Fabricio Werdum knelt at the side of his hero, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
The respect from Werdum certainly was there. And this time, so was a victory, as Werdum forced Nogueira to submit in the second round in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 10 at Ginasio Paulo Sarasate in Fortaleza, Brazil on Saturday night.
“He is in fact a great idol for all Brazilians,” Werdum said in the post-fight televised interview. “It was my second fight with him and it was a tough fight.”
The bout was a rematch of a 2006 Pride Fighting Championship fight, which Nogueira won by decision. The rematch was scheduled to go five rounds — at least before Werdum grabbed Nogueira’s left arm.
Werdum, who began the hold from atop Nogueira’s back, ratcheted down the hold. Nogueira verbally submitted midway through the second round.
The main event followed the arc of most of the other events on the night, as only two of the 12 fights went the distance.
Get analysis of each of the fights at our UFC on FUEL TV 10 fight blog.
The quickest of the night was Felipe Arantes' TKO (punches) of Godofredo Pepey, a bout that lasted 88 seconds.
"It was the best fight of the night,” Arantes said. “I was afraid that when the judge announced it was over, I was going to wake up and find out I was still dreaming. I felt the crowd against me as I was walking in, but it's part of this sport.”
The 10 total finishes tied UFC Fight Night 13 in 2008 as the most in UFC history. Included in those stoppages was this season’s "Ultimate Fighter: Brazil".
Leo Santos secured the six-figure UFC contract as the winner of the second season of "TUF: Brazil", with a second-round submission of William Macario.
Not bad for a guy who wouldn’t have made the finale if not for a hand injury to Santiago Ponzinibbio. Ponzinibbio beat Santos in the "TUF" semis but was unable to continue to the finals.
Santos took control seconds after Macario was warned for illegally using the cage to facilitate a takedown. Santos used side control to wrench down a choke, which led the submission with 17 seconds left in the second round.
“I know at the end you saw (the fight against) Ponzinibbio and you thought I was going to lose,” Santos said. “No way. I’m very tough.”
Thiago Silva — barring another violation of drug policy — earned his first victory since August 2009, and did so impressively.
The Brazilian veteran light heavyweight entered his fight against Rafael Cavalcante on a four-match winless streak. Two of those were losses to Rashad Evans and Alexander Gustafsson, along with no-contests in fights against Brandon Vera (drug violation due to adulterated urine) and Stanislav Nedkov (positive test for marijuana).
Silva got Cavalcante along the cage with solid combinations punctuated by a massive right uppercut that dropped Cavalcante. The fight was stopped with 31 seconds left in the first round as Silva recorded the TKO.
“I just followed my instructions and listened to my coach,” Silva said on FUEL TV. “They told me to be very patient and wait for the right moment. That’s what I did.”
The bout was deemed Fight of the Night, and Silva earned an additional $50,000 for KO of the night.
Erick Silva’s first-round submission (arm bar) of Jason High searned Silva the Submission of the Night bonus.
“We train for four months to fight three rounds, but of course I always want to be there for as little time as possible,” Erick Silva said. “Thank God today was that day. I was very focused on the submission, and I kind of woke up with the roar of the crowd. The crowd got me very pumped up and excited."
