ANDERSON SILVA retained his middleweight title with a second-round technical knockout of Chael Sonnen in the main event of UFC 148 on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Referee Yves Lavigne stopped the bout at one minute 55 seconds of the second round after Silva’s knee landed in Sonnen’s chest, which was followed by a barrage of strikes.

Sonnen nearly took the crown in the first round with a series of strikes but Silva recovered and delivered the knockout blows in the second round.

Silva repeated his fourth-round knockout of Sonnen in 2010.

In other results, Tito Ortiz defeated Forrest Griffin with a three-round unanimous decision; Cung Le won over Patrick Cote with a three-round unanimous decision; Demian Maia outclassed Dong Hyun Kim in just 47 seconds; Chad Mendez downed Cody McKenzie in 31 seconds; and Mike Easton outpointed Ivan Menjivar.