This is the UFC 208 live blog for Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson, a middleweight bout at Saturday night's UFC event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Silva, who is 0-4 with one no-contest in his past five fights, will face Brunson, who has won four of his past five fights, on the main card.
Check out the UFC 208 live blog below.
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Round 1: The Spider came in to a new song. Got a huge pop from this crowd. The referee for this one is Yves Lavigne. No touch of gloves. Silva to the middle. Both hesitant to engage early. A minute in and almost nothing. They are mirroring each other. Silva looking through Brunson's chest. A leg kick, half-hearted from Brunson, and now Silva throws up top. Doesn't connect. Right hand from Silva as Brunson flirts with getting close. Reactive Silva so far; respectful Brunson. Now Brunson ties Silva up on the fence, and he goes to work there. Silva shoves him aside and we're back to reset. Brunson leans down to throw but doesn't. Silva with an ice shot there. He looks like he's got a big of his mojo. Now they engage, and Brunson throws some big shots, Silva clinches and throws a knee. Vintage Silva there. Front kick from Brunson. Fight slows agin, and Silva pursues, big shots, now a spinning kick. They clinch, and Brunson lights Silva up with a series of punches in there — SIlva taking them. Now a flying knee from Silva, which makes the crowd erupt, but it ends with Silva on his back and Brunson on top. Crazy sequence of that round, to close it out. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Brunson, 10-9.
Round 2: Crowd still cheering. Silva doing a shoulder boogie, and he's sizing Brunson up. Fun seeing this version of Silva again. Confident. A takedown attempt from Brunson, and Silva sprawls. They are reset. Silva lands a shot and rolls around. Brunson waving his jab, but really not trying to throw it. Left hand from Brunson lands and he narrowly escapes a kick attempt. Silva with a fluid series of kicks around the fence, and Brunson — having tasted that — takes Silva down. The former champ is back up quick, though. They toil on the fence. Brunson posting Silva there. From that position Brunson landing short shots here and there. Brunson trying to find Silva's chin, but Silva's movement is keeping him off. Leg kicks from Silva, no hesitation. Now we're starting to see some dancing, and the crowd comes to life. Silva avoids some punches, and then lands a stiff jab. Been a long time since that cat and mouse stuff. Wow. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Silva, 10-9 (19-19 overall)
Round 3: Crowd buzzing, and Brunson tries to headhunt early in the round. Misses, and waves a high kick by Silva's ears. Now he tries to take SIlva down, but the wiry Spider muscles him by. Silva is great right now in range, and he sprawls again. Brunson really selling out for a takedown. Now they are on the fence. The break, and Silva, arms down, moves forward. Silva's movement excellent for a 41 year old. Now Brunson rolls along the fence, avoiding the sniper. Clinch from Silva, and uppercuts from Brunson in that. Silva has taken some punishment from that clinch, but he likes it. They trade and Silva clips Brunson a little harder. Oblique kick might have been low, or at least Brunson thought so. Ref lets them fight and Silva apologizes. There's a takedown from Brunson, and that's crucial with a minute-and-a-half left. He's in Silva's guard. Brunson content to hold things there. He's trying to work some short elbows. Inside of a minute. Crowd lets out a chorus of boos. Brunson doesn't hear them (or doesn't care). He's going to end this fight in Silva's guard, doing minimal damage but holding. After the fight, they sit down together and share a respectful moment. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Brunson, 10-9 (29-28 overall for Brunson)
UFC 208 official results: Anderson Silva def. Derek Brunson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)