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UFC champion Anderson Silva choked out former Pride title-holder Dan Henderson at 4:52 of the second round to claim middleweight mixed martial arts supremacy at UFC 82 on Saturday night.
After a cautious opening, Henderson took Silva down two minutes in and controlled him on the ground the rest of the round. He did not do that much damage, other than some hammer fists, but the champion looked mortal for the first time in a while.
A more aggressive Silva stalked Henderson in the second round and, after a clinch on the fence, the two started swinging. Henderson got the worst of it and went down, eventually giving up his back to Silva after the Brazilian fired a barrage of punches from above.
The Brazilian then sank in a rear-naked choke. With the clock counting down to the end of the round, Henderson tried to hang on but had to tap.
Silva, 32, improved to 21-4 (6-0 in the UFC) while Henderson fell to 22-7.
"My hat's off to Anderson Silva," said Henderson.
The 37-year-old Henderson lost his bid for the UFC light-heavyweight title last September when he dropped a decision to Quinton (Rampage) Jackson at UFC 75.
In the co-main event,
Heath (The Texas Crazy Horse) Herring won a split decision over France's Cheick Kongo in a rough-and-tumble heavyweight bout that was short on style but still had its moments as the two big men wrestled and rolled.
Herring improved to 28-13 with one no contest while Kongo, continuing an up-and-down UFC career, fell to 21-4-1. Herring said in the ring later he had expected a standup battle and apologized for the ground fighting.
The UFC looks north for its next pay-per-view card with local favourite Georges St. Pierre hoping to reclaim his welterweight title from Matt Serra at UFC 83 in Montreal on April 19 in the UFC's Canadian debut. Serra was roundly booed by the Nationwide Arena crowd when he was shown on the big screens.
Mark (The Hammer) Coleman, a Columbus native, was honoured during Saturday's show, becoming the fifth fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Coleman, 43, then announced he would take on former WWE star Brock Lesnar in Minnesota later this year in what will be a matchup of two big, blunt objects.
The UFC also confirmed Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell will headline UFC 85 in London on June 7. No opponent was identified, although reports have linked Liddell with Mauricio (Shogun) Rua.
Earlier, two former UFC champions returned to the cage with differing results.
Former heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski scored a workmanlike second-round TKO over (Irish) Jake O'Brien in a bout that could be his UFC swansong. But former middleweight champion Evan Tanner was unable to solve the power of Japanese southpaw Yushin Okami and suffered a second-round KO.
O'Brien (10-1) was good on just two of nine takedown attempts and did little damage before ending up on his back courtesy of an Arlovski leg trip. The native of Belarus, who now calls Chicago home, quickly mounted O'Brien and punched away at the former Purdue wrestler until the fight was stopped at 4:17 of the second round.
Arlovski (14-5) last fought 11 months ago, when he decisioned Brazil's Fabricio Werdum in an unspectacular showing at UFC 70, and has been out of the UFC picture since despite his popularity with fans. The Pitbull's contract with the UFC has now expired, leading to speculation about where he will fight next.
The 37-year-old Tanner (34-7), whose last outing was almost two years ago, was dropped by a knee to the head in a clinch three minutes into the second round. Okami (23-4) is now 6-1 in the UFC, with his lone loss coming to former champion Rich Franklin at UFC 72.
Josh Koscheck and Diego (Nightmare) Sanchez moved back up the 170-pound food chain by returning to the win column in style. But fellow welterweight contender Jon Fitch (21-2 with one no contest) had his hands full with former IFL fighter Chris Wilson (12-4 with one no contest) en route to a unanimous decision.
Koscheck (12-2) defeated Dustin Hazelett in devastating fashion, connecting with a right and then felling him with a huge left kick to the head before finishing off the stunned Hazelett on the ground with strikes for a TKO at 1:24 of the second round.
Hazelett (12-4) got Koscheck's attention early on, connecting with a kick and knee seconds into an entertaining first round that saw both fighters swing at will.
Sanchez (20-2) ended a two-fight losing streak by systematically taking apart UFC newcomer David Bielkheden, a Swede who trains in Brazil. Sanchez took Bielkheden (12-6) down 10 seconds into the fight and gradually improved position, punishing the Swede en route until Bielkheden eventually tapped out at 4:43 of the first round to stop a string of strikes to the head.
A bloodied Chris Leben (18-4) outslugged Alessio Sakara, dropping the Italian with a pair of lefts en route to a TKO at 3:16 of the first round. The loss came in Sakara's first fight since dropping to 185 pounds.
"This is what you come to see in the UFC," Leben said. "Slugging and banging."
Lightweight Jorge Gurgel (15-3) won a unanimous decision over a game John Halverson (16-6), punishing Halverson early with nasty leg kicks before graduating to ground and pound.
Welterweight Luigi Fioravanti (13-3) won a lopsided decision over Luke Cummo (9-5), who had no answer to Fioravanti's takedowns.
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