement released by a UFC rep, “Silva is on a medically approved regimen of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), and had been in compliance with therapeutic guidelines on all pre-fight tests performed prior to the event. The results of his test on the day of the event indicated a level of testosterone outside of allowable limit. Silva has been informed that the elevated testosterone level is a violation of the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and his Promotional Agreement with Zuffa.”
Clarification: Months before my fight I looked for the UFC doctor Marcio Tannure in Brazil so I could start the hormonal replacement “TRT” which was authorized and recognized by a professional. I started the treatment and 2 weeks before my fight I did all the exams required by the UFC. My testosterone level continued to be low so I was recommended by the doctor to increase the dosage. Unfortunately my level increased too much and caused me to suspend. I only did what was recommended by someone trained who understands about the subject therefore it was not my mistake. I’m cool because I know that the mistake was not made by me, I never tried doing anything wrong for my fight.
As MMAMania explains: “It should be noted that Tannure is the medical director of the Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts Commission’s (CABMMA) and, according to Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) reporter Guilherme Cruz, Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters always refer to him as a ‘UFC doctor.’ Indeed, he takes care of most of Brazil’s UFC fighters, and was also responsible for authorizing the TRT therapy for Vitor Belfort.” For what it’s worth, Silva also released some correspondence from his doctors indicating that his T-levels were low as of November 30th.
After news of Silva’s failed test broke, MMAJunkie’s Steven Marrocco called up Mark Hunt to get his reaction. “Shit, I need to get on some of this shit,” Hunt said. “Fuck, I don’t know how these guys are doing this shit. I should get some of that shit, too…I don’t know what to say, honestly. I don’t know what it is, but kudos to me for the bonus, eh?” Hunt then publicly blasted MMAJunkie for waking him up and not explaining that he was being interviewed. Classic Hunto.
