Another high-profile top-10 fighter knocking on the door of a title shot. Another unknown Brazilian spoils the show.
Paulo Thiago followed in the footsteps of
Junior dos Santos, spoiling
Josh Koscheck's Feb. 21 tune-up bout by tuning up the former NCAA wrestling champ with the first major upset of 2009.
However, Thiago's performance at UFC 95 may not be the most impressive by a Brazilian.
Thiago's countryman
Demian Maia continued his submission streak in the Octagon, notching another "Submission of the Night" bonus over
Chael Sonnen in less than three minutes. The latest sensational submission for the BJJ king inches him closer to a shot at the sport's pound-for-pound king,
Anderson Silva.
The road to the UFC middleweight crown may run through
Nate Marquardt, though, who came away from UFC 95 with a sterling win of his own. The former UFC title challenger turned in a third-round stoppage of an always-tough
Wilson Gouveia to make his own case for another crack at the middleweight mantle.