UFC 156 took place on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and it was a great night for Brazilian fighters as Jose Aldo retained the UFC featherweight title and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva scored upset victories.
In the main event, Aldo stepped into the octagon for the first time since the beginning of last year and was able to defeated former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision.
Aldo was able to use his striking in the opening rounds to outscore Edgar, especially with his leg kicks. Along with the leg kicks, Aldo was able to stop the takedown attempts of Edgar.
Edgar’s best rounds came in the fourth and fifth round where Aldo appeared to be slowing down. He was able to hold Aldo against the cage, but he was unable to mount much offense.
Aldo (22-1) has now won 15 fights in a row and this was his fourth UFC featherweight title defense. For Edgar (14-4-1) has now lost three in a row and stated in his post fight interview that he will go back home and figure out what is next.
“Lil Nog” upsets Evans in the co-main event
Rashad Evans was potentially a win away at a chance to face Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title, but Nogueira was able to out box the former light heavyweight champion to score a decision victory.
Evans is known for his wrestling and he was unable to take down the Brazilian fighter. Nogueira was able to stop four of the fight takedown attempts of Evans and out landed him 40-22 in total strikes landed.
Nogueira (21-5) has now won two in a row and has become a contender in the UFC light heavyweight division. This was his first fight in over a year and the UFC will look to book him in another fight shortly as long as he is healthy.
Bigfoot upsets Overeem by knockout in the third round
Bigfoot and Alistair Overeem had their share of words over the past couple of days and Bigfoot said he would make the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion respect him and thats what happened at the beginning of the third round.
Overeem was able to control the the first and second round with his striking and his top control on the ground. However, he had his hands down for most of the fight and he paid for this in the third round.
Bigfoot landed a right hand near the fence that stunned Overeem and went on the attack and essentially had Overeem out on his feet. Referee Herb Dean would come in to stop the fight once Overeem buckled to the ground at the 25 second mark of the round.
Bigfoot (18-4) has now won back to back fights in the UFC with both wins coming by knockout and is now “in the mix” in the heavyweight division. Prior to tonight’s card, UFC President Dana White said he would likely need another win before he could get a rematch against Cain Velasquez.
The complete UFC 156 results are below:
Main Card: (PPV)
Jose Aldo def. Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Rashad Evans via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Antonio Silva def. Alistair Overeem via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, :25
Demian Maia def. Jon Fitch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joseph Benavidez def. Ian McCall via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (FX)
Evan Dunham def. Gleison Tibau via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Tyron Woodley def. Jay Hieron via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, :36
Bobby Green def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (RNC) – Round 3, 4:25
Issac Vallie-Flagg def. Yves Edwards via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (Facebook)
Dustin Kimura def. Chico Camus via submission (RNC) – Round 3, 1:50
Francisco Rivera def. Edwin Figueroa via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:20