Author: John Rozum

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva: What to Expect in UFC 160’s Rematch

Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva will square off in UFC 160—a rematch of the 146 bout from a year ago.What can we expect entering this heavyweight title fight?More of the same.In the previous fight, Velasquez totally wrecked Silva from start to f…

Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva will square off in UFC 160—a rematch of the 146 bout from a year ago.

What can we expect entering this heavyweight title fight?

More of the same.

In the previous fight, Velasquez totally wrecked Silva from start to finish. His wrestling ability, combined with defense, initially gave him the advantage on a takedown. Thereafter, Velasquez’s marksmanship on striking with his punches and elbows simply took over.

As for this bout, Velasquez holds an edge whether it’s on the feet or the ground. He’s incredibly quick when counter-attacking and brings an onslaught of combinations to break his opponent’s defense.

Even better, though, Velasquez is a stronger martial artist on the ground. With his excellent wrestling experience, he’s rarely caught out of position and knows how to avoid any lock or submission hold.

Jeff Wagenheim of Sports Illustrated puts this fight’s potential into perspective:

Cain is faster, in better shape, is disciplined and has the wrestling chops to dictate where this fight is fought. That means the big fists of “Bigfoot” are unlikely to be a factor, and Velasquez will roll onward, possibly into a rematch with Junior dos Santos.

If anything, Silva must find a way to first win on his feet. His size is a favorable edge regarding reach and power, so avoiding the ground keeps that relevant. Given Velasquez’s defense, Silva must also avoid telegraphing kicks to prevent easy takedowns.

Fighting with a lower center of gravity and building efficiency from punches will help him gain the advantage. The challenge is actually matching Velasquez’s reactionary quickness and instincts.

That was an obvious disparity between the two in their first match. Don’t expect that to change here.

After getting the victory over Junior dos Santos in December, Velasquez just has more confidence now than ever before. He’s also, however, displaying admirable humility. Per Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Velasquez said:

What I have learned is that the smart thing to do is to consider we’re fighting for a new belt and that neither of us is the champion. The truth of it is, what has happened in the past really matters when it comes to this fight. What happens on Saturday night is going to determine what happens in Saturday’s fight, not what happened in my last fight or any fight before that.

This shows great focus and preparation on Velasquez’s part, as well as respect for Silva. Refusing to get overconfident and suppress his anxiousness to fight is quite impressive.

Mesh all that with having smashed Silva’s face in once before, and UFC 160 won’t offer anything unexpected.

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UFC 160: Underrated Fights You Can’t Miss

UFC 160 has an excellent slate of bouts to catch.But before the main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva, this fight card provides fascinating matchups. If anything, the diverse array of martial arts experience between all of the competitors is a…

UFC 160 has an excellent slate of bouts to catch.

But before the main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva, this fight card provides fascinating matchups. If anything, the diverse array of martial arts experience between all of the competitors is appealing.

Unlike boxing, martial arts runs deeper as a combat sport with broader dynamics. The following matchups feature quite a bit of that on May 25, as well.

 

Maynard vs. Grant

Gray Maynard sports a record of 12-1-1, and he suffered his only loss to Frankie Edgar in 2011. As a former collegiate wrestler, Maynard typically wins the battle on the ground.

That said, he’s also a better boxer and defender on his feet than he’s given credit for. Possessing the stamina to match any pace, Maynard is a solid opponent for TJ Grant.

And speaking of Grant, he’ll take the fight to Maynard. Grant’s best chance is to stay on his feet, land punches and avoid takedowns.

While he’s not the takedown artist that Maynard is, Grant’s ability to adjust on the ground will counter Maynard’s impressive wrestling.


Nurmagomedov vs. Trujillo

Khabib Nurmagomedov owns a perfect 19-0 record and has 14 victories via knockout or submission.

Fusing a background of sambo, wrestling and judo, Nurmagomedov strikes with great power and precision while also dominating the ground game. Add in the defense to set up counterattacks, and he’s a great challenge for Abel Trujillo.

Trujillo’s record is not as impressive (10-4), but he enters on a five-match win streak.

What favors Trujillo here is his athleticism. Along with the ability to neutralize Nurmagomedov on the ground, he has the quickness to defend consistently and counter explosively. Whoever wins the takedown battle will gain an advantage in the bout.


Bowles vs. Roop

It’s been an up-and-down career for George Roop, who has a 13-10-1 record. Obviously, that’s less stellar than the record of his opponent, Brian Bowles (10-2).

That said, Roop owns the height advantage at 6’1″ and is capable of escaping unfavorable situations from the ground. The obstacle against Bowles, however, will be more than just getting out of jams.

Bowles brings the speed and ability to generate nice power when attacking. Mesh that with solid strength to win on the ground, and he’ll limit Roop‘s evasive tactics.

Interestingly enough, Bowles has only gone the distance one time, when he won a decision over Takeya Mizugaki. So, the longer Roop can hang around in this matchup, the better his chances will be.

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Anderson Silva’s Comments Towards Chael Sonnen Will Spark Interest for UFC 148

Anderson Silva has greatly intensified his upcoming match at UFC 148 against Chael Sonnen.According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Silva stated:What I’m going to do inside the Octagon is something that’s going to change the image of the sport. I’m going to …

Anderson Silva has greatly intensified his upcoming match at UFC 148 against Chael Sonnen.

According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Silva stated:

What I’m going to do inside the Octagon is something that’s going to change the image of the sport. I’m going to make sure every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs are broken.

He’s not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that.

Yikes.

Silva certainly sounds like a determined and motivated man, and Sonnen better be more than prepared—lest we forget about Silva forcing Sonnen into submission back in August of 2010.

So to spin off the trash talk, let’s take a look at some other reasons why “them’s fightin’ words” spark more interest for UFC 148.

 

Rematch

Rematches, more often than not, draw more attention in sports. In individual events such as mixed martial arts, however, rematches can be even greater than those in team sports.

During their first match, Silva didn’t get the submission hold until Round 5, so expect him to try to speed up that process. Sonnen, on the other hand, was heading into that first fight with great confidence and on a three-match win streak.

Plus, the third victory of that streak was a title elimination fight which turned into a unanimous decision over Nate Marquardt. Looking ahead, we now see Silva with something to lose once again—his title.


Silva’s Title Defenses

Anderson Silva has won his last 10 UFC middleweight title fights.

Taking the title back in October of 2006 from Rich Franklin, Silva has successfully defended his belt nine times. That’s unequivocally one of the most impressive accomplishments of any sport.

Enhancing Silva’s dominance in title fights even more, the man was 4-0 when part of Cage Rage. Winning that middleweight title in September of 2004, Silva defended his Cage Rage belt three times before his UFC debut.

Together, that’s 14-0 in title fights with 12 successful defenses as a middleweight fighter. That kind of consistency is almost unheard of regardless of the sport, and it’s a good bet that we can expect Silva to do just that in the rematch versus Sonnen.

 

Potential Outcome

With 12 title defenses, a 31-4 career record and a 15-match win streak, Anderson Silva doesn’t have much else to prove.

To that end, just imagine what a Chael Sonnen victory would mean for UFC and the immediate future.

For one, it would create a strong rivalry between Silva and Sonnen. It would also be reasonable to suspect a tiebreaker fight. More than anything, however, a Sonnen win opens the door to a wider field of fighters looking for their title shot.

No longer would the middleweight division title fight just be “Silva vs. The Challenger.” Sonnen only has a record of 27-11-1, so it’s not like he’s impossible to defeat. In short, we get to see the next wave of fighters chase after Silva’s legacy as a title defender.

And the longer that lasts, the more legendary Silva’s legacy becomes.

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UFC 147 Results: Fabricio Werdum Biggest Winner of Fight Night

With a Round 1 TKO of Mike Russow on Saturday night, Fabricio Werdum was the biggest and most impressive winner of UFC 147.Ranked No. 5 in the world by MMA Weekly in early June, Werdum has quickly revived his career in 2012. To that end, let’s che…

With a Round 1 TKO of Mike Russow on Saturday night, Fabricio Werdum was the biggest and most impressive winner of UFC 147.

Ranked No. 5 in the world by MMA Weekly in early June, Werdum has quickly revived his career in 2012. To that end, let’s check out why he was the ultimate victor this past weekend.

 

Recent Results

The victory over Russow was not only extremely impressive, but Werdum has now won five times in his last six fights after going just 5-4 from October of 2005 through June of 2011.

Also, the knockout of Russow was the quickest match of the night. Werdum, in other words, is back in full force mode and hitting a rhythm of confidence that will be tough for anyone to equal. For his career Werdum is only 16-5-1, so tacking on some more wins is needed to better his title shot odds.

That being said, time is also of the essence with Werdum because he’ll be 35 years old in July. Although we’ve seen more than a few fighters last until their late-30s, prime form is a rarity at that stage. Werdum, however, has proven to defy his age with impressive recent success.


Defying Age

If there’s anything we’ve learned from Werdum’s quick win over Russow, it’s that age is just a number.

Then again, Werdum also only fought four times between 2009 and 2011 so he’s not nearly as worn down as others his age either. To some extent, that brief time lapse where he didn’t fight has rejuvenated Werdum’s career.

He had won both fights in 2009 and the one in 2010, but the 2011 loss to Alistair Overeem was a reality check. Werdum then had a strong performance against Roy Nelson earlier in 2012 and began to build momentum.

Too many times have we see athletes (of any sport) retire too soon or too late. Fortunately for Werdum, he’s currently not in that boat despite turning 35 next month. Werdum is 7-2 in his last nine fights and does not appear to be slowing down.

 

Future Opportunities

One major motivating factor that we can see from Werdum’s recent fights is his drive to compete. And not just to compete as a fighter, but compete for the heavyweight title.

Never has Werdum been given a title shot and it’s the one thing every pro athlete wants in their respective sport. Well, it’s easy to look at Werdum now and say he deserves that opportunity. He’s fighting arguably better now than ever before and winning in convincing fashion.

Now look back at the previous sections that mention his recent results and age, and we have to expect Werdum’s title shot to happen sooner than later. And as long as he continues to rock opponents like he did Russow, that title shot feels like a foregone conclusion.

 

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