Tag: Forrest Griffin

Highly-touted welterweight prospects Erick Silva and Luis Ramos locked horns on the UFC 134 undercard after Silva’s original opponent, Mike Swick, was forced off the card due to a knee injury.

Silva became the first Jungle Fight champion last October and was signed to the UFC earlier in the year.  The X-Gym and Team Nogueira fighter has never been finished in his career and the Brazilian holds black belts in both jiu-jitsu and judo.

With Swick’s injury, Ramos was tabbed as a replacement just three weeks prior to the fight.  The Nova Uniao product entered with an experience advantage, but has faced lesser competition than Silva.

Silva opened looking for a takedown, but Ramos stuffed it and chased with strikes.  A huge right hand from Silva dropped Ramos and a flurry of punches forced referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.

With the victory, Silva moves to 13-1.  In his post fight interview Silva was thankful of the opportunity to fight in the promotion.  He credited his teammates for his performance.

Official result: Erick Silva def. Luis Ramos via TKO (strikes) at 0:40 of Round 1.

Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com.  For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.

The first round of the welterweight tilt between Erick Silva and Luis Ramos kicked off with Silva going for some wild punches, but Ramos was able to aboid most of them. Then Silva connected with a huge right hand that put Ramos down.

Silva followed up with a barrage of punches before the referee stepped in to stop the bout.

After the stoppage, Ramos got back up and looked to pick a fight with referee Herb Dean. It took a few moments, but Dean was able to contain the obiviously stunned Ramos.

Official result: Erick Silva defeats Luis Ramos via knockout at :40 of the first round.

After the fight, Silva said is was a dream come true to fight in his hometown. He also thanked God, because without him, nothing would be possible.

On Saturday, August 27, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made its return to Brazil for the first time since 1998.

In the main event of the evening, reigning UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will be making yet another defense of his title when he takes on Yushin Okami. Silva will be entering this fight at nearly a 6-1 favorite. Will “The Spider” make another successful title defense, or will Okami be able to overcome the odds and dethrone Silva?

The evening’s co-main event will feature a rematch between “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin. In their first outing, Griffin surprised many people when he was able to submit Rua in the third round of his UFC debut.

In other pay-per-view action, Brendan Schaub will be looking to move his way further up the heavyweight ranks when he takes on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Edson Barboza will be looking to further his unbeaten streak against Ross Pearson, and Luiz Cane will welcome Stanislav Nedkov in to the UFC.

Be sure to check out Bleacher Report for UFC 134 results, reaction, and analysis.

The thrid round started off with the fighters trading in the middle of the Octagon. At this point of the fight, Jabouin looked to be the fresher of the two fighters. Loveland went for another takedown, but Jabouin stopped it with little effort. Jabouin then went for a takedown of his won, but Loveland was able to sprawl his way out of it.

Jabouin continued to connect with spinning backfists. Loveland tried another takedown, but Jabouin was not having it. They continued to trade until the horn sounded to end the round.

Official result: Yves Jabouin defeats Ian Loveland via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

On Saturday, August 27, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made its return to Brazil for the first time since 1998.

In the main event of the evening, reigning UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will be making yet another defense of his title when he takes on Yushin Okami. Silva will be entering this fight at nearly a 6-1 favorite. Will “The Spider” make another successful title defense, or will Okami be able to overcome the odds and dethrone Silva?

The evening’s co-main event will feature a rematch between “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin. In their first outing, Griffin surprised many people when he was able to submit Rua in the third round of his UFC debut.

In other pay-per-view action, Brendan Schaub will be looking to move his way further up the heavyweight ranks when he takes on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Edson Barboza will be looking to further his unbeaten streak against Ross Pearson, and Luiz Cane will welcome Stanislav Nedkov in to the UFC.

Be sure to check out Bleacher Report for UFC 134 results, reaction, and analysis.

After years of being considered one of the best middleweights in the world, Yushin Okami will finally get his shot at UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. In the main event of UFC 134 in Silva’s home country of Brazil, Okami will have a chance to become the first Japanese champion in UFC history.

Aside from Okami, many Japanese fighters have had trouble transitioning into the UFC. Okami has been so successful with the organization that UFC president Dana White ventured to call Okami the greatest Japanese fighter of all time.

Okami did not shy away from that bold statement. In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani earlier this week, Okami said that he intends to back up White’s words in his fight against Silva.

“Yes (in response to whether or not he agrees with White’s comments), and I’m going to prove it on Saturday,” Okami said.

Despite Okami’s confidence, he has an extremely tough test facing him in Anderson Silva, who is considered by many to be the greatest fighter in the history of MMA. For nearly five years, nobody has been able to solve Silva’s puzzle and dethrone him.

“I don’t think he has any big holes,” Okami said. “He’s a great fighter.”

Okami recognizes Silva’s ability and admits that the Brazilian does not have any glaring weaknesses to exploit. After training with Chael Sonnen for this fight, though, it should seem fairly clear to everyone how Okami intends to beat Silva.

Okami will likely use Sonnen’s blueprint of pushing the pace and putting Silva on his back. By doing just that, Sonnen came within two minutes of beating the Brazilian champion, but a desperation triangle choke forced the self-proclaimed people’s champion to tap.

Silva and Okami will meet in UFC 134’s main event. The event’s main card will be aired on pay-per-view at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET.

Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.

For nearly five years, Anderson Silva has reigned over the middleweight division. Now, Silva will look to defend his UFC belt for the ninth time in a row. When Silva steps into the Octagon against Yushin Okami at UFC 134, it will be the Brazilian’s first fight in his home country since December 2003.

After an open workout event on Copacabana beach, Silva talked to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani about what the opportunity to fight in front of his compatriots means to him.

“I’m very happy,” Silva said. “This is the big dream for all the [fighters] in Brazil.”

This meeting between Silva and Okami at UFC 134 will not be the first between the two fighters. The middleweights also met in a welterweight tournament in January 2006. After getting off to a strong start in that fight, Silva was taken down.

Shortly after the takedown, Silva landed an illegal upkick that rendered Okami unable to continue, which results in a disqualification loss for the Brazilian. If Silva can avenge that loss at UFC 134, it will further cement him as the greatest fighter in MMA history.

Despite the history between the two fighters, Silva is not concerning himself with anything that happened in his prior meeting with Okami.

“This fight is not about avenging a loss,” Silva said. “Some fights you win, and some you lose, so it’s just another fight.”

Silva and Okami will meet in UFC 134’s main event. The event’s main card will be aired on pay-per-view at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET.

Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.

In a rematch of a bout that took place in September 2007, former UFC light heavyweight champions Mauricio Rua and Forrest Griffin will meet once again to determine which fighter is more deserving of taking a big step toward reclaiming their belt.

In their first meeting, Griffin spoiled Rua’s UFC debut with a third-round submission. The win earned Griffin a shot at Quinton Jackson and a UFC title, which he proceeded to win in a decision victory.

Rua only recently lost his title to current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but the Brazilian is still considered one of the best fighters in the 205-pound division. By avenging his loss to Griffin, Rua would put himself right back in the mix for another shot at the strap.

Griffin, on the other hand, has been out of the title picture for awhile now. However, back-to-back wins over Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin have Griffin in that conversation once again. Another win over Rua could once again propel Griffin into striking distance of the champion.

Both Rua and Griffin are known for putting on exciting fights. This is a tough fight to predict, but one thing that can be assured is an electrifying bout.

This fight between Rua and Griffin will serve as the third bout of the UFC 134 main card, which will begin on pay-per-view at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET.

The pay-per-view event will also feature a UFC middleweight championship bout between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, a heavyweight clash that will see Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira return to the Octagon to face Brendan Schaub and a lightweight battle between rising prospects Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson.

Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.