belfort

Belfort showed off the punching power that he became known for early in his MMA career, knocking out Yoshihiro Akiyama in just 1:52 in the co-main event at UFC 133.

Belfort knocked him to the ground with a right, then followed up with a flurry of body and face punches until Akiyama fell to the ground. Belfort then finished with two more strikes until Akiyama went limp and the bout was stopped.

This was Belfort's first fight since losing in a title bout to Anderson Silva at UFC 126. In that bout, Belfort was knocked out with a front kick, but he didn't show any signs of wear tonight.

[Watch Belfort-Akiyama highlights]

"I feel great. I feel like if he hadn't landed that kick, that's what would have happened to him," Belfort said of Silva in the cage after the fight.

He started with the UFC back in 1997, and was nicknamed the Phenom because of how he blew through so many top fighters. After a stint in PRIDE and other promotions, he returned to the UFC to knock out Rich Franklin, but then

ebersole

Brian Ebersole left Indiana back in 2007 and moved to Australia to work on his game. Tonight he returned to fight in the U.S. for the first time since a bout in Los Angeles and blew away a fellow veteran Dennis Hallman in Philadelphia. Ebersole survived an early submission scare to crush Hallman on the ground and gain the victory at 4:28 of the first round at the Wells Fargo Center.

Ebersole's story is crazy. He fought 61 times before getting his shot in the UFC. He debuted by schooling Chris Lytle, a guy who rarely gets crushed. The victory over Hallman, a veteran of 59 fights, was even more impressive.

[ Watch Ebersole-Hallman highlights here]

Ebersole (48-14-1, 2-0 UFC) extricated himself from rear-naked and guillotine choke attempts by Hallman to gain top control. Once on top, he was like a boxer his knees. He mixed his shots beautifully between hammerfists to the body and head, and vicious elbows with both arms. With a minute left in the round, a right hammerfist rang Hallman's

phillippou

Costa Philippou won for the first time in the Octagon at UFC 133, taking a split decision from Jorge Rivera. The judges saw it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

The fight started with a clinch and some boos from the crowd in Philadelphia. Philippou clinched, then he moved the fight back to the ground. Philippou moved into sideguard, but Rivera moved back to his feet. After clinch work, Mario Yamasaki broke the two up and restarted the fight.

In the second round, Philipou clipped Rivera with an uppercut, knocking him to the ground and tried to finish with several strikes while on the ground. He couldn't finish, Rivera came back to make him pay. Rivera then came back, and took control of the fight with several punches to the face. The fight went back to the ground, and Philippou tried to finish the bout with an omoplata, but the rounded before he could finish.

The two showed off more BJJ in third, as Rivera tried for a triangle choke, but Philippou snuck out and put the fight on its feet, where they

macdonald

The kids keep coming and Rory MacDonald may be leading the way for the new breed. The 22-year-old destroyed Mike Pyle, a very capable veteran, in just 3:54 at UFC 133 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

MacDonald (12-1, 3-1 UFC) is a prime example of what's on the way in the world of mixed martial arts. He's trained in all aspects of the sport from a very young age. A native of British Columbia, he really has few holes in his game. Pyle tried to exploit his takedown defense early and got the fight to the ground two times, but MacDonald got up quickly. On the feet, it was no match. Pyle had trouble defending himself against MacDonald's jab.{ysp:more}

[Related: MacDonald-Pyle highlights]

With 2:50 left in the first, a MacDonald combination stung Pyle and that's where his troubles began. Pyle (21-8-1, 4-3 UFC) charged forward, got caught in a quick standing guillotine, he rolled out and then fell to his back. MacDonald controlled things from there.

MacDonald jumped  Pyle's guard

gustaffsson

Alexander Gustafsson opened some eyes in Philadelphia and around the world of mixed martial arts. The 24-year-old Swede took out a guy that most have had a tough time with in Matt Hamill. Gustafsson stunned Hamill with a straight left and two powerful uppercuts with the right, and Hamill hit the deck. Gustafsson did major damage on the ground and referee Dan Miragliotta saved Hamill at 3:44 of the second round.

Hamill (10-4, 9-4 UFC) was a bloody mess around his mouth and his left eye was nearly closed after that 30 second pounding by Gustafsson. Keep in mind, this is the same Hamill who went the distance with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson less than three months ago at UFC 130. He also took out Tito Ortiz in 2010.

Gustafsson (12-1, 4-1 UFC) employed a smart gameplan in the opening round. He told Joe Rogan he wasn't comfortable, but what he did right was stay on the move. Hamill was clearly in less than stellar shape and looked tired early in the second round.

Hamill lacked explosion on

mendes

Chad Mendes continued his unbeaten streak with a wrestling-filled decision over Rani Yahya. This pushes Mendes' record to 11-0, while Yahya falls to 16-7.

Mendes knocked  Yahya down in the first round, and then showed off his wrestling pedigree with a quick takedown to start the second round. Yahya had a hard time creating space to show off any of his jiu jitsu skills, and Mendes got up to get another takedown, hold Yahya down, and then get back to his feet. Both fighters were shook up on their feet by some hard, if not clean, striking.

The third round showed more of the same, as Mendes had no problem getting Yahya down, but didn't give up enough room for Yahya to work. It worked for Mendes, but didn't make it an especially exciting fight.

hendricks

If Johny Hendricks were going to face himself, the guy across would look similar to Mike Pierce. In a very even fight, Hendricks and Pierce nailed each other on the feet and engaged in some nasty striking from the clinch. Hendricks landed a few more solid strikes in the opening two rounds to eke out a split decision victory, 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28, on the undercard of UFC 133 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

Hendricks moved to 11-1, but it wasn't easy. A legendary NCAA Div. 1 wrestler at Oklahoma State, Hendricks never really got Pierce to the ground in seven attempts.

Working with Team Takedown in Texas, Hendricks' constant work on his striking really paid off tonight. Hendricks used his jab more effectively setting up a nice left uppercut, and he was more precise when the fight got into close quarters. According to Fight Metric, Hendricks had the significant strike advantage 54-37 landed.

Pierce (12-4, 4-1 UFC) had a three-fight win streak snapped, but he has nothing

natal

Paul Bradley can't doing anything about his fireplug build, but 5-foot-9 middleweights have a tough time against certain fighters at 185 pounds. Rafael Natal used a five-inch reach advantage to land a boatload of leg kicks and avoid the wrestler's takedowns on his way to unanimous decision victory, 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 on all three cards, in the opener of UFC 133 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

Bradley usually fights down at 170 pounds, but he took this fight at 185 on just 12 days notice when Costa Philippou was moved up the card. The height difference was too much to overcome against the 6-foot Natal.

Natal's gameplan of staying at a distance and using an array of inside and outside leg kicks stymied Bradley's wrestling. The former wrestling All-American at Iowa had his lead leg (left) bruised inside and outside his thigh by the end of the fight.

Bradley (18-3, 0-1 UFC) was only good on 3-of-11 takedowns and did minimal damage on the ground. Give credit to Natal