• UFC on Fuel 2

Gustafsson outclasses Silva on golden night for the Brits

Alexander Gustafsson and Thiago Silva went toe-to-toe in the main event at UFC on Fuel 2 © Getty Images

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Alexander Gustafsson took one of his long legs and moved it a huge step closer to a UFC light-heavyweight title shot with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel 2 on Saturday.

The Swede, only beaten by Phil Davis in his MMA career to date, used exceptional footwork and highly technical hands to pick off Silva, who was left a bloody mess on his return to the Octagon. The Brazilian struggled to get inside all fight, and ended up on the wrong side of a 30-27 30-27 29-28 decision.

Silva's night could have ended extremely early when Gustafsson dropped him in round one, but his ground game is excellent and he defended the onslaught, allowing him to return to his feet. However, it was on his feet that Gustafsson did his best work, and rounds one and two were an exhibition of how to keep a man on the outside.

Silva enjoyed one bright moment when a straight right rocked his foe momentarily in the second, but the longer the fight went, the more Gustafsson counted down to victory. Using his height, his reach and his fleet of foot the Swede delivered the type of performance that will have him linked to champion Jon Jones, in what was easily the biggest win of his career to date.

The co-main event witnessed one of the classiest pieces of sportsmanship in UFC history as Brian Stann stopped his own fight with Alessio Sakara, holding back his shots after knocking out his rival at 2.26 of the first round in the middleweight division. Sakara was rendered defenceless as some serious ground-and-pound knocked him out cold, and the referee did not have to step in as Stann beckoned the end.

The American, coming off a one-sided loss to Chael Sonnen, had been working his Muay Thai hard in preparation for Sakara, and it made a big difference early on as he grounded his rival with a series of knees. From there he stayed patient, and a couple of short shots rolled back the eyes of Sakara, who was saved further punishment by the grace of Stann.

Performance of the night arguably came from England's Brad Pickett, who completely overpowered the dangerous and extremely talented Damacio Page for a second-round submission victory. Using his superior grappling skills, Pickett bloodied the nose of Page before locking on a rear naked choke at 4.05 of round two to make a statement in the bantamweight division.

Taking the Fight of the Night honours, both men came out swinging, Page landing a damaging knee while Pickett took the opening stanza with three takedowns and some serious ground-and-pound. In the second the Brit's hands took centre stage, dropping Page with a left hook, before a guillotine attempt and then a rear naked choke signalled the end.

If Pickett was impressive, John Maguire was every bit as eye-catching as he won Submission of the Night against DaMarques Johnson in the welterweight division. With the fight potentially heading to a final-round decider, Maguire suddenly took advantage of Johnson's attempt for a kimura by locking on an armbar at 4.40 of round two.

The first round was classily negotiated by Maguire, who produced a top drawer front roll to avoid a submission attempt from Johnson. Staying on top he took the opening stanza but then ate a couple of biting leg kicks and found himself on his back in the second. The Brit was in danger of losing the round, but as Johnson focused on the kimura, Maguire snapped on his own armbar to force an instant tap from Johnson.

Earlier in the card, Jason Young got the night off to a great start for the Brits, scoring his first win in the UFC to effectively extend his stay with the promotion. Eric Wisely provided the opposition in the featherweight division, but Young allied timing and range control with some nicely timed takedowns, allowing him to score a comfortable 30-28 29-28 29-28 decision with the judges.

Elsewhere, Dennis Siver suffered a nasty cut above the eye but benefited from a higher work rate in a unanimous 29-28 decision victory over Diego Nunes and Siyar Bahadurzada landed a shuddering counter right to end Paulo Thiago's night after 42 seconds for the Knockout of the Night.

UFC on Fuel 2 results:
Alexander Gustafsson beat Thiago Silva vian unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 29-28)
Brian Stann beat Alessio Sakara via knockout at 2.26 of round 1
Siyar Bahadurzada beat Paulo Thiago via knockout at 0.42 of round 1
Dennis Siver beat Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28)
John Maguire beat DaMarques Johnson via armbar at 4:40 of round 2
Brad Pickett beat Damacio Page via rear-naked choke at 4:05 of round 2
James Head beat Papy Abedi via rear-naked choke at 4:33 of round 1
Cyrille Diabate beat Tom DeBlass via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 28-28)
Francis Carmont beat Magnus Cedenblad via rear-naked choke at 1:42 of round 2
Reza Medadi beat Yoislandy Izquierdo via guillotine at 1:28 round 2
Simeon Thoresen beat Besam Yousef via rear naked choke at 2:36 of round 2
Jason Young beat Eric Wisely via unanimous decision (30-28 29-28 29-28)

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