Silva retains UFC middleweight belt

Mar 2, 2008 - 6:44 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Anderson Silva left little doubt as to who is the best middleweight fighter in the world.

Silva retained his middleweight belt Saturday with a second-round victory over Dan Henderson at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion at Nationwide Arena.

After Henderson claimed a slight edge in the first round, Silva landed numerous punches and elbows in the second that took their toll on the challenger. With time winding down in the round, Silva clamped on a chokehold, forcing Henderson to tap out at 4:52.

Two other middleweight fights took place, with Chris Leben scoring a technical knockout of Alessio Sakara at 3:16 of the first round and Yushin Okami knocking out Evan Tanner three minutes into round two with a knee to the forehead.

In heavyweight action, Heath Herring won a split decision over Cheick Kongo and Andrei Arlovski recording a second-round, technical-knockout win over Jake O'Brien.

Jon Fitch, Luigi Fiorvanti, Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez won their welterweight bouts, while Jorge Gurgel scored a unanimous decision over John Halverson in a lightweight battle.