Anderson Silva knocks out Tito Ortiz in first round of boxing battle between UFC superstars | Boxing News

Anderson Silva face-planted Tito Ortiz with a big knockout in the opening round of their fight on Saturday night in Florida.

The 46-year-old UFC superstars had swapped the Octagon for the boxing ring but their clash was short-lived when Silva connected with two punches which wiped Ortiz out.

Ortiz had pressurised Silva, backed him into the corner and appeared to be in control, ready to let loose his own punches.

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But Silva, with little space to manoeuvre, caught Ortiz with a flush right hook which immediately hurt him badly.

He followed it up with a left hand which crashed Ortiz to the canvas face-first.

The comprehensive defeat compounded a miserable boxing debut for Ortiz who had missed weight at the weigh-in and was forced to pay a fine directly to Silva for the fight to go ahead.

Silva’s late-career rejuvenation inside the ring continues – he beat 60-fight veteran Julio Cesar Chavez Jr earlier this year.

As well as his glittering UFC accomplishments, Silva debuted as a boxer with a knockout loss in 1998 then won a second fight in 2006 before returning to the sport this year.

Sky Sports Boxing schedule

September 25 – Sky Sports Box Office
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk – IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles
Lawrence Okolie vs Dilan Prasovic – WBO cruiserweight title

October 2
Chris Eubank Jr vs Sven Elbir
David Avanesyan vs Liam Taylor – European welterweight title
Richard Riakpohre vs Krzysztof Twardowski
Mikael Lawal vs Steven Ward

October 16
Savannah Marshall vs Lolita Muzeya – WBO middleweight title
Hughie Fury vs Christian Hammer

October 24
Jamel Herring vs Shakur Stevenson – WBO super-featherweight title

November 6
BOXXER tournament

December 18
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall – undisputed super-lightweight title