Junior Dos Santos verified himself as the top heavyweight in the UFC as he knocked out Frank Mir in the second round of the main event of UFC 146 on Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Coming into his bout with the former UFC champion, Mir, Dos Santos was expected to win with his crisp striking, and that is exactly what led to the win.

After somewhat of an eventful first round that saw Dos Santos win thanks to his striking, the champion managed to finish off the fight in the second thanks to a big right hand that caught Mir flush on the cheek. JDS then followed up with a flurry on the ground to earn the TKO stoppage.

The win for JDS was as big for him as it was a big loss for Mir. The former champion likely won’t see another title shot anytime soon after losing his last three matches where a belt was on the line by devastating knockout.

Mir has had quite the career, but it is clear he doesn’t have the ability to contend with explosive strikers that have the ability to keep the fight standing. He has been brutally beaten by the likes of Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and now Dos Santos.

In the co-main event, Cain Velasquez destroyed Antonio Silva in Silva’s UFC debut. The former heavyweight champ bloodied Silva thanks to a big elbow across the nose and he followed up with a number of strikes thereafter.

The win for Velasquez probably pushes him right back up to the No. 1 contender spot, as Dos Santos knocked him out in their meeting last November.

For complete results from UFC 146, check out the jump.

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HeavyMMA.com hands out their MMA Heavyweight rankings for February and Antonio Silva is the biggest mover of the month.

February’s biggest mover in the heavyweight division is Antonio Silva, who jumps up several spots based on the strength of his stunning win over Fedor Emelianenko. It’s true that Emelianenko is not what he once was, but that doesn’t make Silva’s win any less impressive. In 2005, he was heralded as the guy who had the tools and the size to defeat Emelianenko. In 2011, he finally made it happen, and his star is on the rise while Emelianenko’s is dangerously close to fading away for good.

Let’s take a look at February’s rankings for the heavyweight division.

1. Cain Velasquez
Velasquez will be on the mend for the foreseeable future after undergoing a medical prodecure, but he has returned to light cardio work at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. Of course, “light cardio” for Cain Velasquez is about 10x longer than we’ve ever run in our entire life.

2. Brock Lesnar
You’d never know it to be true, but Lesnar is still in Vegas and is said to be enjoying his time coaching The Ultimate Fighter a great deal. Once he finishes the coaching gig, he’ll return to Minnesota and begin preparations for Junior dos Santos.

Check out the rest of the rankings.

Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com shares ten things we learned from Saturday’s “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva” card.

It would be easy to start this assessment of the news that came out of Saturday’s Strikeforce event talking about Fedor Emelianenko, but that would be a disservice to Antonio Silva.

The massive Brazilian executed a tremendous game plan and showed he belongs in the hunt of the Heavyweight Grand Prix title, working a more technical approach in the opening round and stinging Emelianenko several times before taking him down at the outset of the second frame. From there, Silva put a beating on the iconic Russian, landing hammerfists from mount and cinching in strong chokes a couple different times.

When the round ended, Emelianenko was a mess, his right eye swollen shut and purple welts painting his face, leading the doctor to call an end to the bout. Silva was overjoyed, and showed the utmost respect for his opponent, walking over to kneel at Fedor’s feet before shaking his hand and giving him a kiss on the head.

Read the full article.

HeavyMMA.com writes that Fedor Emelianenko is pondering retirement after losing to Antonio Silva in the Stirkeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament.

We may have seen the legendary Fedor Emelianenko’s fighting career come to an end on Saturday at “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva” at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“The Last Emperor” suffered his second loss in a row to Antonio Silva in the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament via doctor stoppage.

The former Pride Champion may have announced his retirement following the loss.

“Something went wrong from the very beginning, and I couldn’t readjust myself. Maybe it’s time to leave,” Emelianenko said in his post-fight interview.

“Yes, maybe it’s the last time,” added Fedor. “Maybe it’s God’s will.”

Read the full article.

Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com writes that American Kickboxing Academy product Mike Kyle will face Antonio Silva on Saturday’s “Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu” even in San Jose.

Kyle replaces Valentijn Overeem, who pulled out of the fight last week with an elbow injury.
HeavyMMA.com confirmed the switch with a Strikeforce official on Monday afternoon. The news was first reported by MMA Junkie.

Kyle has competed mostly at light heavyweight this year, but will return to his original weight class to face Silva, who is considered a contender for Strikeforce’s heavyweight title. Since losing to Fabricio Werdum in August 2009, Kyle has put together a six-fight win streak.

Silva is coming off a win over Andrei Arlovski in May. His Strikeforce record stands at 1-1.

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