Arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the history of mixed martial arts, Anderson Silva will feed off of a home crowd in Rio de Janeiro and notch a TKO against Stephan Bonnar in UFC 153.
The main event on the card at HSBC Arena is a month from today, and the two veteran fighters are slated to go at it for three rounds. Silva will make sure the fight doesn’t go the distance, despite facing an opponent in Bonnar, who will cut weight if anything before the fight. Bonnar has also never been stopped in a fight during his UFC career.
Moving up to light heavyweight won’t be a problem for Silva, who is coming off a rematch victory over Chael Sonnen, thanks to a vicious knee to the body in Round 2.
It doesn’t take long for the 37-year-old to capitalize on even the smallest mistake by his opponent, thanks to his legendary striking prowess and accuracy.
UFC president Dana White is certainly pleased with the fact that the biggest name in his sport stepped forward to salvage a card that looked to be in jeopardy (via MMAJunkie.com):
“This is old-school UFC. A card is in jeopardy, but guys that are world champions and superstars stepped up and jumped in and saved the card. This is why the fans love this sport and why we went on a 12-year run without canceling an event.”
Silva was shooting a commercial in Brazil when he got the call from White to join the card, according to the report. Withdraws due to injuries kept Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Jose Aldo out of UFC 153. The fact that Silva has come forward will create a gigantic buzz in Brazil, and the main event crowd will undoubtedly be on Silva’s side.
The ultimate shot that Bonnar has clamored for has arrived, but it’s probably even more of an opportunity than he could have ever anticipated. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
Although he’s just 8-6 in the UFC, Bonnar is an experienced, smart fighter who has won his past three bouts—two by unanimous decision and one by TKO. That’s mostly due to reining in his typical brawling style, which has earned him the nickname “The American Psycho.”
Bonnar must use his superior height and slight advantage on reach to keep Silva at a distance, and do his best to get him on the ground to have any chance in this one.
Against a foe of Silva’s unmatched caliber and versatility, Bonnar should turn to his natural, scrappy instincts and maximize the damage through what he’s done best. That would be a sound strategy for getting off to a fast start in Round 1 because given his knack for hanging in for an entire fight, he’d need a massive mistake to get KO’d by Silva in the first frame.
Since it is a three-round fight and Silva is clearly the superior man in the Octagon, Bonnar will push in Round 2 after a relatively even opener. He will go for the knockout, but will end up on his back for being too bold.
There has to be a bit of a pride factor in that Bonnar doesn’t want the fight to be shut down prematurely, but there is no shame in going down swinging against Silva.
After all, Bonnar doesn’t have much to lose against the man who is the truly ultimate fighter.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com