UFC
UFC 147 Results: Rich Franklin survives Wanderlei Silva onslaught for decision win; Werdum stops Russow
Jun 24, 2012 - 9:10:38 AM

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

For almost two minutes of a 25-minute fight in Belo Horizonte in Brazil on Saturday night, it looked like Wanderlei Silva might pull out a win over Rich Franklin. However, Franklin won most of the remaining 23 minutes of their UFC 147 bout, taking a unanimous decision four rounds to one in the night's main event.

Much of the fight consisted of Franklin popping in and out with strikes, pressing the action on Silva and avoiding the counter blows. However, Silva rocked Franklin in the second round and sent him to the canvas. Following up on the ground, Silva landed several big strikes and came very close to finishing the fight during the frame.

However, Franklin survived the onslaught, and Silva didn't have much to offer from there on out. The final three rounds all looked similar, with Franklin doing enough offensively to take the rounds while avoiding any of the limited strikes Silva was throwing his way. Silva finally tried to make a statement at the end of the fight, but it was too little, too late, and didn't win the round.

In other action on the night's card, Fabricio Werdum kept himself in the discussion as a possible title challenger at heavyweight, finishing Mike Russow in just over a couple of minutes, handing the American just his second career loss.

Werdum dropped Russow with an uppercut, then unleashed a series of strikes on the ground - many of which hit the back of the head. Ultimately, the assault was too much for Russow, and referee Herb Dean stopped the fight, giving Werdum his second straight win since returning to the UFC.