The UFC’s FUEL 10 show, which was also the finale event for the second season of the UFC reality show ‘TUF Brazil’, came to us Saturday night live from Brazil, and the card provided finish after finish as the Brazilian fighters came out and left it all in the octagon. The main event saw Fabricio Werdum take out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by arm bar in the second round. Noguiera, who was talking about another run at the title before he retires, looked really old and slow. Werdum is just over a year younger, but the differences in their body language in the fight really showed ‘Minotauro’s mileage. If there were calls for retirement before, they probably just got a whole lot louder for Big Nog. It had been a year since Werdum had fought last, but this win puts him right at the top of the weight class. Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez has his next opponent in Junior dos Santos, and with that being the third meeting between the two, a win by either man is likely to lead to a new opponent from a list that includes Werdum, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem and possibly Roy Nelson. Regardless, the UFC will hopefully match him up for one more fight before he gets Velasquez, as Werdum would then go for a four-fight winning streak that would seal his #1 contender spot.
Welterweight Erick Silva faced off against Jason High in a match that was expected to be competitive, but turned into a romp. Silva was last seen being smothered by the now departed Jon Fitch, and there were questions whether he belonged at the top of the division. Silva came out with an aggression that High had no answer for, finishing with a reverse triangle/armbar combination in about a minute. This puts Silva back in play in a weight class that has a lot of fighters jockeying for position. Seeing him face the winner of the July Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald bout would give Silva another chance to take out a top name. Thiago Silva was another fighter with an impressive performance. Thiago is was an ugly 0-2 with 2 no contests in his last 4 fights and 1-3 2NCs in his last six, with only a win over burnt out Keith Jardine, but he is talented and this fight showed flashes of it. His opponent, Rafael Cavalcante had very little in the way of staying power, and Silva capitalized. Before the first round was over, Silva caught Cavalcante with a brutal uppercut that took the air right out of Feijao’s sails. The good thing is that with Silva’s spotty track record, the UFC can perhaps put him in some hard fights. A slugfest with countryman Glover Teixeira would be an exciting fight, for instance. In the finals of the Reality show, veteran Leonardo Santos took out William Macario with an arm triangle in round 2 to win a UFC contract. Santos is 33 years old, and has been around the block a few times, so the UFC can throw him into the fire right away. He will likely drop back down to his natural 155lb division, where he is tall for the weight class and has great Jiu Jitsu and a solid team behind him, but he may be a bit old school when it comes to meeting some of the top names in the weight class. A matchup against Strikeforce import Jorge Masvidal would separate the winner from the pack at 155 lbs. You can guarantee that many of the fighters from this card will be heard from, as the UFC will be extremely content with a show that had so many finishes. Up next for the UFC, next weekend’s makeshift UFC 161 card.