MANILA, Philippines – The two title fights of UFC 112: Invincible went the distance, with both of them ending in unanimous decision in favor of Anderson “The Spider” Silva and Frankie "The Answer" Edgar.

Silva retained his UFC middleweight championship title after edging out a bloodied Demian Maia in 5 rounds at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). He won with the scores 50-45, 5-45 and 49-46.

"Demian actually surprised me with some of his punches," Silva commented in a UFC.com article by Thomas Gerbasi.

Silva improved his record to 26-4 while Maia slumped to 12-2.

Edgar, meantime, claimed BJ "The Prodigy" Penn’s UFC lightweight title with the scores 50-45, 48-47, and 49-46.

"BJ’s the greatest lightweight ever, and I just beat him," Edgar said after his victory. "I hope I can be half the champion he was."

Edgar’s win-loss record is now 12-1 while Penn’s is 15-6-1.

Keeping things simple

UFC Future Hall of Famer Matt Hughes also emerged victorious in UFC’s first event in the UAE.

Hughes scored a technical knockout (TKO) win over Renzo Gracie at 4:40 of Round 3.

"I was pretty happy… Renzo was throwing looping punches, so I tried to stay in close and keep things simple," said Hughes who now has 45 wins and 7 losses.

Gracie, who has 13 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw and 1 no contest (NC), stated: "I was two years and a half without fighting and then I had six months to get ready for a fighter like Matt Hughes… It wasn’t an easy task."

Will to survive

Filipino-American fighter Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Muñoz also clinched a TKO win over Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove at 2:50 of Round 2.

But he embarked on a rough road to victory as he was sent down by Grove’s hard right uppercut in Round 1.

UFC.com reported that the Fil-Am bounced back "from a horrid first round to stop Kendall Grove via a ferocious second round ground and pound attack."

"I was (hurt), but you have to have the will to survive in the cage," Muñoz said. "You need that if you want to be a champion."

Muñoz (8-1) was hit by some hard shots and was forced into submission by Grove (13-7, with 1 NC) but he fought on until the referee halted the bout.

Other results

Meanwhile, Rafael Dos Anjos defeated Terry Etim via submission (arm lock) at 4:30 of Round 2.

Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis also won by submission (choke) at 4:55 of Round 1 over Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson.

Rick "The Horror" Story beat Nick "Slick" Osipczak by split decision while DaMarques Johnson toppled Brad "Bad" Blackburn via a 3rd round TKO at 2:08.

Paul "Tellys" Kelly clinched a win over Matt Veach by submission (choke) at 3:41 of Round 2 and Jon Madsen beat Mostapha Al Turk by unanimous decision.

The match between Paul "Relentless" Taylor and John "Guns" Gunderson, on the other hand, did not push through because of the Taylor’s "last-minute medical issues."

Balls Channel aired UFC 112 live on Sunday at 1 a.m. with replays at 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. For more UFC action, tune in to Balls on SkyCable Channel 34 or logon to http://ballschannel.multiply.com. Balls Channel is available on SkyCable Premium, SkyCable Gold, SkyCable Silver and other quality cable operators nationwide.

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