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Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 2: Why Silva Has a Shot to Win the Rematch

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will go down as a legend in the world of mixed martial arts, not only for the 10 successful UFC middleweight title defenses he accumulated over a seven-year period, but also for the way he went about achi…

Blending excellent head and body movement with diverse, pinpoint striking, Silva executed a variety of techniques that forced foes to crumple to the floor and succumb to defeat.

In only a handful of situations did Silva turn to his oft-underrated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game in order to secure the finish.

Only in a trio of infamous performances, though, did Silva look a far cry from the intelligent striker that fans loved to watch—despite winning in those three fights.

His first “dance” came during his UFC 90 battle with Patrick Cote, when Silva literally started to break out a dance move or two to frustrate “The Predator.” Silva eventually earned a bizarre TKO win over Cote, but the complacency he exhibited against Cote at times lingered.

Despite controlling much of the action for the first three rounds against Thales Leites, Silva resorted to dancing once again and even slapped his opponent as a means of frustrating him.

Meanwhile, the UFC 112 performance stood out as the last time Silva tried to ever clown anyone, as a universally panned performance overshadowed the fact that Silva broke the record for the most consecutive title defenses in the UFC.

Moreover, Silva faced the chopping block as a result of his performance against Demian Maia, so he knew he needed to snap out of whatever funk he put himself in and start respecting what his foes could do.

Fast-forward to this week, and for the first time in his 38-fight career, he finds himself paying the price for the taunting, dancing and playing around that most associated with his “complacent” title defenses.

Sure, the first time he tangled with now-champion Chris Weidman, he escaped from leg locks and attacked with leg kicks to gradually wear Weidman down, but passed up on other opportunities to show off his vaunted “ballet of violence.”

Whereas he once elected to punish foes with knees in the Muay Thai clinch, he instead tossed Weidman to the side. Rather than trying to catch him on his way up, he let him up and tried to defend without even trying to counter.

In short, he did frustrate Weidman, but this time, he got knocked down and knocked out cold for his trouble. Now, Silva is pushing 39, will still come in with a disadvantage in the reach department and doesn’t plan on doing anything different from what he did the first time—save for changing up his entourage.

If anything goes Silva’s way in this fight, it will stem from how Silva performs in rematch scenarios.

The former champion fought in rematches with Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami during his time as the champion, and while the first round of his rematch with Sonnen went the same way as the first round of his first bout with Sonnen, he still kept his mind focused on beating him.

Just like Silva kept composed and focused on beating Franklin, Sonnen and Weidman in those rematches, he must do the same against Weidman.

If he wants to frustrate Weidman without getting finished, he can stick to the leg kicks and keep honing his takedown defense, but he needs to establish himself as the aggressor and give Weidman a reason to step back.

Most of all, though, he needs to keep his head in check throughout the entire fight. If he allows himself to get complacent or decides to taunt in order to create opportunities to attack, he will fall victim to another knockout blow from the undefeated “All-American.”

At the same time, however, it remains possible that Silva only declared intentions to keep most of his game the same as a means of hiding the actual changes he plans on showcasing this weekend.

For his sake, he needs to keep a few new tricks up his sleeve. If he doesn’t, he’ll find himself forced to consider saying goodbye to the sport of MMA for good—whether he wants to or not.

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Bellator 108: Another Bellator Card Where Co-Main Event Tops Main Event

Credit Bellator MMA matchmaker Sam Caplan for finally getting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a debut fight against UFC veteran “The Mexicutioner” Joey Beltran at Bellator 108.
On top of a Bellator heavyweight title bout between champion Alexander Volkov and…

Credit Bellator MMA matchmaker Sam Caplan for finally getting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a debut fight against UFC veteran “The Mexicutioner” Joey Beltran at Bellator 108.

On top of a Bellator heavyweight title bout between champion Alexander Volkov and undefeated challenger Vitaly Minakov, as well as a featherweight tournament final between Patricio Freire and Justin Wilcox, the bout on paper promises to at least attract new heads to the Bellator brand of MMA.

After the loss of Bellator 106’s original headliner of Jackson vs. Tito Ortiz caused the would-be pay-per-view to become a free card with a Bellator lightweight title fight between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler at the top of the bill, though, doesn’t one think that Bellator needed to learn their lesson by now?

Adding former UFC talent may attract older fans to their cards, but in all honesty, they won’t see the “Rampage” of the Pride days against the Beltran who many felt held a good chance to contend for the UFC heavyweight title at the start of his UFC run. Instead, they will witness one UFC veteran and one MMA legend looking to reset themselves on the winning track. Of course, no one will dare to ask the “relevancy” question, as Beltran only recently lost to Fabio Maldonado, and Jackson will always remain relevant in MMA conversation due to his legendary battles.

Still, does the potential for a knockout really trump that of the heavyweight title fight?

Traditionally, non-title fights do not take precedence over title fights, regardless of potential entertainment value, especially on a billing which plans to host a heavyweight title fight. UFC 51, though, does hold regard as the most recent MMA card to host a non-title fight as the headliner, even with an interim heavyweight title fight on the card. So perhaps Bellator knows more about what it plans to do with “Rampage vs. Beltran” as the headliner than we do.

That notwithstanding, Volkov vs. Minakov should not fall by the wayside. Though it does not likely stand to play out like the Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos trilogy, it does hold all the potential to put on one of the more underrated heavyweight contests in recent memory. Both men carry their own reputations for finishing fights, and with Volkov’s rather lanky frame, it becomes a point of interest to see whether Minakov can keep Volkov from controlling the distance.

In short, it tops the current headliner because one undefeated prospect, challenging for a world title, and his opponent, a title-holding prospect, hold potential to demonstrate what the future promises for both Bellator and the sport of MMA, especially in the heavyweight ranks. Instead of promoting this, Bellator signed recently released UFC talent and longtime UFC veterans in an attempt to battle the competition.

At another time, that would work to perfection and divide the MMA world’s attention, but with Bellator, fans knew better from the minute they first viewed their product. They possess homegrown talent that some herald as the absolute best in the sport right now. Fans will not know what kind of good thing the sport has waiting for them in the future, though, unless promotions like Bellator begin to showcase those prospects now.

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UFC: Can Recently Signed Japanese Fighters Reverse Nation’s UFC Track Record?

Katsunori Kikuno and Tatsuya Kawajiri often stood out in the past as two names that fans wanted to eventually see in the UFC but never thought they would. After all, Kikuno and Kawajiri won against respectable names, but Kawajiri owned losses to the likes of Shinya Aoki and Gilbert Melendez, while Kikuno owns losses to Eddie Alvarez and Mizuto Hirota on his record. While no shame ever came in losing to Aoki, Alvarez, Melendez or Hirota, they didn’t help the case that begged the UFC to sign them.

Still, the promotion decided that in order to make its mark in Asia, it needs the best competitors in the Asian MMA circuit to deliver on their cards. Kawajiri and Kikuno present familiar names to MMA fans around the world, and they present rather challenging styles that promise their share of action and excitement. If one real knock exists on signing both, it only comes as a result of the track record of past Japanese talent that crossed through the UFC.

As many fans know, recently released Yushin Okami compiled 13 wins and just five losses in the promotion, standing out as the most successful Japanese competitor in the UFC. Hatsu Hioki owns two UFC wins, Kyoji Horiguchi scored his first UFC win over Dustin Pague in Houston last month at UFC 166 and Takeya Mizugaki recently defeated highly touted Erik Perez.

In contrast, Hioki owns his share of UFC losses, Norifumi Yamamoto remains winless in the UFC, Takanori Gomi experienced mixed success in the UFC thus far and nothing on paper suggests that Kawajiri or Kikuno will fare any different.

Just because everything suggests that Kikuno and Kawajiri will flop, however, doesn’t necessarily mean they will. Kawajiri and Kikuno may possess flaws that prevent them from achieving consistent success in MMA bouts, especially against top competition, but most other MMA fighters undergo the same.

Now, that doesn’t speak to any problems that fighters and athletes from their nation possess, especially when looking back at Okami‘s success. It just highlights the need for fighters to continue evolving with the sport and keeping their skill sets as a well-mixed bag of tricks.

Most would focus on Kawajiri, as he would need to prove that he can mix things up more than the man people remember from bouts in Strikeforce and DREAM. Yet, few know Kikuno and even fewer know about the magic he can whip up when his head remains on straight.

Will both of them need to improve in certain areas along the way? Of course they will, because every fighter holds at least one area in which they need improvement. Will either man find themselves near a title shot? They know what they need to do in order to get one, but that should not serve as their main focus right now.

For Kikuno, Quinn Mulhern awaits, while Nova Uniao prospect Hacran Dias awaits Kawajiri. Kikuno and Kawajiri can put their skills in effect to where they change the way the MMA world views Japanese fighters, starting with wins over Mulhern and Dias, respectively. However, they must remember to focus on them first.

Once they get by their respective debut foes and then subsequently chalk up two or three more wins, then we can flirt with the prospect of another non-Okami getting a title shot. Until then, let us watch and see what both men offer to the UFC roster.

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UFC Fight Night 30 Results: Can Anyone Stop ‘Poster Boy’ Jimi Manuwa?

“Poster Boy” Jimi Manuwa improved his UFC record to 3-0 with yet another TKO win on home soil at UFC Fight Night 30 on Saturday, this time over former Maximum Fighting Championship standout Ryan Jimmo.
Jimmo made honest attempts to drain Manuwa’s energ…

Jimmo made honest attempts to drain Manuwa’s energy by posting him up against the cage, but even with his back to the fence, Manuwa attacked with knees to the leg. Despite catching a few shots inside, he dominated the fight with his striking—from leg kicks to calculated punches—and appeared en route to a dominant unanimous-decision win.

Did Jimmo try to make it a one-sided bout by posting Manuwa against the cage from the onset? Yes, he did, but Manuwa still delivered a much higher output on the feet, though both men showed solid takedown defense.

Still, like most Manuwa bouts, this one ended after the effects of his power strikes caused Jimmo to blow out one of his knees. At first glance, it looked like a freak accident, considering that Jimmo did not crumple from Manuwa’s early output, but taking the leg strikes into account, Poster Boy did indeed force Jimmo’s leg to give out.

This now causes the MMA world to ask if anyone can stop the now 14-0 Manuwa’s ascent or at least survive his striking game long enough to expose a flaw in his game. Right now, only a step up in competition will allow us to see where the undefeated Manuwa still needs work, if he does at all.

How big of a step up does he need? It depends on what kind of opponent should face him next.

A variety of styles makes the UFC light heavyweight division one of the sport’s most must-see weight classes. Whether he draws a vaunted striker like Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, a wrestler like Ryan Bader or anyone with the cardio to take him into Round 3, he will get tested as much as Jimmo tried testing him, if not more.

As for the win over Jimmo, it keeps Manuwa’s momentum alive. Whether it puts him in dark-horse territory remains in question, but he will get to that point in time. As long as he continues to improve his skill set, he can expect to go a long way as one of the top light heavyweight prospects in the sport right now.

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UFC Fight Night 30 Results: Can Anyone Stop ‘Poster Boy’ Jimi Manuwa?

How big of a step up does he need? It depends on what kind of opponent should face him next.

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UFC Fight Night 30 Results: John Lineker Must Now Consider Bantamweight Move

John Lineker knew he put himself against the wall again when he missed weight for the third time in five UFC bouts. He came in three pounds over the flyweight limit of 125 (126, if you count the one-pound allowance), and he faced a possible cut fr…

Once again, though, Lineker never let his opponent take control of the bout. He tagged Harris with shots to the head, landed a shot to the body that sent Harris down and rained down with some ground and pound to secure his fourth-straight victory. Better yet, he put Harris down in Harris’ home country, and now, the MMA world awaits Lineker‘s next move.

Will he make a run towards the UFC flyweight title? Will he look to take on one more “name” opponent before eyeing down the winner of the Demetrious Johnson-Joseph Benavidez rematch at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale? Will he take time off to recharge and come back as a new Lineker in 2014?

Nobody knows Lineker‘s next move, but it never looks good to miss weight, even if the guy missing weight rides a four-fight winning streak, as Lineker now does. Not only does it scream “unprofessional,” but it also makes it hard to coin said athlete as a title contender, even though Lineker holds the only justifiable case for a title bout, save for John Dodson.

The fact remains that unless he changes something up in his pre-fight preparation, he will not get to where he wants to go as a flyweight, and so he must now consider moving up in weight.

For non-champions, changing weight classes normally comes as a means to reinvent one’s career after a string of losses, but Lineker‘s case does not fit that bill. He presents a case that, with this third instance of coming in overweight, he sees fans liken him to Thiago Alves and Anthony Johnson, both of whom experienced instances of coming in overweight to fights as UFC welterweights.

Bantamweight at least seems reasonable for Lineker because, aside from the “missing weight” issue, Lineker could actually find that he doesn’t hold as much of a disadvantage in the size department, as some would otherwise believe. Flyweight may hold more comfort for Lineker, but again, it all goes back to the issue of making weight for the fight.

If Lineker had trouble making 125-126 for this fight, as well as his fight with Louis Gaudinot and his UFC 163 bout with Jose Maria Tome, perhaps, the cut just taxes him too much. If that proves true in any sense, then not taking time to at least consider the move will not only cost him some of his future purses, but it may also cut his fighting career relatively short.

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