UFC 153 Results Recap: Silva, Big Nog, Fitch, Teixeira win in Rio

UFC 153 came at us live from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and delivered some great fights and finishes for the fans. Longtime reigning champion Anderson Silva did not fail to deliver as he finished Stephan Bonnar via TKO towards the end of the first round. Bonnar tried to push the smaller Silva up against the cage and attempt a takedown, but the champ’s defense was just too good. Although Bonnar landed some shots, they never seemed to faze The Spider, who landed a vicious knee to the body and rained down some punches to seal the deal. Kudos to both fighters for stepping up on short notice to put on a show for the fans. Although Silva has stated he will not face Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones, many will be calling for this fight to go down.

In other action, Antonio “Big Nog” Nogueira proved that jiujitsu does indeed work when he fought a back-and-forth Heavyweight battle with Dave Herman. Herman scored a few nice tosses and landed some kicks early on, but the tables were turned in the second round. Big Nog landed a clean left hook to drop Herman and followed to the ground for some submission attempts. Although unsuccessful at first, Nogueira was able to secure a fight-ending armbar to hand Herman his first submission loss ever.

Jon Fitch silenced his doubters when he slowed the hype train of Erick Silva down with a dominating unanimous decision victory. It appeared Fitch was repeatedly trying to finish the fight, something he has been deriding for not doing lately.

Glover Teixeira fought Fabio Maldonado in a brutal war, landing tons of effective elbows from top position. Maldonado used his vaunted boxing, but it was not nearly enough to stop the respected all-around skills of Teixeira. Although Maldonado was willing to continue, the doctor called for a stoppage after the second round. Phil Davis‘ rematch with Wagner Prado went much better the second time around, as he finished the fight with an impressive Anaconda choke. Demian Maia returned to his bread and butter in submitting Rick Story with a rear-naked choke, his first tapout in nearly four years.

UFC 153 Full Results:

Main Card:

Anderson Silva def. Stephan Bonnar by R1 TKO (Knees and punches)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Dave Herman by R2 Submission (Armbar)
Glover Teixeira def. Fabio Maldonado by R2 TKO (Doctor Stoppage)
Jon Fitch def. Erick Silva by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Phil Davis def. Wagner Prado by R2 Submission (Anaconda Choke)
Demian Maia def. Rick Story by R1 Submission (Rear-naked choke)

Preliminary Card:

Rony Jason def. Sam Sicilia by R2 TKO (Strikes)
Gleison Tibau def. Francisco Trinaldo by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Diego Brandao def. Joey Gambino by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sergio Moraes def. Renee Forte by R3 Submission (Rear-naked choke)
Chris Camozzi def. Luiz Cane by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cristiano Marcello def. Reza Madadi by Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

LowKick.com Fight Night Awards:

Performance of the Night: Anderson Silva gets the nod here for stepping up a weight class on short notice to destroy a man who had never been finished before in the UFC in Stephan Bonnar.

Finish of the Night: Big Nog earns the well-deserved award for his impressive finish of David Herman in his comeback fight from arm surgery. He proved that BJJ is very effective against an opponent who doubted its worth.