The much anticipated main card for UFC 152 kicked off with a bang that saw Cub Swanson face off against Charles Oliveira. Oliveira struggled to make weight but that did not show in the early stages of the fight. 
Oliveira used his superior reach early and eventually used it to setup a nice take-down. Swanson was not deterred and quickly got the fight back standing where he unleashed a bevy of body shots that clearly hurt Oliveira.
That was the beginning of the end, as Swanson finished Oliveira off with an intense overhand right. The stoppage was a bit delayed so you could call this one a delayed knockout at the 2:40 mark of the first round.
The next fight on the main card pitted Matt Hamill coming out of retirement to face off against UFC newcomer and former Bellator fighter Roger Hollett. This fight was easily the least interesting of all on the card and it clearly showed.
The first round was owned by Hamill as he imposed his superior striking and showed that his wrestling game did not lose a beat. At one point, Hamill scooped Hollett up and slammed him like a rag-doll. Hollett was clearly over-matched and intimidated as the round ended. The second round was much the same as Hamill once again used his superior striking and wrestling. As the round wore on, Hamill showed some signs of Octagon rust which started irritating the Canadian crowd. The final round once again showed that Hamill was the more experienced fighter and just too much for Hollett to overcome in his debut. In the end, Hamill left the cage with a dominating unanimous decision victory.
The next main card fight was the highly anticipated middleweight contest between Michael Bisping and Brian Stann. Both fighters were extremely hyped-up for this contest and it clearly showed early on in the first round. Stann from the start clearly wanted to strike and Bisping did a great job of staying out-of-range and getting Stann to clinch-up when Stann pushed with some power shots. The two finished the round with a pair of groin shots that brought some laughs out of the Canadian crowd. The second round started with Bisping failing to score a take-down but he followed it up immediately with a cage shaking slam. Bisping worked side-control but Stann looked very comfortable and regained top-position. The round ended with Bisping scoring another big take-down easily stealing the round. The final round opened with Bisping taking-down Stann yet again. Stann quickly got back to his feet but Bisping did a great job of keeping Stann at bay with his striking. The final round ended with both guys in the clinch and Bisping a unanimous 29-28 winner.
The co-main event of the evening between Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson was to crown the first ever UFC flyweight champion. Something fans felt took forever to come to fruition! The opening round of the contest started out extremely fast paced with Johnson winning the counter-punch game. Both fighters tried taking the other down but neither were able to be successful in a pretty entertaining first round. The second round had Benavidez being the aggressor as he tried chasing Johnson down numerous times. Benavidez scored a couple of good combos late in the round but was unable to capitalize on the advantage. The third round had Benavidez once again being the aggressor but Johnson did a great job of keeping the speedier Benavidez away with solid take-down defense and counter-striking. The fourth round opened with both guys going for simultaneous take-downs. A little after the failed scramble Benavidez finally dropped Johnson and tried locking in an one-arm guillotine choke that Johnson easily escaped. The final found of the contest opened with Johnson scoring a huge double-leg take-down and highlight reel suplex. Benavidez eventually got back to his feet but Johnson clearly showed that he could go five more rounds. In the end, that final round proved pivotal as Johnson escaped the octagon with a split-decision victory and the first ever UFC flyweight title.
The main event of the evening was the highly anticipated light-heavyweight championships bout between the “young lion” Jon Jones and the “old lion” Vitor Belfort. The opening stanza of the bout featured Jones starting off on his knees and Belfort throwing a arguably illegal head-kick that just missed Jones. Quickly after Jones scored a single-leg take-down where Belfort tried to score a guillotine to no avail. As Jones looked to posture though, the more experienced Belfort locked in a bone snapping arm-bar sending the Canadian crowd into a panic. Jones narrowly survived the arm-attack but was clearly hurt. The round ended with Jones unleashing several vicious elbow strikes that opened a huge cut over Belfort’s right eye. The doctor checked Belfort before the start of the second round but did not stop the contest from pushing forward. The second round had Jones stalking Belfort for most of the round and he eventually pulled guard on Jones seemingly trying to minimize the stand-up damage. The third round started with a Jones body-kick followed by and axe-kick that put Belfort on the mat. Belfort was clearly uncomfortable and he sneakily tried to grab an arm-lock which Jones just powered out of. The round finished with Belfort pulling guard again due to Jones superior stand-up skills. The fourth round started again with Belfort pulling guard but this time Jones passed on the ground-and-pound and went straight for a americana from side-control. Belfort clearly new the end was near as he quickly tapped at the 0:54 mark of the round. With the title defense, Jones moved to 11-1 in the UFC and now has four successful title defenses in-a-row.
UFC 152 Main Card Results
- Jon Jones defeated Vitor Belfort – SUB (americana) – Round 4 – 0:54 – to retain the UFC light-heavyweight championship
- Demetrious Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez – SD (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) – to become the first ever UFC flyweight champion
- Michael Bisping defeated Brian Stann – UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matt Hamill defeated Roger Hollett – UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Cub Swanson defeated Charles Oliveira – KO (punches) – Round 1 – 2:40