UFC 148 Results: Silva Defeats Sonnen, Griffin Outlasts Ortiz

Anderson Silva

Silva, Griffin win at UFC 148

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva walked away from UFC 148 with his belt wrapped around the waist and any doubts about his dominance erased.

After years of trash talk from two-time contender Chael Sonnen, Silva entered the fight with bad intentions, but failed to carry through on his prediction of a first round stoppage. Right after the opening bell, Sonnen worked the fight to the ground, where the two spent nearly the entire five minutes. But Silva survived, avoiding any significant damage, and got to work early in the second. Able to avoid the takedown, the champion began working his striking, landing a nice shot that put Sonnen down, followed by a brutal knee to the chest.

Sonnen attempted to cover up, but Silva’s pressure was too much, as he landed shot after shot to his downed opponent before the referee Yves Lavigne stepped in to stop the contest. After the fight, Silva had nothing but kind words for Sonnen, urging fans to applaud his opponent and even inviting him to a barbecue in his home country of Brazil. Sonnen, clearly disappointed, showed his respect for Silva, stating that he was, indeed, a true champion.

In the evening’s co-main event, Tito Ortiz set foot in the Octagon for a final time against rival Forrest Griffin. Ortiz had his moments, knocking Griffin to the mat with strikes on a few occasions, but Griffin proved too much, as Ortiz faded after his early triumphs. However, just after the conclusion of the contest, Griffin bolted out of the cage, sending UFC president Dana White frantically chasing him down, demanding he step back in for the judges’ decision.

But the odd events did not stop there. After Bruce Buffer read off the judges’ scorecards and declared Griffin the winner, the former champion took the interview duties over from Joe Rogan, giving Ortiz his final post-fight interview. It was an awkward moment, and an uncomfortable Ortiz seemed upset at Griffin’s actions. He voiced his frustrations in the post-fight press conference, as did White, and Griffin immediately and sincerely apologized for spoiling his opponent’s final moments in the UFC.

Check out the full results from UFC 148 below:

Preliminary Card

Rafaello Oliveira def. Yoislandy Izquierdo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shane Roller def. John Alessio via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Constantinos Philippou def. Riki Fukuda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Gleison Tibau via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Melvin Guillard def. Fabricio Camoes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Main Card

Mike Easton def. Ivan Menjivar via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Chad Mendes def. Cody McKenzie via knockout at 0:31 of Round 1
Demian Maia def. Dong Hyun Kim via technical knockout (injury) at 0:47 of Round 1
Cung Le def. Patrick Cote via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Anderson Silva def. Chael Sonnen via technical knockout at 1:55 of Round 2

Check out the live play-by-play of the preliminary card and main card of UFC 148