Sherdog’s Top 10: UFC Middleweight Title Fights

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7. Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort
UFC 126
Feb. 5, 2011 | Las Vegas
When Silva was at the height of his power, there was not a more ferocious striker in mixed martial arts. No one knows that any better than Belfort. Though he was responsible for many jaw-dropping knockouts -- his upward elbow on Tony Fryklund comes to mind -- during his career, the finish “The Spider” authored against Belfort in the UFC 126 headliner stands out among the rest. Belfort had twice been stopped on strikes by Randy Couture, but he had never actually been knocked out -- until he faced the middleweight champion before 10,893 fans at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. “The Phenom” tried to put his lethal hands to use, but Silva’s defense was sublime and limited him to an occasional glancing blow. A front kick to the face, thrown with blinding speed, crushing power and laser-guided accuracy, marked the beginning of the end for Belfort. He folded where he stood, as if cut down by a sniper’s bullet, and ate a few follow-up punches before the stoppage was called 3:25 into Round 1.

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