Author: Mark Pare

Silva vs. Sonnen 2: Anderson Silva Failed to Deliver on His Pre-Fight Promise

At UFC 148, Anderson Silva may have gotten the victory over Chael Sonnen, but he failed to do a couple things in the process.In interviews preceding the fight, Silva was quoted as promising to “break all of his teeth, his arms, and his legs”  and …

At UFC 148, Anderson Silva may have gotten the victory over Chael Sonnen, but he failed to do a couple things in the process.

In interviews preceding the fight, Silva was quoted as promising to “break all of his teeth, his arms, and his legs”  and also vowed to “change the sport of MMA.”

He made all these claims, but we got the same old Anderson Silva: pulling victory from the grasp of defeat.

I might be nitpicking at the performance of the champion, but based on the claims he made and the fact that he spent more than 70 percent of the time on his back, he didn’t set out to what he really wanted to do.

He wanted to defeat Sonnen, sure, but he was in hot water for a bit as Sonnen wasn’t afraid of Silva dropping his fists.

He pushed the pace like he usually does and dominated the champion once again. Sonnen set out for what he wanted to do from the start of the fight, but once he missed that spinning back fist, he was in an extremely vulnerable position, curled on the ground against the fence.

The claims must have been in the back of Silva’s mind, as he started to destroy Sonnen’s face with a multitude of punches.

It would seem Silva came in fighting with emotion, something he never does and he had to take a round to settle.

If Silva wanted to prolong Sonnen’s agony, he would’ve reverted back to his days fighting Demian Maia, but there was no way Sonnen would let Silva breathe for a second.

Still, these guys going to war was something everyone was looking forward to and with all the hype and even hearing Silva trash-talk and make all these claims before the bout, you knew in the end Silva would show the same respect he does with all the other fighters.

Do you think Silva backed up his promises?  Send your comments below.

 

Mark Pare is a featured columnist. You can follow him on Twitter, and don’t forget to check out his sportswriter page.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 148 Fight Card: A Full Review of the Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen Rivalry

It’s almost that time, a time that, for nearly two years, Chael Sonnen has been waiting for.The rematch between himself and UFC Middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.There has been trash talk from both camps from the very moment this rematc…

It’s almost that time, a time that, for nearly two years, Chael Sonnen has been waiting for.

The rematch between himself and UFC Middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

There has been trash talk from both camps from the very moment this rematch got announced.  Overall, this has been an exciting rivalry because, for the record, if you have the stones to take on arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and succeed, people are going to want to see Silva knocked down off of a perch, one that he’s been on top of for a very long time.

This rivalry first started two years ago…

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UFC on FOX 2: Demian Maia on Opponent Switch, Fight Style of Bisping and Weidman

On Saturday, January 28, the UFC will return to the FOX network with a lineup of fights that have plenty of title implications.The three main events include Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, while the other two were shaken up recently due to an injury to Ma…

On Saturday, January 28, the UFC will return to the FOX network with a lineup of fights that have plenty of title implications.

The three main events include Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, while the other two were shaken up recently due to an injury to Mark Munoz.

Michael Bisping took Munoz’s place and will now fight Chael Sonnen.  Bisping’s original opponent, Demian Maia, will now face Chris Weidman.

Maia has won three of his last four fights and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Santiago at UFC 136. 

Maia says the injury to Munoz set up a crazy day on the phone.

“That was crazy, you know, like in two hours, they told me I was not going to fight anymore (due to Bisping moving up to face Sonnen) then after two hours, they were like ‘we set up the fight (against Weidman)’ and I said ‘okay, good,'” said Maia on the UFC on FOX 2 conference call.

When Maia was facing Bisping, he was facing a guy who has been well-known for many years for his appearance on TUF.  When asked about Weidman, Maia said that “(he) makes up for (not being as well-known) with experience.”

While Bisping is known for his striking and KO power, Weidman is known for his wrestling.  Maia said the transition in styles for his opponents didn’t bother him.

“I’ve been fighting against wrestlers before and I just have to go back to my roots,” said Maia, “(Bisping) is a striker but I have time to make the adjustment and (Weidman) doesn’t have the time to adjust to me too so we’re in the same line.”

 

Despite being bumped initially from the card, Maia insisted that he wanted to be on the FOX card, and with the opening, Weidman jumped at the opportunity on short notice.

I don’t think it would have mattered who it was. You only live once and some people never get an opportunity like this given to them. In my mind, this is truly the first Fox card, there’s three fights and this is history in the making. I wasn’t gonna let someone else take this opportunity.

I was so pumped up to fight Demian Maia, I didn’t care when it was. I have a lot of respect for him and I’m excited to test myself.

When told about fighting Weidman, Maia said that he wasn’t surprised that the UFC chose him as a replacement and that he was impressed with Weidman’s submission skills, which were on display in his fight with Tom Lawlor in November.

These two will come to a head on Saturday night as both of them look to climb up the middleweight ranks.

 

Mark Pare is a UFC Featured Columnist. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand. You can follow him on Twitter and don’t forget to check out his sportswriter page.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC VIDEO: Chael Sonnen Plays Therapist for Stephan Bonnar

This video was featured as a promotion for the 2011 World MMA Awards and further showed just how good Chael Sonnen is in front of a camera.In the video, he plays a therapist for UFC light-heavyweight fighter Stephan Bonnar, who is having issues trying …

This video was featured as a promotion for the 2011 World MMA Awards and further showed just how good Chael Sonnen is in front of a camera.

In the video, he plays a therapist for UFC light-heavyweight fighter Stephan Bonnar, who is having issues trying to channel the “American Psycho” within.  Obviously a ploy on Bonnar’s nickname but he has been good as of late.

A three fight winning streak, including a “Fight of the Night” performance with Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 116 showed that the former T.U.F. finalist isn’t ready to hang up the gloves.

What happened next was pure comedy as Sonnen turned on his motivational tactics to send Bonnar on his way, to be the “psycho” he wants to be.

In the video, Sonnen also delivered a couple of punch lines that make me laugh every time I watch.

Sonnen asked Bonnar who the light-heavyweight champion is.  Bonnar said Jon Jones.  The sequence that followed allowed Sonnen to take another shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

At the end, he called in welterweight contender Jon Fitch (who wasn’t featured in the video).

Overall, this was classic Sonnen.  Although he will never admit to being in the business of selling fights, there is no denying that his honesty and vocabulary are what made him so popular to begin with.

His fighting skill isn’t bad either as he is ranked No. 2 in the world, although he would disagree with that rank.

Again, the video just shows that Sonnen’s honesty and his quick wit allows him to be an entertaining fighter in and out of the cage.  Hey, maybe this video was a starting point for Bonnar to make a run at Jon Jones, avenge a loss and win the UFC light-heavyweight title.

 

Mark Pare is a UFC Featured Columnist. You can follow him on  Twitter and don’t forget to check out his sportswriter page.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Jones: The Steps That Must Be Taken to Become an All-Time Great

At 24 years of age, Jon Jones has already made a name for himself as being one of the best in the light heavyweight division.Being so young, he has a lot of growth and a lot more big fights ahead of him. At the same time, the sport of MMA is one that g…

At 24 years of age, Jon Jones has already made a name for himself as being one of the best in the light heavyweight division.

Being so young, he has a lot of growth and a lot more big fights ahead of him. At the same time, the sport of MMA is one that grows over time, and with new fighters coming in and new styles being utilized, one must grow with the sport to be successful.

For Jones, he has done just that in his short time in the sport, using his unorthodox style and ability to throw world-class guys off their game plan.

He is well on his way to becoming an all-time great, but there are a few things that he still has to do. 

Luckily, he has all the time in the world to prepare and do these things the right way and have his name mentioned in the same breath as Randy Couture, Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell.

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UFC 140 Results: Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva Head to Toe Breakdown

It is the fight that everyone keeps talking about and the question that Dana White gets at every post-fight press conference that has either Jon Jones or Anderson Silva on it.Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva isn’t on White’s radar anytime soon, but it’s a …

It is the fight that everyone keeps talking about and the question that Dana White gets at every post-fight press conference that has either Jon Jones or Anderson Silva on it.

Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva isn’t on White’s radar anytime soon, but it’s a fight that intrigues the minds of everyone who follows MMA.

Jones has been on a tear since coming to the UFC and quickly climbed the ranks to become the light-heavyweight champion.

Silva has shown similar dominance in the middleweight division, becoming champion in October 2006 and hasn’t let go.

Who would win in a fight between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world?

Here’s a breakdown of the two fighters.

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