ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Fedor Emelianenko showed why he is considered by many to be the best heavyweight fighter -- if not pound-for-pound fighter -- in MMA today by submitting Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds of the first round at Affliction's "Banned" event Saturday.
From the sound of the bell, Emelianenko was a blur of amazingly fast hands and sublime submission skills.
The two fighters began cautiously, pawing with jabs and feints before Emelianenko exploded on his taller foe with a dazzling display of hand speed and accuracy.
A right uppercut stunned Sylvia moments into the bout, and Emelianenko continued raining punches on the bigger man, stunning him and dropping him in a heap.
Once on the ground, Emelianenko manhandled Sylvia, landing punches and looking for the choke.
Sylvia, looking like a deer caught in headlights, was unable to fend off Emelianenko, who was just too fast. Moments later, Emelianenko locked on a choke and Sylvia quickly tapped.
"I'm very happy about the fight and my performance," Emelianenko said. "I want to thank Tim for coming out to fight me.
"I always try to finish the fight a soon as I can. What happened happened."
Sylvia took the loss in stride and admitted he was slow coming out of the blocks. "He got off first, and there were so many things going through my mind," he said. "He got off, landed the big punch and got the submission."
Emelianenko made it clear it was his intention all along to get out of the blocks quickly. "I never know how short or long a fight is going to be," he said. "I wanted to end it as quickly as possible."
Emelianenko made no bones about who he wanted to meet in the ring next. "I want to fight Randy Couture," he said.
It's a fight Couture is keen on making as well. "Hopefully some time this year if we're lucky," Couture said.
Arlovski assaults Rothwell with devastating KO
Andre Arlovski exploded back onto the heavyweight scene with a bloody battering of Ben Rothwell in three explosive rounds.
Arlovski took every round, and after Rothwell ate a series of unanswered punches and kicks, the referee stopped the fight at 1:14 of the third round, saving him from serious injury.
Arlovksi looked better than he had in years. The Belarussian showed poise, power and intelligence in the ring, fighting cautiously at first, but upping the work rate as the rounds rolled on.
"I try to do my best, what I did with my trainers and my sparring partners," Arlovski said. "He was a very tough guy."
Barnett blasts Rizzo in Round 2
Josh Barnett knocked out Brazilian veteran Pedro Rizzo at 1:44 of the second round to avenge a loss to his nemesis seven years ago.
Barnett had comprehensively outkicked Rizzo in the previous round, landing an array of punches to the head, strikes to the midsection and kicks to the legs. Rizzo looked completely out of sorts as the U.S fighter displayed some fine boxing skills, rolling and slipping his way out of trouble, and landing some excellent counters that one would expect from a boxer rather than former professional wrestler.
A massive left hook finally ended matters and separated Rizzo from his senses.
"He said I was going to get knocked out again … can you believe that?" Barnett said after the fight. "Pedro is as tough as they come, he's a stellar fighter."
Sobral fights smart to outpoint Whitehead
Renato "Babalu" Sobral out-thought and outboxed a game Mike Whitehead to take a 27-30 unanimous decision on all the judges' scorecards.
The fight followed a similar pattern throughout, with Sobral edging Whitehead with his punching, then dominating on the floor with his superior jiu-jitsu skills.
Whitehead came to fight and proved so by landing clean punches on the inside, but Sobral was that one class above him, and dictated the pace and style of the fight with superb ring generalship and conditioning.
"He is a very heavy guy and a good wrestler," Sobral said of Whitehead after the fight. "He's a tough guy, and I tried to finish him with my submissions, but it was hard. He is a world-class fighter."
Lindland outlasts Negao
In an intense back-and-forth bout, Matt Lindland grounded out a unanimous decision against Fabio Negao.
The gangly Lindland caught Negao with a flush left hand seconds into the first and almost ended the fight with a guillotine choke. Negao managed to escape and pull guard, but took a hammering for the remainder of the round.
Negao's superior striking skills helped him land the more effective punches in Round 2, but Lindland's tremendous chin kept him standing, despite receiving some vicious standing elbows. The two went to the floor again, where Lindland dominated with his wrestling and ground-and-pound.
Both men were visibly tired in Round 3, but Lindland's superior conditioning saw him through as he mustered the strength to land awkward punches and elbows that Negao was simply too tired to defend. The Brazilian showed heart in going the distance, but was clearly dominated by the stronger Lindland.
"I knew that guy was tough," Lindland said after the fight. "I caught him with some huge shots. … It was a lot tougher than I expected. This was by far not my best performance.
"I hit him with some huge shots. I had that thing so tight [the guillotine choke], I was squeezing him hard enough to choke him, but not to tire my arm out. I have to get my a-- in better shape."
Nogueira knocks out Dewees
A calm and collected Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeated Edwin "Babyface" Dewees via TKO at 4:06 of the first round.
The Brazilian took his time as Dewees shot out leg kicks, looking to land his left hand from the southpaw stance. Dewees looked flustered whenever he took a blow from Nogueira, who also worked him over with clinches and takedowns. A left floored Dewees, and Nogueira rained punches down until referee Herb Dean called a halt to the action.
Belfort bounces back with win
Vitor Belfort put on a clinical display of striking, taking apart tough but limited Terry Martin in two rounds.
A slimmed-down version of Belfort found his range with the jab in the early going. By the second round, the Brazilian was wearing down his opponent with kicks to the midsection.
Martin attempted to trade with the dangerous striker but a massive flying knee, followed by a barrage of punches to the top of the head, brought the fight to an abrupt end at 3:12 of Round 2.
From the sound of the bell, Emelianenko was a blur of amazingly fast hands and sublime submission skills.
The two fighters began cautiously, pawing with jabs and feints before Emelianenko exploded on his taller foe with a dazzling display of hand speed and accuracy.
A right uppercut stunned Sylvia moments into the bout, and Emelianenko continued raining punches on the bigger man, stunning him and dropping him in a heap.
Once on the ground, Emelianenko manhandled Sylvia, landing punches and looking for the choke.
Sylvia, looking like a deer caught in headlights, was unable to fend off Emelianenko, who was just too fast. Moments later, Emelianenko locked on a choke and Sylvia quickly tapped.
"I'm very happy about the fight and my performance," Emelianenko said. "I want to thank Tim for coming out to fight me.
"I always try to finish the fight a soon as I can. What happened happened."
Sylvia took the loss in stride and admitted he was slow coming out of the blocks. "He got off first, and there were so many things going through my mind," he said. "He got off, landed the big punch and got the submission."
Emelianenko made it clear it was his intention all along to get out of the blocks quickly. "I never know how short or long a fight is going to be," he said. "I wanted to end it as quickly as possible."
Emelianenko made no bones about who he wanted to meet in the ring next. "I want to fight Randy Couture," he said.
It's a fight Couture is keen on making as well. "Hopefully some time this year if we're lucky," Couture said.
Arlovski assaults Rothwell with devastating KO
Andre Arlovski exploded back onto the heavyweight scene with a bloody battering of Ben Rothwell in three explosive rounds.
Arlovski took every round, and after Rothwell ate a series of unanswered punches and kicks, the referee stopped the fight at 1:14 of the third round, saving him from serious injury.
Arlovksi looked better than he had in years. The Belarussian showed poise, power and intelligence in the ring, fighting cautiously at first, but upping the work rate as the rounds rolled on.
"I try to do my best, what I did with my trainers and my sparring partners," Arlovski said. "He was a very tough guy."
Barnett blasts Rizzo in Round 2
Josh Barnett knocked out Brazilian veteran Pedro Rizzo at 1:44 of the second round to avenge a loss to his nemesis seven years ago.
Barnett had comprehensively outkicked Rizzo in the previous round, landing an array of punches to the head, strikes to the midsection and kicks to the legs. Rizzo looked completely out of sorts as the U.S fighter displayed some fine boxing skills, rolling and slipping his way out of trouble, and landing some excellent counters that one would expect from a boxer rather than former professional wrestler.
A massive left hook finally ended matters and separated Rizzo from his senses.
"He said I was going to get knocked out again … can you believe that?" Barnett said after the fight. "Pedro is as tough as they come, he's a stellar fighter."
Sobral fights smart to outpoint Whitehead
Renato "Babalu" Sobral out-thought and outboxed a game Mike Whitehead to take a 27-30 unanimous decision on all the judges' scorecards.
The fight followed a similar pattern throughout, with Sobral edging Whitehead with his punching, then dominating on the floor with his superior jiu-jitsu skills.
Whitehead came to fight and proved so by landing clean punches on the inside, but Sobral was that one class above him, and dictated the pace and style of the fight with superb ring generalship and conditioning.
"He is a very heavy guy and a good wrestler," Sobral said of Whitehead after the fight. "He's a tough guy, and I tried to finish him with my submissions, but it was hard. He is a world-class fighter."
Lindland outlasts Negao
In an intense back-and-forth bout, Matt Lindland grounded out a unanimous decision against Fabio Negao.
The gangly Lindland caught Negao with a flush left hand seconds into the first and almost ended the fight with a guillotine choke. Negao managed to escape and pull guard, but took a hammering for the remainder of the round.
Negao's superior striking skills helped him land the more effective punches in Round 2, but Lindland's tremendous chin kept him standing, despite receiving some vicious standing elbows. The two went to the floor again, where Lindland dominated with his wrestling and ground-and-pound.
Both men were visibly tired in Round 3, but Lindland's superior conditioning saw him through as he mustered the strength to land awkward punches and elbows that Negao was simply too tired to defend. The Brazilian showed heart in going the distance, but was clearly dominated by the stronger Lindland.
"I knew that guy was tough," Lindland said after the fight. "I caught him with some huge shots. … It was a lot tougher than I expected. This was by far not my best performance.
"I hit him with some huge shots. I had that thing so tight [the guillotine choke], I was squeezing him hard enough to choke him, but not to tire my arm out. I have to get my a-- in better shape."
Nogueira knocks out Dewees
A calm and collected Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeated Edwin "Babyface" Dewees via TKO at 4:06 of the first round.
The Brazilian took his time as Dewees shot out leg kicks, looking to land his left hand from the southpaw stance. Dewees looked flustered whenever he took a blow from Nogueira, who also worked him over with clinches and takedowns. A left floored Dewees, and Nogueira rained punches down until referee Herb Dean called a halt to the action.
Belfort bounces back with win
Vitor Belfort put on a clinical display of striking, taking apart tough but limited Terry Martin in two rounds.
A slimmed-down version of Belfort found his range with the jab in the early going. By the second round, the Brazilian was wearing down his opponent with kicks to the midsection.
Martin attempted to trade with the dangerous striker but a massive flying knee, followed by a barrage of punches to the top of the head, brought the fight to an abrupt end at 3:12 of Round 2.
