Add former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos to the list of fighters who believe current middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman‘s second victory over Anderson Silva was a fluke.
According to MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, “Cigano” believes Weidman‘s UFC 168 victory over Silva—his first successful title defense—was more luck than skill:
JDS on Weidman: He proved he’s good and beat the best of all times. (But) the last fight was an accident.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) February 14, 2014
The Brazilian joins fellow countryman Vitor Belfort, who fights Weidman for the middleweight strap in May, in stating outright that he believes the “W” wasn’t truly earned in this situation, per Jared Jones of FOX Sports.
For a quick recap, Silva threw a hard leg kick at “The All-American” early in the second frame of their Dec. 28 encounter, which Weidman checked.
In a scene that rarely ever occurs inside the cage, “The Spider” shattered his left shin on Weidman‘s knee, requiring immediate surgery to repair a broken left tibia and fibula.
Shockingly, less than two months later, the legendary Brazilian competitor has already returned to the gym to resume training.
Estou voltando . pic.twitter.com/QXis1oNSv7
— Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson) February 16, 2014
Weidman captured the belt from Silva back at UFC 162 in July, becoming the first man in 38 professional fights to defeat the pound-for-pound great by knockout.
However, that win was also placed under a microscope since Silva excessively showboated and taunted his American counterpart throughout the contest.
Whatever one’s personal opinion may be, the fact of the matter is Weidman is 11-0 as a professional mixed martial artist and is the only competitor to ever defeat Silva twice.
He defends his belt against Belfort at UFC 173 on May 24 and the event takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Is dos Santos’ point of view the most common one among fight fans, or was Weidman‘s UFC 168 win as legit as it gets?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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