Author: Alex Ballentine

UFC 162 Results: Rebound Fights for Pay-Per-View Card’s Losers

UFC 162 may have produced some ecstatic winners from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it saw just as many fighters walk away going back to the drawing board after a disappointing loss. Anderson Silva, Charles Oliveira and Tim Boetsch w…

UFC 162 may have produced some ecstatic winners from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it saw just as many fighters walk away going back to the drawing board after a disappointing loss. 

Anderson Silva, Charles Oliveira and Tim Boetsch were among those that were unable to get their hand raised as they were on the wrong end of impressive performances from their opponents. 

While a loss hurts, it isn’t the end of the world. Each of Saturday night’s biggest losers will have the opportunity to win again and repair their stock as they try to mount another climb up the divisional ladder. 

Here’s a look at each of the main card’s losers and a potential fight for them to take next. 

 

Dennis Siver Loses to Cub Swanson via Third-Round TKO

Where it Went Wrong

Dennis Siver became the latest featherweight to fall victim to Cub Swanson as he was finished in the third round by way of TKO. 

Siver actually had his moments in the fight despite small underdog status. He scored a takedown in the first round and controlled Swanson to take the opening frame. However, he faded as the fight wore on and was caught by Swanson’s dynamic striking. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Charles Oliveira

Both Siver and Oliveira were unable to pull off upsets at UFC 162, so why not put them in the Octagon and see who can get back in the win column?

Oliveira lost a unanimous decision to former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the night’s co-main event but showed that he’s ready to take on established fighters in the division. 

Siver would have the opportunity to showcase his abilities against a much-less dynamic threat on the feet, while Oliveira gets another opportunity to shoot up the rankings. 

 

Tim Boetsch Loses to Mark Munoz via Unanimous Decision

Where it Went Wrong

Boetsch was another fighter who got off to a good start before fading down the stretch. Coming off of a third-round TKO loss to Costa Philippou, “The Barbarian” needed a strong performance—and this wasn’t it. 

Boetsch and Munoz engaged in a close technical grappling match in the first round, but Rounds 2 and 3 belonged to the Filipino Wrecking Machine. Coming back from nearly a year away from the Octagon, he was back in full form.

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Chris Camozzi

Boetsch now has two losses in a row, so his next fight is going to be a real must-win situation. That means a step down in competition. Camozzi is coming off of a submission loss to Jacare Souza at UFC on FX Belfort vs. Rockhold in Brazil and isn’t currently ranked in the top 10 of the division.

Camozzi is dangerous enough to challenge Boetsch; he’s still 4-1 in his past five fights. But he’s a nice step down from Philippou and Munoz. 

 

Roger Gracie Loses to Tim Kennedy via Unanimous Decision

Where it Went Wrong

Gracie’s UFC debut couldn’t have gone much worse.

The Strikeforce veteran was able to secure two takedowns in the three-round fight but landed just 12 significant strikes, per FightMetric. That’s just four strikes per round. 

Kennedy didn’t look all that great in the win, and the fight was definitely the most uneventful bout on the main card. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: A Facebook Prelim Near You

Cutting Gracie may be a little premature. He was good enough to warrant a pay-per-view slot in his debut, and we have yet to see how far Tim Kennedy can go in the middleweight division. However, he’s going to need to prove he can entertain if he’s going to be on TV again. 

The best bet to see if he can get back on track would be a Facebook prelim fight against an up-and-comer making his promotional debut. 

 

Charles Oliveira Loses to Frankie Edgar via Unanimous Decision

Where it Went Wrong

Oliveira was a big underdog coming into his fight against Edgar. But he did an admirable job of holding his own against the former lightweight champion. 

Edgar was much quicker than Oliveira, consistently landing good boxing combinations while moving out of Oliveira‘s range. It was clear his takedown defense needs to improve as well; Edgar completed two of five takedown attempts en route to the win. 

Despite those shortcomings, “do Bronx” had his moments and even rocked Edgar a few times. At 23 years old, the loss should be seen as more of a learning experience than a setback. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Dennis Siver

By fighting Siver next, Oliveira would get to show if he can take what he learned from losing to Edgar by taking on another technical featherweight. 

 

Anderson Silva Loses to Chris Weidman via Second-Round Knockout

Where it Went Wrong

You know the narrative by now. 

The longest-reigning champion in UFC history’s title reign came to an end as Chris Weidman landed the punch heard ’round the world and sent Silva crashing to the canvas. Silva’s tactics of dropping his hands and goading opponents into attacking has worked in the past, but it eventually caught up to him. 

Now he must fight as a challenger in his next bout for the first time in seven years. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Rematch with Chris Weidman

Despite Silva’s comments after the bout on not wanting a rematch, Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Dana White is already trying to figure out a date for the rematch between the two. 

While Silva may have denied interest in a rematch initially, he hasn’t lost in seven years. His mind could easily change when he sees the potential money that would come from a rematch against the champion. 

Silva didn’t want to fight Weidman before their first fight either, preferring to take on Cung Le instead. It’s likely Dana White will be able to convince Silva to reconsider this time around as well. 

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UFC 168 Would Be Biggest Card in UFC History with Silva vs. Weidman 2 Main Event

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Tim…

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. 

According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Dana White not only believes that a rematch between the two will happen, but he wants to schedule it for UFC 168 on Dec. 28, 2013:

Doing an interview for UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, White claimed that the rematch would be the biggest fight in UFC history. 

He’s not wrong. 

Finding legitimate pay-per-view numbers for the company is a difficult task. The company doesn’t have to release the information and the reported numbers, however MMA Payout Blue Book reports that the most successful card in the history of the organization was UFC 100. 

The historic card featured a grudge match between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar as the main event. 

While Lesnar is still one of the UFC’s top pay-per-view draws in the history of the organization, White said in 2012 that Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are among the biggest draws in the organization, per MMA Weekly.

Looking at that list, none of those names are actually surprising. However, it’s worth noting that Silva essentially created two of those five pay-per-view all-stars.

He became a huge draw himself by defending his title 10 consecutive times and consistently provided highlight knockouts. He also provided the perfect target for Sonnen to launch his run as a pay-per-view champion.

Sonnen‘s ability to trash talk and put The Spider in trouble set up one of the most successful cards recently, UFC 148.

After Sonnen won four rounds against Silva before getting submitted in Round 5 at UFC 117, the 2012 Fourth of July weekend card racked up an impressive reported 925,000 buys, per MMA Payout Blue Book’s report.

While some of those impressive numbers can be chalked up to Sonnen‘s mastery at hyping fights, it was Sonnen‘s ability to put Silva in danger that drove up the buy rate. 

If Sonnen became an immediate draw simply by putting Silva in serious danger, it stands to reason that Weidman should see a huge boost in popularity going forward after actually beating the champion. And the intrigue around a rematch would be intense. 

In Silva vs. Weidman 2, Dana White has a serious cash cow in the making. The only thing that could keep it from approaching the numbers that some of the best cards in history have accomplished is the surrounding card. 

UFC 100 featured a Georges St-Pierre title defense against Thiago Alves as the co-main event. It will be up to White to make sure that the card supporting the main event is also worthy of setting records, but the potential is there for the best card in the organization’s history. 

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UFC 168 Would Be Biggest Card in UFC History with Silva vs. Weidman 2 Main Event

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Tim…

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. 

According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Dana White not only believes that a rematch between the two will happen, but he wants to schedule it for UFC 168 on Dec. 28, 2013:

Puigmire later reported that White has cooled on the idea of moving Ronda Rousey and Miesha off of its scheduled Dec. 28 date, leaving Silva and Weidman’s title fight without a date.

 

However, moving the Women’s bantamweight title championship match to co-main event status with the Weidman vs. Silva 2 is a move that White should consider for the year-end pay-per-view—a two championship card would give the event even more buzz. 

Doing an interview for UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, White claimed that the rematch would be the biggest fight in UFC history. 

He’s not wrong. 

Finding legitimate pay-per-view numbers for the company is a difficult task. The company doesn’t have to release the information and the reported numbers, however MMA Payout Blue Book reports that the most successful card in the history of the organization was UFC 100. 

The historic card featured a grudge match between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar as the main event. 

While Lesnar is still one of the UFC’s top pay-per-view draws in the history of the organization, White said in 2012 that Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are among the biggest draws in the organization, per MMA Weekly.

Looking at that list, none of those names are actually surprising. However, it’s worth noting that Silva essentially created two of those five pay-per-view all-stars.

He became a huge draw himself by defending his title 10 consecutive times and consistently provided highlight knockouts. He also provided the perfect target for Sonnen to launch his run as a pay-per-view champion.

Sonnen‘s ability to trash talk and put The Spider in trouble set up one of the most successful cards recently, UFC 148.

After Sonnen won four rounds against Silva before getting submitted in Round 5 at UFC 117, the 2012 Fourth of July weekend card racked up an impressive reported 925,000 buys, per MMA Payout Blue Book’s report.

While some of those impressive numbers can be chalked up to Sonnen‘s mastery at hyping fights, it was Sonnen‘s ability to put Silva in danger that drove up the buy rate. 

If Sonnen became an immediate draw simply by putting Silva in serious danger, it stands to reason that Weidman should see a huge boost in popularity going forward after actually beating the champion. And the intrigue around a rematch would be intense. 

In Silva vs. Weidman 2, Dana White has a serious cash cow in the making. The only thing that could keep it from approaching the numbers that some of the best cards in history have accomplished is the surrounding card. 

UFC 100 featured a Georges St-Pierre title defense against Thiago Alves as the co-main event. It will be up to White to make sure that the card supporting the main event is also worthy of setting records, but the potential is there for the best card in the organization’s history. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 162: Results Sure to Shake Up Championship Landscape

To call the results of UFC 162 shocking may be an understatement. Considering we saw one of the greatest upsets in the history of MMA, “monumental” may be a better word. With just one punch, Chris Weidman rocked the entire UFC middleweight di…

To call the results of UFC 162 shocking may be an understatement. 

Considering we saw one of the greatest upsets in the history of MMA, “monumental” may be a better word. 

With just one punch, Chris Weidman rocked the entire UFC middleweight division by becoming the first man in UFC history to defeat Anderson Silva. Weidman stopped “The Spider” in the second round. 

The 185-pound class isn’t the only one that saw a big shakeup. The card offered results that are sure to have a long-term impact on the title picture in multiple divisions. Here are the fights that will make things interesting in their division as we look beyond Saturday night’s action.

 

Can You Hear Cub Swanson Knocking?

Cub Swanson just keeps getting better every time out. 

The former WEC contender showed off his cardio and ability to finish fights by scoring a third-round TKO victory over veteran Dennis Siver on the pay-per-view card. 

Siver had been unbeaten at 145 pounds.

After losing to fellow featherweight title contender Ricardo Lamas in November 2011, Swanson has been on a five-fight win streak that has him on top of the featherweight title picture. 

The 29-year-old defeated Dustin Poirier, Ross Pearson and George Roop, and he even beat Charles Oliveira more impressively than Frankie Edgar did on Saturday night. 

With Lamas currently waiting on a fight, a rematch between the two to determine the next title contender at featherweight may be in order.

 

Barboza Becomes Prime Candidate for Leap up Rankings

Edson Barboza came into his UFC 162 fight against Rafaello Oliveira unranked in the UFC’s official lightweight rankings. After dominating another overmatched opponent, that has to change.

The 27-year-old Brazilian would have had a great case for Knockout of the Night if not for one Chris Weidman in the main event. Barboza brutalized Oliveira with leg kick after leg kick until the ref had to call the fight for the rare leg-kick TKO.

As Jeremy Botter of Bleacher Report noted, it wasn’t pretty. 

Barboza has everything you’d like to see in a rising star. He’s explosive—as evidenced by the fact that he won a fight almost entirely on leg kicks—he wins (he’s now 6-1 in the UFC), and perhaps most importantly, he’s entertaining. 

He failed to win any post-fight bonuses this time around, but he’s a three-time Fight of the Night winner and holds a Knockout of the Night. 

The lightweight division got another serious player on Saturday night. 

 

Chris Weidman Opens the Floodgates in the Middleweight Division

For a long time, middleweight contenders were essentially fighting just to see who was the second-best fighter in the division. 

Now, the division heads into uncharted territory. The last time that the weight class had a champion not named Anderson Silva was 2006. 

With all due respect to Weidman, who fought a tremendous fight and legitimately beat a fighter who remains near the top of pound-for-pound rankings, contenders have to feel that winning the title is a much more attainable goal now. 

Michael Bisping was the first to take to Twitter to ask for a shot against the newly crowned champion. 

Fighters like Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami—who all had to overcome the hurdle of marketing rematches with Silva after losing—now have much better odds of getting a shot at the title with a new champion. 

Silva fended off the top challengers in the middleweight division. Now there is a whole lineup of challengers who will be looking to give the “All-American” his first loss. 

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Anderson Silva Will Need to Be in Top Form to Beat Chris Weidman at UFC 162

Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in UFC history, but he’s going to need his best effort to beat Chris Weidman at UFC 162 on Saturday.As unfathomable as a Silva loss might appear—we have never seen one inside the Octagon, after all—the…

Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in UFC history, but he’s going to need his best effort to beat Chris Weidman at UFC 162 on Saturday.

As unfathomable as a Silva loss might appear—we have never seen one inside the Octagon, after all—the writing is on the wall for the unthinkable to happen. 

Age has to catch up with the 38-year-old pound-for-pound kingpin sooner or later.

The 29-year-old Weidman also appears to have the skill set that is widely believed to have a shot at defeating Silva. The two-time All-American wrestler has successfully transitioned his amateur wrestling background to the world of MMA grappling, utilizing submissions to make him even more fearsome. 

He’s capable of employing the same game plan that allowed Chael Sonnen to beat Silva for four-and-a-half rounds at UFC 117 before succumbing to a triangle armbar from “The Spider.” The only difference is that Weidman‘s submission offense and defense are much more refined than Sonnen‘s. 

The added threat that Weidman could submit Silva makes him even more dangerous than Sonnen was.

Even UFC veterans like Georges St-Pierre, Rashad Evans, John Moraga, Sonnen, Gray Maynard and Daniel Cormier have either pegged Weidman as a legitimate threat or the outright winner of Saturday’s title fight, per this UFC hype video:

However, just because Weidman has the tools doesn’t mean Silva should skip out on Saturday night. We’re still talking about the greatest champion in UFC history and a minus-240 favorite, according to Bovada.

There’s no denying that Silva should be favored. There’s no amount of theoretical advantages that a middleweight can have that should make him a favorite to beat Silva. A 16-0 record in the Octagon and 10 consecutive title defenses trump what’s on paper.

The Spider can’t afford to make any mistakes, though. He’ll have to remind fans of what made him the revered fighter that he has become. After his first fight with Sonnen, he offered up the explanation that his poor performance came from a rib injury that he kept secret and decided to fight through.

The alleged rib injury could have been a contributing factor to the fact that Silva was taken down three times in the five-round championship bout.

Per MMA Junkie, there were reports of another rib injury for Silva in his preparation for this fight, but the UFC later denied those claims. 

The clean bill of health for the champion is good news for his fans. If Sonnen could take an injured Silva down three times en route to what would have been a dominant performance on the scorecards, then Weidman has the ability to equal his success against the champion.

Silva is going to need to be in top form if he’s going to extend his record-setting title reign to 11 successful defenses.

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UFC 162: Top Contenders for Fight of the Night on Saturday’s Card

The UFC will continue its tradition of putting on an awesome card every Fourth of July weekend with UFC 162 on Saturday, which is headlined by Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. The excellent matchmaking doesn’t just stop at the main event. Joe Sil…

The UFC will continue its tradition of putting on an awesome card every Fourth of July weekend with UFC 162 on Saturday, which is headlined by Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. 

The excellent matchmaking doesn’t just stop at the main event. Joe Silva and Dana White have put together a stacked card from top to bottom that should entertain fans throughout the night. 

Here’s a look at the full fight card.

 

Fight Card

Main Card (Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET)

Middleweight: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman for the UFC Middleweight Championship

Featherweight: Frankie Edgar vs. Charles Oliveira

Middleweight: Tim Kennedy vs. Roger Gracie

Middleweight: Tim Boetsch vs. Mark Munoz

Featherweight: Cub Swanson vs. Dennis Siver

 

Preliminary Card (FX at 8 p.m. ET)

Middleweight: Chris Leben vs. Andrew Craig

Lightweight: Norman Parke vs. Kazuki Tokudome

Heavyweight: Dave Herman vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Lightweight: Edson Barboza vs. Rafaello Oliveira

 

Facebook Prelims (7 p.m. ET)

Welterweight: Seth Baczynski vs. Brian Melancon

Welterweight: Mike Pierce vs. David Mitchell

 

Fight of the Night Contenders

A few fights have the potential to provide fireworks, which means the competition for Fight of the Night honors is going to be tough. Here are the early favorites based on styles and relative competitiveness. 

 

Cub Swanson vs. Dennis Siver

If you’re not a fan of high level striking and high pace fighting, then go ahead and flip the channel when the opening bell for Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver rings. This one isn’t for you. 

Swanson and Siver should deliver one of the best fights of the night. Both men are adept at striking—Siver comes from an extensive kickboxing background, while Swanson has proved his stand-up game is better than most in the division with his knockout power. He has knocked out three of his last four opponents.

Both Siver and Swanson have won Fight of the Night honors before. Siver has done it twice with two additional awards for Knockout of the Night, while Swanson was a three-time Fight of the Night winner in the WEC. 

These two should put on an intense striking display pitting Swanson’s power against Siver‘s technique. It should be an intriguing contrast. 

 

Tim Boetsch vs. Mark Munoz

It’s been awhile since UFC fans have seen either of these guys in the Octagon, but the fighters won’t waste much time in reacquainting themselves with the audience. Boetsch and Munoz are two powerful and explosive middleweights who should put on a great fight. 

The intriguing thing here is their similarities. 

Boetsch is a massive middleweight. He fought six times in the UFC as a light heavyweight before discovering that he was much better as a powerhouse middleweight than just another 205er. Now he’s 4-1 in the division with impressive wins over Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard.

Munoz is another big middleweight who started his career as a light heavyweight. He has used his punching power to earn a 7-2 record in the 185-lb division. Munoz is a high level wrestler but prefers to use his improving striking to set up knockouts. 

This one should be fun while it lasts. 

 

Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva

Anytime “The Spider” is on a card, he’s automatically a contender for some post-fight award. After all, he has 12 awards in 16 career UFC fights.

Usually he’s the odds-on favorite for Knockout of the Night, but his matchup with Chris Weidman is more likely to be a Fight of the Night candidate. This fight will end in one of two ways:

  1. Weidman falls into Silva’s trap by being tentative long enough for Silva to unleash one of his signature highlight-reel knockouts; or
  2. Weidman brings the fight to Silva by using his wrestling to challenge him like only Chael Sonnen was able to do at UFC 117. 

Either way, the fighters will treat the fans to something memorable. Every MMA fan can enjoy Silva’s mastery of the striking game, whether he’s a fan of The Spider or not. By the same token, an underdog like Weidman pushing Silva to his limits isn’t a bad alternative. 

The main event should deliver as one of the most entertaining bouts of the evening. 

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