UFC-152: Belfort almost submits, but Jones traps Kimura and defends belt

Vitor belfort entered the octagon set up at the Air Canada Centre, in Toronto, as a strong underdog to face Jon Jones. But in the first few moves of the UFC 152 main fight, the Brazilian almost surprised the world when he locked in a tight arm-bar. However, Jones showed why he is the champion by defending the key that was in place. From then on, the North American proved his favoritism by dominating the fight and winning with a Kimura at the beginning of the fourth round.

The UFC 152 fight program also featured two more Brazilians: Vinny Pezão made his UFC debut by submitting Croatian Igor Pokrajac, while Charles of the Bronx ended up being knocked out by the North American Cub swanson.

Belfort vs. Jones – The fight
During UFC 152 promotion, Vitor belfort always stated that the main fight of the event would be the duel between the “old lion” and the “new lion” and that was exactly what happened tonight. A “fight of lions”

First, Jones showed enough courage not to give up the fight in the first moments, when he took down Belfort, but ended up being surprised with an arm-bar. The champion's arm was stretched out, but he insisted on not hitting, despite the huge risk of a fracture. When everything seemed lost for the North American, he managed to get out of the key and show his entire arsenal of blows.

On top of the ground fight, Jones worked with several elbows, which did not intimidate the Brazilian. Even though he was bleeding a lot, Belfort tried to stay in contention and risked new ground attacks.

In the following rounds, the duel had more striking, with Jones landing more blows, but with Vitor always in danger. Sometimes with high kicks, sometimes with some quick punches.

Without much fuss, as usual, Jones limited himself to stomping on the Brazilian's knee, undermining his movement. A round kick to the rib took Vitor to the ground, when he pulled guard on two occasions.

After losing the first three rounds, the Brazilian was forced to give up the game in the fourth round to seek victory. And Belfort even started well, landing some uppers on the North American, who, upon feeling the blows, knocked Vitor down and fell past his guard.

From then on, the champion did what he does best. He trapped one of the Brazilian's arms and threw a few elbows before landing a Kimura and ending the fight.

“I thought I was going to break, I've never felt anything like that,” said Jones, about the arm-bar right at the beginning of the fight. “I felt like I had dislocated my arm, but he’s a tough guy”, praised Vitor.

Johnson is the first UFC flyweight champion
the american Demetrious Johnson made history tonight! He was the first fighter to win the UFC flyweight belt. In front of the favorite Joseph Benavidez, Johnson was not intimidated by his opponent's game and managed to impose his speed from the start.

Demetrious used the tactic of defending his opponent's takedown attempts, always leaving the range of action and taking down his opponent whenever he walked up. The pace was fast from the first to the last minute and Johnson won by split decision from the judges (48×47, 47×48, 49×46).

Bisping wins and is close to the belt
the duel between Michael Bisping and Brian Stann was highly anticipated, as it would put the winner closer to the chance to challenge Anderson Silva for the middleweight belt. And the one who advanced in line for the title was the Englishman Michael Bisping.

In a very even contest, the British athlete used strategy to overcome Stann. From the first movements, Bisping works with straight blows in counterattack to the powerful crosses and snake killers delivered by the North American. Furthermore, Michael took the fight to the ground whenever he had the opportunity and controlled his opponent from above.

After taking advantage in the first two rounds, Bisping tried to control the fight in the last round, but took some good blows from Stann. However, the North American was prevented from releasing the game, because whenever he came up, he was surprised by takedown attempts.

At the end of 15 minutes of competition, victory for Michael Bisping in the unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28).

Charles starts well but is knocked out
the paulista Charles of the Bronx He entered UFC 152 willing to establish himself as one of the big names in the event's featherweight category, but the wear and tear of the weight cut, when he was 200g above the division's limit, was a major factor in the dispute.

The Brazilian started the fight in front of Cub swanson well, taking down the North American and staying on top, however, he was unable to maintain the advantage and the fight returned to the exchange.

Visibly slower, Charles even landed a few punches, but was always counterattacked by Swanson. In a powerful right punch, the Brazilian felt it, walked back and just a few seconds later fell, turned sideways and, clearly, gave up the fight. As a result, the referee was forced to interrupt the dispute, and a technical knockout was declared.

Vinny Pezão makes his UFC debut with victory
The first Brazilian to step into the Octagon at UFC 152, Vinny Pezão re-debuted in the biggest MMA organization in the world in style. In his first movements, the Brazilian athlete closed the distance and sought the takedown, avoiding the dangerous exchange of Croatian Igor Pokrajac.

On top, Pezão worked with several punches and tried to finish the fight with an arm-bar, but his opponent defended well, stayed on top on the ground and even applied good blows at the end of the first round. But in the second round came redemption. This time it was Pokrajac who looked for the takedown and took down the Brazilian, who even from below went for the triangle and then locked in a tight arm-bar that forced his opponent to give up the fight.

Check out the complete UFC 152 results below:

Main Card
Jon Jones vs. Vitor belfort – fight for the light heavyweight belt;
Demetrious Johnson derrotou Joseph Benavidez in the judges' split decision – fight for the flyweight belt;
Michael Bisping defeated Brian Stann via unanimous decision;
Matt Hamill defeated Roger Hollett via unanimous decision;
Cub swanson derrotou Charles of the Bronx by technical knockout in R2;

Preliminary Card
Vinny “Pezão” Magalhães submitted Igor Pokrajac with an armbar in R2;
Sean Pierson defeated Lance Benoist via unanimous decision;
Marcus Brimage defeated Jimy Hettes via unanimous decision;
Seth Baczynski defeated Simeon Thoresen via knockout in R1;
Mitch Gagnon submitted Walel Watson via rear naked choke in R1;
Kyle Noke defeated Charlie Brenneman via TKO in R1;

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