The Blog

 Introduction UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2. August 28, 2010. TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts. The first UFC event in Massachusetts. Frankie Edgar retained the UFC Lightweight Championship against BJ Penn by unanimous decision — 50-45 on all three scorecards. This time, there was no controversy. Edgar dominated every round, taking Penn down multiple times and out-striking him throughout all five rounds. Randy Couture submitted boxing legend James Toney with a rear-naked choke at 3:19 of round one.

 Introduction UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen. August 7, 2010. Oracle Arena, Oakland, California. Anderson Silva retained the UFC Middleweight Championship against  Chael Sonnen won four rounds, leading the scorecards 40-34, 40-35, and 40-36 entering round five. He controlled the fight for 19 minutes and 53 seconds, landed 320 total strikes to Silva’s 64, and had a -60 significant strike differential in his favour. With 1 minute and 50 seconds remaining,  This fight was inducted into the UFC Hall of F

 Introduction UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin. July 3, 2010. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The UFC Heavyweight Championship unification. Shane Carwin opened round one with one of the most sustained and brutal attacks in heavyweight history — over 100 strikes, multiple knockdowns, Brock Lesnar in the fetal position against the cage. Carwin could not finish it. In round two, Carwin gassed. Lesnar took him down, advanced to mount, and locked in an arm-triangle choke. Carwin tapped at 2:19. 1,160,00

 Introduction UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin. June 12, 2010. General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The fourth UFC in Canada and the first UFC event in British Columbia. Rich Franklin stopped  Rich Franklin fought the entire fight with a broken arm. Mirko Cro Cop submitted Pat Barry with a rear-naked choke in round three of the co-main event, after Barry had dropped Cro Cop twice with leg kicks in earlier rounds. Carlos Condit stopped Rory MacDonald by TKO i

 Introduction UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans. May 29, 2010. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Rashad Evans defeated Quinton Jackson by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — in a light heavyweight main event charged with genuine personal animosity. Jackson dropped Evans in round two but failed to finish; Evans survived and went on to take the fight. Mike Russow stopped Todd Duffee by TKO in round three — one of the most shocking heavyweight upsets in UFC history. Duffee had been 9-0 and a hyped

 Introduction UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2. May 8, 2010. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The third UFC in Montreal. Mauricio Rua stopped Lyoto Machida by TKO at 3:35 of round one — a brutal first-round finish that ended the Machida era. Machida was out cold and remained motionless 45 seconds after the stoppage. Paul Daley punched Josh Koscheck after the bell in the co-main event. Dana White fired Daley from the UFC immediately, saying he would never fight for the organisation again. Matt

 Introduction UFC 112: Invincible. April 10, 2010. Concert Arena at Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The first UFC event in the Middle East and the first outdoor UFC. Live on US PPV at 1 PM ET due to the time zone difference. Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn by unanimous decision — 50-45, 48-47, 49-46 — to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion in one of the sport’s biggest upsets. Penn’s knee was injured going into the fight. Anderson Silva retained the Middleweight Championship agains

 Introduction UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy. March 27, 2010. Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. Georges St-Pierre retained the Welterweight Championship with a dominant five-round decision over Dan Hardy — 50-43, 50-44, 50-45. Hardy became the first British fighter in UFC history to challenge for a title. Frank Mir was knocked out in round one by Shane Carwin at 3:48, who won the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Hardy refused to tap to a kimura and armbar in round two; both became celebrated

 Introduction UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez. February 21, 2010. Acer Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first UFC event in Australia. 17,831 fans packed the arena and its overflow ballroom; it was the second fastest sellout in UFC history. Merchandise sales of $540,000 broke the UFC’s own record and surpassed the Acer Arena’s previous mark, which had been set by Iron Maiden. Cain Velasquez stopped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by TKO at 2:20 of round one to earn a UFC Heavyweight Champi

 Introduction UFC 109: Relentless. February 6, 2010. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Randy Couture submitted Mark Coleman in the light heavyweight main event. The fight had originally been booked for UFC 17 in May 1998 and was cancelled due to a Couture injury. Nearly 12 years later, it was finally delivered. It was the first time in UFC history that two UFC Hall of Fame inductees competed against each other. Chael Sonnen defeated Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision in the middleweight c

 Introduction UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva. January 2, 2010. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The card was heavily disrupted by injuries. Three separate main events were cancelled before Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva was confirmed: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort (Silva’s elbow surgery), Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin (Lesnar’s diverticulitis), and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez (Nogueira withdrawal). Rashad Evans defeated Thiago Silva by unanimous decision — 29-28 on all three scorec

 Introduction UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez. December 12, 2009. FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee. The first UFC event in Tennessee. BJ Penn retained the UFC Lightweight Championship with a dominant five-round performance over  BJ Penn stuffed all 27 of Sanchez’s takedown attempts. He dropped Sanchez multiple times across five rounds, controlled every exchange, and extended his record to three consecutive lightweight title defences — a new UFC LW record. Joe Rogan called it: ‘That right there is the gr