UFC 101: Anderson Silva TKOs Forrest Griffin With First-Round Punches

Posted Aug 08, 2009 11:38PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva remained undefeated in the Octagon Saturday night, moving up to light heavyweight and destroying former champ Forrest Griffin, hardly even breaking a sweat before beating Griffin by first-round TKO.

After they felt each other out for the first couple of minutes, Silva landed a powerful right punch that leveled Griffin. He let Griffin up and leveled him again, then did it a third time before the referee stopped the fight.

More: Penn Beats Florian by 4th-Round Submission | UFC 101 Results

Griffin tried to push the pace of the fight with head kicks and punches, but Silva showed off incredibly quick head movement and never gave Griffin an easy target to hit. Griffin was visibly frustrated as the fight wore on, and after Silva knocked him down with a hard punch for the third time in the first round, Griffin simply lay on the ground with his arms spread out, looking like he knew he was beaten.

Griffin did not appear to be seriously hurt. But he was obviously very upset with his showing, as he stormed out of the Octagon and ran to the locker room just seconds after the fight ended.

Silva indicated afterward that he's happy to either continue defending his belt at middleweight, or to move up to light heavyweight and keep fighting bigger opponents.

"These guys at 205 are much bigger than me," Silva said. "Whoever the best is, that's who I want to fight."

The best may be Silva. With Saturday night's showing, he can make a strong case that he's the greatest fighter in all of MMA.

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Wild Night in Philadelphia

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, right connects with Forrest Griffin in the first round of their mixed martial art match, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, in Philadelphia. Silva won. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

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UFC 101 Photos

B.j Penn, right, and Kenny Florian in the first round of their mixed martial art match, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

UFC lightweight champion B.j Penn, left, and Kenny Florian fight in the second round of their mixed martial art match, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, in Philadelphia. Penn won. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

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PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: (L-R) Lightweight champion BJ Penn battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** BJ Penn;Kenny Florian

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PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: (Top) Lightweight champion BJ Penn battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** BJ Penn;Kenny Florian

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PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: Lightweight champion BJ Penn (R) battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** BJ Penn;Kenny Florian

Getty Images

PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: (L-R) Kenny Florian battles lightweight champion BJ Penn during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** BJ Penn;Kenny Florian

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

8-08-2009 @ 11:55PM

M13 said...

Need we say more?

8-09-2009 @ 1:18AM

kwilbur10 said...

wow. i believe GSP, Dan Henderson, and Roy Jones have all $hitted themselves. this fight has made the 205 division look bad. Maybe this division is not as good as we all have hoped. A former champ of the division was sent to the locker room crying. and everyone was left at awe at a true p4p fighter. He has dominated two divisions now and should never be questioned ever. to all the people saying it was fixed, c'mon really does it really look that bad, can he not plz you. just take your head away from GSP's jock strap and see that silva is the best in UFC

8-09-2009 @ 6:04AM

sstitan2 said...

are you serious i dare silva to get in the boxing ring with roy. roy would eat silva up in BOXING

8-09-2009 @ 6:27AM

so apparently forrest dislocated his jaw thats why he didn't get up from that last knockdown, and rushed out to get medical attention...he claims that he can't hear from one of his ears. its on bloody elbow. and dude he is going to fight roy bud, when his contract runs out he already made plans so we will have to wait now. i bet silva wins.

8-09-2009 @ 10:55AM

To kwilbur10. Wow I had no idea Forrest was hurt so bad (I wish him well)! I don't know about Silva fighting Roy Jones, but I can definitely agree with you that Anderson Silva IS (and always has been) a legitimate fighter in the UFC p4p or not. I think some people have judged him a little too harshly over his previous two performances. Well, now we could look forward to Silva vs. Henderson now.

8-08-2009 @ 11:57PM

claytor said...

That fight felt like a massive fix.

8-09-2009 @ 12:12AM

Lostrespectforforrest said...

For real man...
Forrest got ko'd by a straight
That looked and felt like a fix

8-09-2009 @ 1:16AM

can he not plz anyone

8-09-2009 @ 12:00AM

osdcr said...

That was almost the easiest ???? knockout ever

8-09-2009 @ 12:01AM

Is Don King involved ( lol )

8-09-2009 @ 12:04AM

YO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! said...

i think something happened b4 the fight to forest

8-09-2009 @ 12:10AM

Randy said...

Yeah, he realized he was about to fight the BEST lb. 4 lb. fighter in the UFC.

8-09-2009 @ 12:07AM

imshortyk said...

Or maybe Silva's as much of a precise predator that we all knew he was, he just needed an opponent to actually FIGHT him, which Griffin did. Anderson's the same fighter he's been since his UFC debut, as I stated in an earlier blog, and I'm very happy he proved that tonight.

8-09-2009 @ 12:09AM

justmac65 said...

Wow, just wow

8-09-2009 @ 12:11AM

o0soul said...

Or maybe you ass hats could just go ahead and recognize that Silva is rightfully in the top 3 pound for pound as he has been for months now and that Griffin is just average, as HE has been for months now.