LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Anderson Silva ended his title defence in the first round with a front kick to the face that knocked out Vitor Belfort. Silva remains the UFC middleweight champion and now will look ahead to a possible super-fight with welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone, successfully making the move from the WEC to the UFC, defeated English lightweight Paul Kelly by second-round submission on the undercard of UFC 126 Saturday night.
Cerrone (14-3 with one no contest) took Kelly down, improved his position and then forced the Brit to tap via rear naked choke at three minutes 48 seconds of the round.
Cerrone mounted Kelly (12-4) early but the English fighter escaped and hurt Cerrone with a knee to the face from the clinch. Cerrone repaid the favour, cutting Kelly late in the first round with an elbow from above.
Cerrone, who went 6-3 with one no contest in his 10 WEC fights, appeared to want to touch gloves at the start of the bout, but Kelly threw a punch instead. Kelly was booed when he tried to make his case as to what happened in Cerrone's post fight-interview.
The 155-pound bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center was on the undercard of the middleweight title defence between champion Anderson Silva and Brazilian challenger Vitor Belfort.
Earlier, bantamweight Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson spoiled Norifumi (Kid) Yamamoto's UFC debut in a fight in which the Japanese star failed to live up to his billing.
The 33-year-old Yamamoto looked slow, tentative and unimaginative in losing a 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 decision.
A veteran of Dream, K-1 and Shooto, Yamamoto (18-4 with one no contest) came into the fight highly touted despite having lost two of three fights since the beginning of 2008.
Johnson (13-1), a five-foot-three alumnus of the WEC, was busy from the get-go and had success taking Yamamoto down throughout the fight.
Light-heavyweight Kyle Kingsbury (10-2 with one no contest) made short work of Ricardo Romero (11-2), hammering away at the fence with punches and knees before putting him down with a left. Romero turtled and referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in after just 21 seconds.
English lightweight Paul (Relentless) Taylor showed off his superior striking in a second-round KO win over Gabe (Godzilla) Ruediger.
Taylor (11-6-1 with one no contest) ended it at the fence, hurting Ruediger (17-7) with combinations before felling him with a kick flush to the face that ended the contest at 1:42 of the second round.
Taylor, who entered to The Jam's "A Town Called Malice," needed a win after losing his last two and three of his last four.
"With all the fighters coming in from the WEC, I knew I needed a win," Taylor said. "I had two losses in a row and I knew that just a good performance wasn't going to keep me around. I needed a win."
Ruediger dropped his second straight.
Featherweight Chad (Money) Mendes outmuscled Michihiro Omigawa en route to a dominating 30-27 decision.
Mendes (10-0) used punishing leg kicks and good takedowns to keep Omigawa on the defensive. And his attacks took their toll
Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone, successfully making the move from the WEC to the UFC, defeated English lightweight Paul Kelly by second-round submission on the undercard of UFC 126 Saturday night.
Cerrone (14-3 with one no contest) took Kelly down, improved his position and then forced the Brit to tap via rear naked choke at three minutes 48 seconds of the round.
Cerrone mounted Kelly (12-4) early but the English fighter escaped and hurt Cerrone with a knee to the face from the clinch. Cerrone repaid the favour, cutting Kelly late in the first round with an elbow from above.
Cerrone, who went 6-3 with one no contest in his 10 WEC fights, appeared to want to touch gloves at the start of the bout, but Kelly threw a punch instead. Kelly was booed when he tried to make his case as to what happened in Cerrone's post fight-interview.
The 155-pound bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center was on the undercard of the middleweight title defence between champion Anderson Silva and Brazilian challenger Vitor Belfort.
Earlier, bantamweight Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson spoiled Norifumi (Kid) Yamamoto's UFC debut in a fight in which the Japanese star failed to live up to his billing.
The 33-year-old Yamamoto looked slow, tentative and unimaginative in losing a 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 decision.
A veteran of Dream, K-1 and Shooto, Yamamoto (18-4 with one no contest) came into the fight highly touted despite having lost two of three fights since the beginning of 2008.
Johnson (13-1), a five-foot-three alumnus of the WEC, was busy from the get-go and had success taking Yamamoto down throughout the fight.
Light-heavyweight Kyle Kingsbury (10-2 with one no contest) made short work of Ricardo Romero (11-2), hammering away at the fence with punches and knees before putting him down with a left. Romero turtled and referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in after just 21 seconds.
English lightweight Paul (Relentless) Taylor showed off his superior striking in a second-round KO win over Gabe (Godzilla) Ruediger.
Taylor (11-6-1 with one no contest) ended it at the fence, hurting Ruediger (17-7) with combinations before felling him with a kick flush to the face that ended the contest at 1:42 of the second round.
Taylor, who entered to The Jam's "A Town Called Malice," needed a win after losing his last two and three of his last four.
"With all the fighters coming in from the WEC, I knew I needed a win," Taylor said. "I had two losses in a row and I knew that just a good performance wasn't going to keep me around. I needed a win."
Ruediger dropped his second straight.
Featherweight Chad (Money) Mendes outmuscled Michihiro Omigawa en route to a dominating 30-27 decision.
Mendes (10-0) used punishing leg kicks and good takedowns to keep Omigawa on the defensive. And his attacks took their toll