Jon Jones maintained his hold on the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on Saturday with a fourth-round submission win over Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 152.

Jones came into the fight as the heavy favorite and he dominated most of the fight. Jones did nearly get caught in an armbar in the early going, but escaped and controlled the fight from there. Jones used his grappling and elbows to bloody up Belfort, and in the fourth round, caught the challenger in an Americana for the victory.

Belfort deserves credit for his effort and taking the fight on short notice in a bigger weight class, but Jones is just the better man.

With Dan Henderson dealing with his injury, there is no clear contender for Jones in the 205-pound division. That champion is becoming as dominant in his class as Anderson Silva is at 185 pounds.

In the co-main event, Demetrious Johnson won the first ever UFC Flyweight Championship with a decision victory over Joseph Benavidez.

The fight had a fast pace and was very competitive, as expected. The difference in the bout was the array of leg kicks that Johnson landed on Benavidez. The kicks slowly wore down Benavidez and allowed Johnson to control the pace. Benavidez still did enough to earn the victory on one of the scorecards, but Johnson was the victor on the other two cards, and in the eyes of most of the fans.

Johnson now is the first 125-pound champion in the UFC. It will be interesting to see how this division grows in the near future with a thin roster of talent in the weight class.

In another big bout, middleweight Michael Bisping defeated Brian Stann by decision to improve his ranking in the 185-pound class.

Bisping was able to out-point Stann with his technical striking and wrestling ability. Bisping actually utilized some nice takedowns in the latter stages of the fight to neutralize Stann.

Looking at Bisping, his resume is pretty strong and it appears he deserves a title shot. He has never been given a crack at the gold but has steadily been near the top of the division for years.

Check out the full results after the jump.

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Frankie Edgar was determined to prove he could beat Gray Maynard.

On Saturday night, despite all the signs pointing that he would be unable to do so, Edgar did just that, knocking out the challenger in the fourth round to retain his UFC Lightweight Championship in the main event of UFC 136.

After fighting to a 5-round draw back at UFC 125 last January, Saturday’s bout had almost an identical start. Maynard caught Edgar with a big uppercut in the middle of the first round and pummeled the champion to a near stoppage.

However, Edgar managed to stay conscious and mobile, and survived the round despite losing it 10-8 on most cards.

After a break between rounds, Edgar seemed to get his stamina back and began working his game. He used his quickness to out-box Maynard and avoid another big punch, while Maynard looked flat on his feet and simply looking for the one-punch victory.

Come the fourth round, Edgar landed a big cross that dropped Maynard. The challenger got to his feet but ate a series of punches that eventually left him face flat in the canvas.

The win solidifies Edgar as a true star in the sport and he can finally cross Maynard off his list of opponents.

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Former Sengoku star Jorge Santiago is returning to the UFC and according to HeavyMMA.com, he believes he has everything it takes to take down Anderson Silva.

Despite experiencing a great deal of success abroad over the last three years, Jorge Santiago is happy to be back in the UFC.

After departing the organization in 2006 following back-to-back losses, the Brazilian middleweight found his focus and piled up the victories, becoming one of the top 185-pound fighters outside of the sport’s premier organization. He followed up wins over UFC veterans Jeremy Horn and Trevor Prangley by claiming the Sengoku Middleweight Grand Prix, becoming the organization’s first and only middleweight champion to date.

His August bout with Japanese veteran Kazuo Misaki was a fixture on many Fight of the Year lists, but after facing just two opponents over the last two years and seeing the Japanese MMA scene crumbling around him, Santiago was granted his release. He quickly signed with the UFC, and is looking forward to facing Brian Stann in his return to the Octagon at UFC 130 in May.

“I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity,” Santiago told Heavy.com. “Come back to the United States, fight in the UFC, Brian Stann, an American hero, main card, May 28th. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity, you know?”

Read the full article.

UFC 125 takes place on Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The event features five very intriguing and exciting fights, headlined by a battle for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Here are my thoughts on who will win on the main card bouts.

UFC Lightweight Championship – Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard: I look for the champion to retain his belt and avenge a prior loss to Maynard in 2008. Since that time I feel like Edgar has improved greatly as a fighter while Maynard is simply a slightly better version of himself. Maynard will get some takedowns on the champ, but I expect Edgar to bounce back up and use his boxing to tire the challenger before scoring some takedowns in the later rounds to earn a decision victory.

UFC Middleweight Bout – Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann: While this fight doesn’t deserve co-main event status, it still should be exciting. Leben is riding a wave of momentum that will not be stopped on Saturday as his punching power should carry him to a third round TKO of Stann, who will put up a game effort.

UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva: This may be Vera’s final UFC fight as I expect Silva to pressure him and not let him set up his kicks. Silva will do a good job of closing the distance and overwhelming Vera with his power and grappling ability. I like Silva to win by unanimous decision.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Kim is a very under-rated fighter as he is kind of like the Yushin Okami of this weight class as is very strong and bigger than anyone else in the weight class. I like Kim to use that size to get Diaz to the ground and keep him from using his boxing. It probably won’t be the most exciting fight, but it will be another decision win for Kim.

UFC Lightweight Bout – Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida: I like Guida and the energy he brings to a fight, but his short arms tend to put him in bad spots against strikers. I think Guida will get careless early in the fight and get caught with a big punch by Guida while will lead to a TKO finish in the opening round.