Anderson Silva

Reporting from Las Vegas -- As the gravity of what just happened sank in, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White's sickness became severe. "I'm really not feeling good, let someone else talk," White announced to reporters late Friday night following the first-round technical knockout loss and subsequent retirement by heavyweight Brock Lesnar, the organization's most popular fighter. Indeed, White has some thinking to do. PHOTOS: UFC 141 Even though he fought only seven times in the UFC Lesnar was a pay-per-view audience magnet because of his compelling past as a "champion" in the scripted action of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Todd Martin reveals his top 10 in each weight class. Heavyweight   1. Junior Dos Santos 2. Alistair Overeem 3. Cain Velasquez 4. Fabricio Werdum 5. Daniel Cormier 6. Frank Mir 7. Josh Barnett 8. Antonio Silva 9. Fedor Emelianenko 10. Travis Browne   A hotly anticipated UFC heavyweight title showdown between Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem was cancelled when Overeem tested...

There's one nagging obstacle remaining, but it wasn't large enough to stop Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White from confirming that he is ready to make the dream fight of mixed martial arts: middleweight champion Anderson Silva versus welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre this year at a stadium in North America. St-Pierre (21-2) still has an April 30 title defense against Jake Shields (26-4-1), but Silva's schedule has been cleared by his amazing first-round kick and knockout of challenger Vitor Belfort on Saturday night in UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

New Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and his May 26 challenger Alistair Overeem appeared in the Southland together Wednesday to discuss their upcoming pay-per-view bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Overeem, who sent former champion Brock Lesnar to retirement by knocking him out in January, said he anticipates gaining "the crown of my career" by defeating Dos Santos. "I'm bigger, stronger, I hit harder and have more experience," Overeem said.

Anderson Silva's latest mixed martial arts challenger at least talks a good game. Oregon's Chael Sonnen is 26-10-1, but the 33-year-old represents the best of a middleweight division that Brazil's Silva (26-4) long ago cleaned out during a title reign that dates to 2006. They're scheduled to fight in the main event of Saturday night's pay-per-view UFC 117 at Oakland's Oracle Arena. "I'm the toughest guy in the company," Sonnen said during a recent conference call. "No guy in earrings can out-tough me. " Sonnen has gone as far as predicting he'll get Silva fired by the UFC, after the Brazilian was blasted by UFC President Dana White for a strange, playful if not unprofessional, performance in defeating and embarrassing Demian Maia in an April decision in Abu Dhabi.

Anderson Silva did not do much of anything in the first three minutes of his Ultimate Fighting Championship title defense Saturday night against Vitor Belfort. Then came the kick. Unleashing a wicked left kick that moved Belfort's jaw toward his nose, Silva knocked down the former UFC champion, hesitated briefly to ensure there were signs of alertness, then moved in for a right punch and a left that led referee Mario Yamasaki to stop the fight at the 3-minute 25-second mark.

Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Anderson Silva has a new, big contract and big, new plans. On the back burner now is his previous plan to try professional boxing, replaced by an ambition to entrench his reputation as the world's top mixed martial arts fighter with a willingness to fight the best opponents possible — from welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre to heavyweight king Brock Lesnar. "I want to go out there and keep putting on great performances," Silva said through Ed Soares, his manager and interpreter.

New Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and his May 26 challenger Alistair Overeem appeared in the Southland together Wednesday to discuss their upcoming pay-per-view bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Overeem, who sent former champion Brock Lesnar to retirement by knocking him out in January, said he anticipates gaining "the crown of my career" by defeating Dos Santos. "I'm bigger, stronger, I hit harder and have more experience," Overeem said.

Unbeaten Cain Velasquez could be fitted with the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight belt Saturday night in Anaheim and yet in a rematch would still get less money. That's how big Brock Lesnar has become. "He's a dominant champion, has looked invincible at times and showed huge heart in his last fight," UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said of Lesnar, a former NCAA wrestling champion and World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view star. So after making nearly 10 times more than his last two challengers, Lesnar has achieved a popularity few pro fighters attain.

In a decade, Lorenzo Fertitta has helped transform the sport of mixed martial arts from a niche contest dismissed as the activities of hooligans to a major television network deal and a monthly flow of millions of dollars with pay-per-view events in usually sold-out arenas. The chairman of the Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship is preparing for his annual New Year's weekend card in Las Vegas on Dec. 30, which will feature a heavyweight main event marking the return of popular ex-champion Brock Lesnar versus the massive former champion of the Strikeforce MMA organization, Alistair Overeem.

Reporting from Las Vegas -- As the gravity of what just happened sank in, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White's sickness became severe. "I'm really not feeling good, let someone else talk," White announced to reporters late Friday night following the first-round technical knockout loss and subsequent retirement by heavyweight Brock Lesnar, the organization's most popular fighter. Indeed, White has some thinking to do. PHOTOS: UFC 141 Even though he fought only seven times in the UFC Lesnar was a pay-per-view audience magnet because of his compelling past as a "champion" in the scripted action of World Wrestling Entertainment.

In a decade, Lorenzo Fertitta has helped transform the sport of mixed martial arts from a niche contest dismissed as the activities of hooligans to a major television network deal and a monthly flow of millions of dollars with pay-per-view events in usually sold-out arenas. The chairman of the Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship is preparing for his annual New Year's weekend card in Las Vegas on Dec. 30, which will feature a heavyweight main event marking the return of popular ex-champion Brock Lesnar versus the massive former champion of the Strikeforce MMA organization, Alistair Overeem.

Jon Jones, an acrobatic 24-year-old light-heavyweight champion, is fast becoming the most marketable fighter in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Lyoto Machida is the increasingly desperate former champion, a 33-year-old karate specialist who needs to end the reluctant fighting style that cost him two bouts last year and start aggressively unloading his arsenal of skills. Together, the men have the chance to create a special fight Saturday night at UFC 140 in Toronto. "There could be some cool, tricky things going on in there," said Jones (14-1)

Dan Henderson's distinguished career as a mixed martial arts fighter should be setting like the sun at age 41. Instead, the Temecula fighter has put together perhaps his most impressive year yet, winning the Strikeforce light-heavyweight championship, scoring a technical knockout against Fedor Emelianenko in July and earning a return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Saturday night, Henderson (28-8) will try to improve to 4-0 in the last 12 months when he takes on former UFC light-heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (20-5)

Mixed martial arts champion Anderson da Silva, known as the Spider, has bought a home in Palos Verdes Estates for close to its $1.76-million asking price. The ocean-view house of 3,000 square feet has four bedrooms and 31/2 bathrooms. The lot is more than half an acre and includes a swimming pool. The 36-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ, who was renting in Redondo Beach, purchased the home to be closer to where he trains. He also owns homes in Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba, Brazil.

Lorenzo Fertitta walked through Toronto's Rogers Centre this week, scanning the 55,000 seats his Ultimate Fighting Championship company will fill Saturday for a welterweight title fight between Canada's beloved native son Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields. Fertitta, UFC's chairman, couldn't help but remember his start in the mixed martial arts business 10 years ago, when 2,500 people showed up and "everyone in boxing was laughing at us … saying we were stupid and losing oodles of money.

Lorenzo Fertitta walked through Toronto's Rogers Centre this week, scanning the 55,000 seats his Ultimate Fighting Championship company will fill Saturday for a welterweight title fight between Canada's beloved native son Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields. Fertitta, UFC's chairman, couldn't help but remember his start in the mixed martial arts business 10 years ago, when 2,500 people showed up and "everyone in boxing was laughing at us … saying we were stupid and losing oodles of money.

Jon Jones, an acrobatic 24-year-old light-heavyweight champion, is fast becoming the most marketable fighter in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Lyoto Machida is the increasingly desperate former champion, a 33-year-old karate specialist who needs to end the reluctant fighting style that cost him two bouts last year and start aggressively unloading his arsenal of skills. Together, the men have the chance to create a special fight Saturday night at UFC 140 in Toronto. "There could be some cool, tricky things going on in there," said Jones (14-1)

There's one nagging obstacle remaining, but it wasn't large enough to stop Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White from confirming that he is ready to make the dream fight of mixed martial arts: middleweight champion Anderson Silva versus welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre this year at a stadium in North America. St-Pierre (21-2) still has an April 30 title defense against Jake Shields (26-4-1), but Silva's schedule has been cleared by his amazing first-round kick and knockout of challenger Vitor Belfort on Saturday night in UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Anderson Silva did not do much of anything in the first three minutes of his Ultimate Fighting Championship title defense Saturday night against Vitor Belfort. Then came the kick. Unleashing a wicked left kick that moved Belfort's jaw toward his nose, Silva knocked down the former UFC champion, hesitated briefly to ensure there were signs of alertness, then moved in for a right punch and a left that led referee Mario Yamasaki to stop the fight at the 3-minute 25-second mark.