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 Introduction UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2. December 29, 2012. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The year-end PPV. Cain Velasquez reclaimed the UFC Heavyweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Junior dos Santos (50-45, 50-43, 50-44) in five complete rounds. The result reversed their first meeting at UFC on Fox 1 in November 2011, where dos Santos had knocked Velasquez out in 64 seconds. Velasquez dominated every round with wrestling and ground-and-pound, knocking dos Santos do

 Introduction UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit. November 17, 2012. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Georges St-Pierre returned from a 19-month layoff caused by a torn ACL to unify the UFC Welterweight Championship against interim champion Carlos Condit. The fight was  Condit dropped GSP with a head kick in round three — one of the cleanest shots the champion had absorbed in years.  Contents 1. Introduction2. Quick Stats3. The Build-Up4. Main Event5. Co-Main Event6. Full Results7. Bonuses & Aw

 Introduction UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar. October 13, 2012. HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The third UFC event in Rio de Janeiro. The original main event — Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the Featherweight Championship — was cancelled after Aldo suffered a foot injury in a motorcycle accident on September 1. Anderson Silva volunteered to move up to light heavyweight on 32 days notice to save the event, facing  Anderson Silva defeated  Contents 1. Introduction2. Quick Stats3. The Build-Up4. M

 Introduction UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort. September 22, 2012. Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jon Jones defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Vitor Belfort by submission (americana) at 0:54 of round four. The event was the first numbered PPV since the cancellation of UFC 151 — the only cancelled event in UFC history. Jones entered having also faced public criticism over a DWI arrest in May 2012. Vitor Belfort nearly submitted Jones with an armbar in round one. Jone

 Introduction UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II. August 11, 2012. Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado. Benson Henderson defended the UFC Lightweight Championship against Frankie Edgar by split decision (48-47, 48-47, 46-49) in their second meeting of the year. Henderson had defeated Edgar at UFC 144 in Japan in February; the rematch was as controversial as the first. Edgar knocked Henderson down in round two and nearly submitted him with a D’Arce choke. He had more total strikes, more significant strik

 Introduction UFC 149: Faber vs. Barão. July 21, 2012. Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The first UFC event in Calgary. The Interim Bantamweight Championship was contested while Dominick Cruz recovered from injury. Renan Barão defeated Urijah Faber by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 49-46) in five rounds, capturing the first title of his career and extending his professional unbeaten streak to 32 consecutive bouts. Hector Lombard made a disappointing UFC debut, losing a split d

 Introduction UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II. July 7, 2012. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. International Fight Week. Anderson Silva retained the UFC Middleweight Championship against  Chael Sonnen dominated round one with wrestling and ground and pound, as he had in their first fight at UFC 117. In round two, Sonnen threw a reckless spinning back fist that left him out of position. Silva landed a knee to the chest, followed with punches, and Yves Lavigne stopped the fight. It was  Tito Ortiz w

 Introduction UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II. June 23, 2012. Mineirinho Arena, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The first UFC event in Belo Horizonte and the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil Season 1. Rich Franklin defeated Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in a five-round catchweight main event at 190 lbs. The event was the most heavily altered UFC card in the promotion’s history, with the UFC offering full ticket refunds to buyers before the event — the first time in

 Introduction UFC 146: dos Santos vs. Mir. May 26, 2012. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The first UFC event in history with an all-heavyweight main card. Billed as ‘The Heavyweights.’ Original main event: Alistair Overeem vs. Junior dos Santos for the HW Championship. On April 4, Overeem failed a pre-fight drug test (testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio 14-to-1, against the permitted 6-to-1). He was suspended nine months. Frank Mir was elevated to the main event. Junior dos Santos retained

 Introduction UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans. April 21, 2012. Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia. Jon Jones defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Rashad Evans by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) in five rounds — the first time Jones had been taken the distance in the UFC. The event was originally planned for Montreal and was moved to Atlanta. Jones and Rashad Evans were former teammates at Jackson’s MMA under Greg Jackson. Their professional relationship broke down when Jones to

 Introduction UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson. February 26, 2012. Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan. The UFC’s return to Japan after more than 11 years — the first UFC event in Japan since UFC 29 in December 2000, and the first since the 2007 acquisition of Pride Fighting Championships. The event sold out. Benson Henderson defeated Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46) in five rounds to win the UFC Lightweight Championship. It was the first time in professional MMA that Edgar

 Introduction UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit. February 4, 2012. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Georges St-Pierre was originally scheduled to defend the Welterweight Championship against Nick Diaz. St-Pierre withdrew on December 7, 2011 with a torn ACL. Carlos Condit was elevated from the undercard and faced Diaz for the interim WW title. Condit defeated Nick Diaz by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) in a fight that divided the MMA world. Condit used a kick-and-move game plan throughout