Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz: Latest Twitter Hype Before UFC 183

Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz are mere hours away from facing off in the Octagon at UFC 183, and fans are counting down the seconds until the main event.
Admittedly, this matchup would’ve been a lot more attractive a few years ago, but both fighters rem…

Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz are mere hours away from facing off in the Octagon at UFC 183, and fans are counting down the seconds until the main event.

Admittedly, this matchup would’ve been a lot more attractive a few years ago, but both fighters remain among the biggest names in UFC. The company didn’t need to do much in the way of promotion to build to this bout.

One of the minor subplots for this fight is Silva’s insistence that he won’t wear Reebok gear. UFC announced a partnership with the company in December, which means that all fighters will be mandated to don apparel exclusively from Reebok.

In an interview with Terra, Silva made no bones about his preference for Nike gear, via MMAjunkie’s Brent Brookhouse and Christian Stein.

“I’ve always worn Nike, even before I had a contract with them,” he said. “Just because our ties are severed, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop wearing it. It feels true; it’s a brand with which I identify. It’s no use to sport a brand to which I have no relationship.”

Former UFC star Tim Sylvia stood in solidarity with Silva:

Reebok went on the charm offensive to try to turn the Brazilian around:

A minor problem arose when Diaz decided to skip out on an open workout that was scheduled earlier in the week:

UFC president Dana White defused the situation with his well-timed tweet:

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer tried to connect all of the dots, figuring it was quite a coincidence that Diaz would go missing while the NFL is investigating the New England Patriots for potentially cheating in an NFL playoff game:

Diaz also provided some comedy when trying to explain how he was unable to get into contact with White to explain his condition, per Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting:

It was a relatively innocuous story, and forgoing the public workout likely helped Diaz‘s pre-fight preparation. Who’s to argue with that kind of calculation on Diaz‘s part? If it’ll make for a better fight in the end, nobody’s going to complain.

Of course, the biggest question on everybody’s mind is whether Silva has much left in the tank. Nobody expects to see the “Spider” of old Saturday night. He’s 39 years old, coming off two losses and a major leg injury. Anybody, no matter how great they once were, can beat Father Time.

Diaz isn’t without red flags either, but he’s more than capable of ending the fight if Silva gives him an opportunity.

Sherdog’s Patrick Wyman tweeted that the only guarantee for UFC 183 is that it’ll be entertaining:

Quite a few are hitching themselves to the Silva bandwagon.

Former pro wrestling announcer Jim Ross picked Silva in what he believes will be a classic slobber-knocker:

Josh Gross is also firmly behind Silva but feels that thinking about the fight too much can be a bit disheartening:

Silva also received backing from the UFC light heavyweight champion himself, Jon Jones:

From top to bottom, the card for UFC 183 doesn’t have a massive volume of great matchups. That shortcoming should be more than compensated for by Diaz vs. Silva.

Both stars are coming in off somewhat major layoffs and with something to prove. They may not be what they once were, but they should have more than enough left to give fans a great main event.

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Silva vs. Diaz: Latest Comments and Predictions for UFC 183

Having failed to fell Chris Weidman in his last two fights, Anderson Silva will look to get back in the win column tonight against Nick Diaz. Diaz, meanwhile, is entering the Octagon after a nearly two-year absence.
UFC 183 should feature a great main …

Having failed to fell Chris Weidman in his last two fights, Anderson Silva will look to get back in the win column tonight against Nick Diaz. Diaz, meanwhile, is entering the Octagon after a nearly two-year absence.

UFC 183 should feature a great main event, which will include two stars who have major chips on their respective shoulders.

Neither Silva nor Diaz was shy about expressing his feelings about a variety of different issues in a public forum. They’ve both been pretty active in the days building up to the pay-per-view.

 

Fighter Comments

One of the biggest questions raised after the sponsorship deal between Reebok and UFC surrounded how certain fighters would respond. Plenty of top stars have established relationships with other companies, so the transition to Reebok gear was bound to be a bit rough early on.

Silva spoke about his reticence to make the switch in an interview with Terra, via MMAjunkie’s Brent Brookhouse and Christian Stein:

I don’t like that idea. When you wear a brand, it needs to be true; there must be a connection. I don’t identify with Reebok at all.

I’ve always worn Nike, even before I had a contract with them. Just because our ties are severed, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop wearing it. It feels true; it’s a brand with which I identify. It’s no use to sport a brand to which I have no relationship.

Although Silva is one of UFC’s biggest stars, he’ll likely have to fall in line once all fighters are instructed to don Reebok in the summer. If any fighter does try to make a stand, though, Silva would be one of the best-positioned to do so.

Going back to the fight itself, one of the major storylines for UFC 183 is how Silva will respond after his last fight ended in such gruesome circumstances.

UFC fans won’t soon forget the image of Silva breaking his leg, and the former champion admitted that while he’s feeling good now, he was initially a little scared to get right back into the swing of things, per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times:

“My leg’s good and I’m very excited for the fight. When I go walk to the octagon, it feels like the first time, like my first fight in the UFC.”

Silva said after returning home to Brazil from a lengthy Las Vegas hospital stay that included some physical therapy, he was frightened to test the leg in training.

“How’s your leg?” a coach asked him in Brazil.

“I don’t know,” Silva answered. “I’m scared for training.”

Silva said he saw his friends doing jumping drills and decided to give it a try.

The coach watched Silva’s jumping and pushed him: “Finish, go train, your leg [has] nothing more” to recover from.

It’s impossible to recreate a fight-like atmosphere in a training session. You wouldn’t expect Silva to hold anything back, but he might be a little hesitant early on as he gets used to the Octagon once again.

On the other side, Diaz has always been viewed as more of a heel, to use pro wrestling terminology. He’s very good at eliciting a reaction from the crowd, be it positive or negative—generally negative.

In an interview with Mark Emmons for UFC.com, Diaz spoke about his willingness to play the foil for more popular, well-received fighters.

“I’d rather not be portrayed as an evil villain, but if people want to make me out to be that, and it sells tickets, that’s fine,” he said. “But I do hope people understand that this is just what sells, and not what’s really me. I’m just a mixed-martial artist from Stockton, California. And I’m still here.”

Diaz didn’t ingratiate himself with UFC fans earlier in the week when he skipped out on an open workout:

To make amends, he offered a broad apology to both UFC and the fans on Thursday, per Fox Sports’ Elias Cepeda:

I apologize to all the fans. I didn’t really put too much thought into it. I was just focused on the fight.

I apologize to the UFC … kind of everybody not knowing what was going on with me. It really wasn’t a big deal. I’m going to do what I have to do, and then come and fight.

In the end, if missing out on a public training session put Diaz in a better position to win, few can argue with the strategy. Plus, it allowed UFC President Dana White to have some fun with the situation:

 

Prediction

Before his leg injury, Silva would’ve likely coasted to victory against Diaz. This matchup presents a style nightmare for Diaz, and his opponent is one of the greatest fighters ever to step into the Octagon.

Silva should be able to dictate the pace of the fight and remain in the middle of the cage. As long as he can remain off the fence, he’ll consistently keep Diaz at bay.

However, as Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden wrote, the Brazilian star has some doubts hovering over his ability going into tonight’s fight:

The truth is, the Anderson Silva we all picture in our heads is the 2008 wrecking machine, the guy who made Chris Leben and Forrest Griffin look like clowns. That guy doesn‘t exist anymore.

Today, Anderson Silva is just a guy trying to piece his shattered career, and his shattered leg, back together. He’s 39. His kids are running around UFC Embedded videos looking like full-grown men for God’s sake.

The gulf between the two is by no means insurmountable from Diaz‘s perspective. If he can tag Silva early with a big blow, this will be a completely different fight.

In the end, Silva should earn a hard-fought victory after the full distance. He’ll be a much lesser version of himself than fans came to expect during his prime, but he’ll still be good enough to topple Diaz.

Final Prediction: Silva by unanimous decision

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Jones vs. Cormier Results: Twitter Reacts to UFC 182 Main Event

One of the biggest criticisms surrounding UFC of late is that the company has added so many events to the schedule that it’s watered down the product. However, UFC 182 proved the company can still put on a great show every now and then.
In the main eve…

One of the biggest criticisms surrounding UFC of late is that the company has added so many events to the schedule that it’s watered down the product. However, UFC 182 proved the company can still put on a great show every now and then.

In the main event, Jon Jones retained his light heavyweight title, beating Daniel Cormier by unanimous decision.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey felt that Jones was a deserving winner:

The animosity between the two fighters often spilled over when they made public appearances leading up to UFC 182. They made it clear that they didn’t like one another. After his victory, Jones couldn’t help rubbing some salt in Cormier’s wounds, per MMAFighting.com:

The champ also paused to take some selfies with fans, per Bleacher Report MMA:

The bout started off really well, with Jones and Cormier arguably exchanging the advantage in the first two rounds. Most had the score even going into the third.

That’s when Jones asserted himself as the superior fighter on the night. From the third round on, he built more and more distance between himself and Cormier.

Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly didn’t think Cormier managed to match his effort level from his impressive second-round showing:

MMA Supremacy felt there was a long stretch in the middle rounds when the challenger failed to mount any sort of attack:

Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole correctly posited that anything short of a knockout, submission or referee stoppage in the final round would mean a win for the champion:

ESPN’s Todd Grisham thought Cormier simply didn’t have enough left in the tank to finish off the fight and that the talent gap only exacerbated the problem:

With Jones having conquered another challenger, the focus will now shift to his next potential opponent. Some might clamor for a rematch with Cormier. ESPN’s Max Bretos argued against it, feeling that there isn’t any doubt about who is the superior fighter:

The next logical choice would be Alexander Gustafsson. After all, Gustafsson was set to fight Jones at UFC 178 before having to back out after suffering an injury in training.

The 27-year-old Swede pushed Jones to the limit back at UFC 165, and a rematch would almost certainly be among the most anticipated fights of the year.

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UFC 181: Full Results and Biggest Winners from Hendricks vs. Lawler 2 Card

It took a little over a decade, but Robbie Lawler finally reached the top of the mountain in UFC.
Lawler won the welterweight title off Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 on Saturday—the crowning achievement in what’s been a less than typical career arc….

It took a little over a decade, but Robbie Lawler finally reached the top of the mountain in UFC.

Lawler won the welterweight title off Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 on Saturday—the crowning achievement in what’s been a less than typical career arc.

The new champion was just one of many fighters to pick up victories inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. You can see the full fight card below.

The three fighters listed were among the biggest winners at UFC. They either won or retained gold and/or shocked the world.

 

Biggest Winners

Anthony Pettis

Ring rust is a concept completely foreign to Anthony Pettis. Prior to Saturday, the last time the 27-year-old saw the inside of the Octagon was Aug. 31, 2013 in a submission victory over Benson Henderson at UFC 164.

Despite that massive layoff, Pettis didn’t look the worse for wear, submitting Gilbert Melendez in the second round. It was the first submission defeat in Melendez’s career. Fox Sports’ Karyn Bryant praised Pettis‘ performance:

“I just showed the message right there,” Pettis said after the fight, per Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole. “The No. 1 guy in the world [and I finished him in] two rounds.”

The ease with which Pettis brushed Melendez aside was the most impressive aspect of the win. The submission didn’t come from out of nowhere. The champion landed some nice strikes on Melendez, and when the opportunity presented itself, he went in for the kill.

It’s hard see who can stop Pettis right now.

 

Robbie Lawler

What else needs to be said about Lawler‘s title win? Back in July 2012, the 32-year-old was fresh off his third loss in four fights, falling to Lorenz Larkin. Larkin went on to lose four of his next five to put that fight into perspective.

Lawler wasn’t exactly a long shot against Hendricks, but to witness how far he’s come and see him finally capture UFC gold, Saturday night was a special moment. Bleacher Report MMA called it “the greatest UFC comeback in history”:

Few can really argue with the result, either. Some may contend that Hendricks lost the fight more than Lawler won it, and that assessment might not be too wide off the mark. The former champion was a bit too tentative, and once it was clear the takedowns weren’t coming, Hendricks shouldn’t have shifted strategy. Instead, he seemed content to sit back.

Lawler wasn’t electrifying, but he did more than enough offensively to prove himself the better fighter. The only question was whether Hendricks would receive the proverbial champion’s advantage, which was the only way the judges could have scored the bout in his favor.

 

CM Punk

Technically, this guy didn’t fight, but he’s the biggest winner of the night for landing what’s almost certainly a multi-million dollar contract in UFC despite being 36 years old and having no mixed martial arts career to speak of.

Arguably the most notable event to come out of UFC 181 was UFC’s announcement that it signed CM Punk:

The UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is one of those clamoring to see Punk’s UFC debut:

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden was one of the more vocal critics of the move on social media:

It’s hard to view UFC signing Punk as anything more than an attention-grabbing acquisition in an effort to produce short-term buzz. While Punk has a long and storied professional wrestling career, working in a WWE ring and UFC Octagon are quite different beasts.

Brock Lesnar made the transition from WWE, but that was in large part because he was an NCAA wrestling champion at Minnesota years prior and an athletic marvel. Lesnar‘s the exception to the rule.

Before the signing of Punk was made official, UFC President Dana White went on the Jim Rome Show to talk about the possibility of Punk working for the company, via MMAJunkie.com’s Mike Bohn:

He’s not a guy that we would do what we did with Brock; we threw Brock right to the wolves. Brock started fighting all the top heavyweights in the world because of his wrestling background. CM Punk, we would bring him in just like any regular fighter, and he would fight a guy with a similar record to his, which is 0-0.

Again, Punk is 36 with tons of wear and tear on his body from traveling the globe and wrestling nearly every night.

As somebody who’s followed Punk’s exploits in WWE for years, it’s hard to see how this ends well for either party in the long term.

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Leslie Smith Suffers Gruesome Ear Injury vs. Jessica Eye at UFC 180

Leslie Smith demonstrated the dangers of fighting when suffering from cauliflower ear during her loss to Jessica Eye at UFC 180 on Saturday night.
Eye caught Smith with a right hand that caused Smith’s left ear to quite literally explode. Fight photogr…

Leslie Smith demonstrated the dangers of fighting when suffering from cauliflower ear during her loss to Jessica Eye at UFC 180 on Saturday night.

Eye caught Smith with a right hand that caused Smith’s left ear to quite literally explode. Fight photographer Ed Mulholland snapped a photo at the moment of impact. (WARNING: Photo is very graphic in nature.):

You can view the video of the punch here. (WARNING: Video is very graphic in nature.)

Eye won the fight via referee stoppage.

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UFC Fight Night 55 Results: Rockhold vs. Bisping Fight Card Winners, Scorecards

The judges took the night off on Friday at UFC Fight Night 55. All 11 fights on the card ended by way of knockout, TKO or submission.According to UFC President Dana White, the event broke the company record for most finishes:UFC has come under fire rec…

The judges took the night off on Friday at UFC Fight Night 55. All 11 fights on the card ended by way of knockout, TKO or submission.

According to UFC President Dana White, the event broke the company record for most finishes:

UFC has come under fire recently for possibly over-saturating the market, which as in turn watered down card and left fans disappointing; however, nobody could’ve watched UFC Fight Night 55 and wanted more. Few cards have been as exciting from top to bottom.

 

UFC Fight Night 55 Results

 

Main Card Recap

Soa Palelei def. Walt Harris

Walt Harris likely felt good about how the fight was unfolding after the first round. He deflected most of Soa Palelei’s biggest blows while managing to land a couple of punches and kicks to Palelei’s gut.

Once the bell for Round 2 sounded, things slowly but surely went downhill for Harris.

Most of the round was rather innocuous, with neither fighter gaining much of an edge. Then, as the round was nearing its conclusion, Palelei landed a takedown and mount on Harris before unleashing with a flurry of blows.

None of Palelei’s punches looked devastating, but Harris failed to put up any sort of a defense and the referee called it.

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden was particularly critical of Harris’ offensive execution:

The bout wasn’t particularly pretty, but Palelei picked up a nice victory.

 

Robert Whittaker def. Clint Hester

Whereas the first fight on the main card was back and forth, Robert Whittaker’s victory over Clint Hester came with relative ease. The 23-year-old New Zealand native outclassed Hester in the Octagon.

Bleacher Report MMA felt that Whittaker’s more nuanced approach left his opponent with no chance:

After the fight, Whittaker admitted that he didn’t plan on ending the fight early, but he couldn’t help himself, per Dave Doyle of Yahoo Sports:

Hester wasn’t completely hapless. He and Whittaker put on a thrilling display of striking at times, with their blows very audible through the microphones surrounding the cage:

Their offensive show impressed White:

In the end, one only needs to look at the numbers to understand whom was the superior fighter. According to UFC.com, Whittaker landed 62 significant strikes to Hester’s 28. Whittaker also landed nearly 60 percent of his punches, compared to 44 percent for Hester.

 

Al Iaquinta def. Ross Pearson

Ross Pearson went on the offensive right from the opening bell, and that proved to be his ultimate undoing.

The strategy proved fruitful in the first round, which Pearson arguably won. He kept Al Iaquinta on the back foot and continued pressuring the 27-year-old.

Then, in the second round, Iaquinta blocked an attempted high kick from Pearson and landed a vicious right hand. Sensing the opportunity, Iaquinta went in for the kill and sent Pearson to the canvas for a second time. With that, the fight was over.

Fox Sports’ Marc Raimondi felt that the win will be a major boost to Iaquinta’s going forward:

Iaquinta likely won over even more fans with his post-match interview, during which he channeled former pro wrestler The Iron Sheik. B/R’s Jeremy Botter was one of many who was beside himself with joy:

With such a resounding win, Iaquinta will be a fighter to follow in the coming months.

 

Luke Rockhold def. Michael Bisping

Luke Rockhold made it a perfect 4-for-4 in terms of second-round finishes with his submission victory over Michael Bisping.

After a hotly contested first round, Rockhold made quick work of Bisping in the second, sending Bisping to the mat with a head kick and eventually locking in a guillotine. Bisping had no choice other than tapping out.

The sequence leading to the submission was brilliant from Rockhold. There were no wasted motions between the leg kick and subsequent headlock that led to the guillotine.

Following the fight, Rockhold needed little time before looking ahead to his future. He alluded to a potential rematch with Ronaldo Souza, per Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com:

Helwani believes that that fight would be the way to go:

MMA writer Josh Gross feels that Rockhold’s success will only allow the middleweight division to remain captivating throughout:

A rematch between Rockhold and Souza might be the low-hanging fruit, but many fans would agree that it’s the fight that needs to happen.

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