The UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort main event got off to a slow start, but it certainly didn’t end that way. The fight began with both fighters showing a lot of respect for one another. Both circling and feinting quite a bit. In fact, the first strike didn’t land until a minute and 29 seconds went by in the round. Vitor Belfort connected with a couple of low kicks, and managed to land a combination later in the round.
However, it was vintage Anderson Silva after that as he began to pick up the pace with his movement and seemingly zero in for the kill as he has done many time. Silva threw a left front kick that connected squarely on the jaw of Belfort, dropping him to the canvas on his back. Silva pounced as he knew Belfort was hurt badly, landing a couple of shots for good measure as the referee came into stop the fight.
Silva blew kisses to the crowd then went over to check on Belfort, who was down on the mat for a couple minutes but conscious. Silva stayed by his side until Belfort was able to get back to his feet. Silva retains the UFC middleweight title for a record eighth consecutive time at 3:29 of round 1 via TKO.