Anderson Silva is still unbeaten inside the Octagon, and still the UFC middleweight champion, after a spectacular first-round knockout win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.
Silva used a powerful left front kick to Belfort's face to knock him flat on his back on the canvas, then finished him off with a couple more punches on the ground. Although the first round hadn't had much action up until that point, the out-of-nowhere knockout from Silva was spectacular, and gave him an exclamation point on his UFC record 13th consecutive victory.
Belfort is a tough guy and former UFC champion who won the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament in 1997 and the UFC light heavyweight championship in 2004. He had never been knocked cold before, but he had never faced a striker like Silva before.
Silva improves to 28-4 in his MMA career (including 16 wins by knockout or TKO) and 13-0 in the UFC. Belfort falls to 19-9.
Now the question is whether the UFC can find anyone to challenge Silva for the middleweight belt. The UFC has said in the past that Silva would defend his title against Yushin Okami, but the promotion has also indicated that it would like to see welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre move up to middleweight to challenge Silva later this year.
Silva-St. Pierre would be a fantastic fight, and one that Silva would be favored to win. After what Silva did to Belfort on Saturday night, there's no one in the world who would be favored to beat Silva.
Anderson Silva is still unbeaten inside the Octagon, and still the UFC middleweight champion, after a spectacular first-round knockout win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.
