• UFC 132

Rocked Leben goes into auto-pilot to KO Wanderlei

ESPN staff
July 3, 2011

Chris Leben may well have ended Wanderlei Silva's illustrious MMA career inside 27 seconds of action during an explosive co-main event at UFC 132.

When the UFC took the decision to throw two of the craziest, hardest-hitting, no-questions-asked fights into the same Octagon, it was always going to end in a knockout. And at 35 years of age, Wanderlei's chin simply wasn't up to it.

All the talk pre-fight had been about the potential for this middleweight clash to be the Fight of the Year. They boasted 36 knockouts between them, both could finish a fight with one punch, and neither would even flirt with the idea of taking a backwards step.

It was never going to be Fight of the Year.

A Fight of the Year usually has to last more than a couple of minutes, and that was never going to happen. With two chins exposed in kamikaze fashion, it was a hit-or-be-hit situation.

Wanderlei was first to strike. Opening up with his hands in that trademark high Muay Thai pose, he got the wind turbine churning early as left followed right, which followed left. Leben got caught, but Leben always gets caught.

Like Chuck Liddell, with whom Wanderlei Silva once put on one of the greatest fights of all time, the Axe Murderer's chin has left him. He launched forward to finish a rocked Leben, but that's when the Crippler is at his most dangerous.

A huge counter left hook from Leben effectively turned the 27-second shootout on its head, and Wanderlei grabbed at his rival in desperation. All he succeeded in doing was throwing himself into a clinch, where a series of uppercuts finished the Brazilian.

"I'll tell you where he messed up, he hit me right on the button," said a pumped Leben. "You know what happens when you hit me there, I went on auto-pilot. It was a heavy shot, my nose might be broken."

UFC 132 results:
Dominick Cruz bt. Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (50-45 49-46 48-47)
Chris Leben bt. Wanderlei Silva via TKO (punches) Round 1 (0:27)
Tito Ortiz bt. Ryan Bader via submission (guillotine choke) Round 1 (1:56)
Carlos Condit bt. Dong Hyun Kim via TKO (flying knee and punches) Round 1 (2:58)
Dennis Siver bt. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28)
Melvin Guillard bt. Shane Roller via TKO (punches) Round 1 (2:21)
Aaron Simpson bt. Brad Tavares via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 30-27)
Brian Bowles bt. Takeya Mizugaki via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 29-28)
Rafael dos Anjos bt. George Sotiropoulos via TKO (punch) Round 1 (0:59)
Anthony Njokuani bt. Andre Winner via unanimous decision (30-26 30-26 30-27)
Jeff Hougland bt. Donny Walker via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 30-27)

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