This show started off slow and then picked up for the last two fights, you know, like we all thought that it would. Chris Weidman looked to prove himself and defend the UFC Middleweight Championship against the very tough contender in Lyoto Machida. The first round saw both men tentative, with Chris Weidman landing the better shots. The second round saw a lot of the same, with Weidman able to get Lyoto on the mat a few times. When it got to round three and we saw more of the same it felt like Chris Weidman was going to turn into GSP and just grind this out.
Ah, but that is not what happened. Lyoto Machida came back in a huge way in round four and landed a few huge strikes on Chris Weidman, getting Weidman against the cage and almost scoring the stoppage, landing a huge left hand right as the buzzer rang to end the round. Round five Lyoto Machida looked like a man renewed, ready to go and man did he put the pressure on Weidman. Things were looking up for Lyoto until Weidman scored, then took him down. It was at this point that we knew that Weidman had secured the win.
Lyoto fought back to his feet in the last thirty seconds and actually scored huge, backing Weidman up against the cage and coming close to stopping him, but Weidman pushed him off right before the bell. Tremendous fight.