PORT ARTHUR — UFC 152 last weekend provided a get-off-your-seat moment that MMA fans could not

believe they were seeing.



In the first round of the main event, heavy underdog Vitor Belfort caught the

seemingly unstoppable Jon Bones Jones in an armbar submission. Belfort

continued to torque the submission attempt to angles many other fighters would

have tapped out to. Jones endured the pain and eventually pulled himself out of

the attempt.



Fans nearly saw the biggest upset in UFC light heavyweight history. The rest of

the bout featured patented Jon Jones fighting with use of his length and

athleticism. Like the elbow punches used against Rashad Evans at UFC 145, Jones

used another weapon in his repertoire — side kicks to his Belfort's lead leg

and knee. This technique forced distance between the fighters to the longer

Jones' advantage.



Throughout the remaining rounds the veteran Belfort looked gassed compared to

the younger Jones. In the fourth round, Belfort had nothing left in the tank and

succumbed to Jones' attack, eventually tapping to a keylock submission.



Jones has now defended his UFC light heavyweight title four consecutive times

just one shy of Tito Ortiz's record of five consecutive defenses.



Also at UFC 152, a brand new UFC flyweight champion was crowned. Demetrious

"Mighty Mouse" Johnson proved his brand of lighting fast speed was even faster

than Joseph Benavidez's. Johnson outpointed Benavidez and proved to be perhaps

the most elusive fighter in MMA. Mighty Mouse earned a five round split

decision.



The future looks bright in this newly formed division. In addition to having

the four exciting fighters from the final four tournament Mighty Mouse won,

there are others in play such as The Ultimate Fighter 14 winner John Dodson and

international star Jussier da Silva.



The only fighter to ever "defeat" Jon Bones Jones was also featured at UFC 152.

Deaf fighter Matt "The Hammer" Hamill returned to the UFC from retirement at the

event. In 2009 Jones was handily defeating Hamill when Jones landed some

illegal 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock up-to-down elbows on the Hammer. The referee

called an end to the fight with Jones losing due to disqualification.



In Hamill's return he faced Canadian home country favorite Roger Hollett and won

by unanimous decision. An interesting thing occurred during the bout. It was

Hamill who was landing very close to illegal elbows to the top of his opponent's

head.



The referee generally yells to fighters when they're getting close to

landing these illegal strikes to give them a warning. Hamill does not have that

luxury because he cannot hear so he must be extra careful not to foul when he

fights.

    David Estrada Jr. is a Mixed Martial Arts columnist for the Port Arthur News. He can be e-mailed at

DavidEstrada@DavidEstrada.com