LAS VEGAS – The Battle of Brazil was no contest.

Anderson Silva retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight championship with a dramatic first-round knockout over Vitor Belfort in front of a sold-out crowd in the main event of UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The rivals from Brazil exchanged a lot of nasty talk prior to the fight and there was clearly a lot of bad blood. But there wasn’t a punch thrown for about 90 seconds.

But as they were facing each other, Silva fired a straight front kick with his left leg. The heel of Silva’s left foot landed squarely on the chin, knocking Belfort down, and, for all intents and purposes, out. Silva landed a punch or two on the ground before referee Mario Yamasaki stopped it at 3:25.

“That’s one of the strikes I was working on, but I was focusing on various kicks and attacks,” Silva said.

Silva will fight UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre next if St. Pierre successfully defends his belt against Jake Shields on April 29 in Toronto at UFC 129. With the win, Silva, the longest-reigning champion in UFC history, won a record 13th consecutive UFC fight and extended his record for successful title defenses to eight. Forrest Griffin (18-6) hadn’t fought since a disputed victory over Tito Ortiz on Nov. 21, 2009, but he managed to overcome the ring rust to pull out a unanimous decision victory over Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight fight.