Author: Nathan McCarter

The X-Factor That Gives Chris Weidman a Chance Against Anderson Silva

Chris Weidman will challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 162 on July 6 in Las Vegas. The pontificating of Weidman’s chances against Silva are just about over. There is no question that he has a chance at the upset. Anyth…

Chris Weidman will challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 162 on July 6 in Las Vegas. The pontificating of Weidman‘s chances against Silva are just about over.

There is no question that he has a chance at the upset. Anything can happen in MMA. When the breakdowns of the fight come, they will focus on Weidman‘s wrestling game and Silva’s trouble with wrestlers in the past.

Silva has been taken down before, and as a former All-American, Weidman has the ability to put “The Spider” on the mat.

When dissecting the fight, the majority of experts will ask: Can Weidman take Silva down repeatedly?

However, that is not the X-factor.

That belongs to Weidman‘s jiu-jitsu and his all-around top game.

If, or perhaps when, Weidman takes down Silva, it will be unlike anything that the champ has previously faced.

Silva has dealt with wrestlers with a strong top controlling top game before, but his defensive skills from his back nullified them. He avoided damage well.

The champ has also been on his back against accomplished jiu-jitsu practitioners and fared well against them.

So what makes Weidman different?

He has the controlling top game of a top-tier wrestler with the ability to smother Silva.

A variable in this fight will be the referee. Will Weidman get quick stand-ups, or will the referee make Silva work his way to his feet? The referee will alter the game plans of both fighters.

Silva is exceptional from his back both offensively and defensively, while Weidman is excellent from the top in the same way. The ground game at UFC 162 will be a chess match worth watching closely.

If Weidman is forced to stay active from the top, his X-factor will come into play.

Chael Sonnen spent a lot of time on top of Silva in their two fights but was unable to do much damage. Sonnen has never been known for his brutal ground-and-pound. Instead, he remains active and accumulates his ground stats over the course of a fight.

That is not what Weidman does.

Weidman has fantastic ground-and-pound that can cause visible damage, including cuts, and he has the viciousness to stop a fight.

The other factor in Weidman‘s top game is his defense. Silva will find it hard to find a submission from the bottom as he did against Sonnen in their first fight.

That will be worrisome for the Brazilian. Weidman has the tools to defend The Spider’s submissions and remain on top.

His all-around top game makes him a more potent challenger than anyone who has come before him. It makes him better than Sonnen, Yushin Okami and others cut from the same ilk. He should not be lumped in with them.

Weidman‘s submission offense surpasses every previous contender’s except for Demian Maia’s, but Maia could not get Silva down. Weidman can accomplish what Maia never could.

Submitting the champion is a tall order, but the All-American has an underrated submission game that could find a spot to stun Silva. Three of Weidman’s nine victories are by submission including a Submission of the Night performance against Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 131.

First things first, he must take Silva down. Not an easy feat at all.

The stars could be aligned for Weidman to grind out a decision victory. He has had a full training camp to prepare for 25 minutes of hard-nosed work.

The undefeated challenger has a tall task ahead of him, but with his wrestling—and more importantly his top control—he has the tools to upend the longtime champion.

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Can Benson Henderson Carry a UFC Pay-Per-View Event?

Benson Henderson is the UFC Lightweight Champion, and champions typically headline pay-per-views. He has been at the top of the marquee twice, and only once as the champion. He will headline UFC 164 in late August, but can he carry an event? That remai…

Benson Henderson is the UFC Lightweight Champion, and champions typically headline pay-per-views. He has been at the top of the marquee twice, and only once as the champion. He will headline UFC 164 in late August, but can he carry an event?

That remains to be seen.

The last lightweight champion to draw well was BJ Penn. He did well during his run atop the division, but the majority of his PPV’s were accompanied by a strong undercard. Over time, the undercards have grown weaker and weaker as the UFC puts on more and more shows.

They are more reliant on the championship bout drawing interest.

UFC 164 will be a good test to see where Henderson’s drawing power is at.

His opponent is relatively unknown. TJ Grant is an excellent competitor, but he lacks star power. The co-main event will assist some, but not like it would have years ago. Frank Mir and Josh Barnett are no longer significant draws, and the recent loss to Daniel Cormier on Fox will hurt Mir’s addition to the card.

When Henderson was atop the card for the first time, the event drew less than 400,000 buys. That was Frankie Edgar’s best PPV showing without the assistance of Penn. However, he was assisted by a strong undercard and the UFC’s return to Japan. Their rematch at UFC 150, with Henderson as champion, drew less than 200,000 buys (PPV buy rates courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, subscription required).

After UFC 150 the UFC put the lightweight title on free television twice. Henderson defended the strap against Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez on network television. That was undoubtedly a conscious effort to put more eyes on Henderson in the hopes it would increase the buys for the lightweight strap.

We will get to see what effect that had later this summer.

Aside from stronger undercards, the reason Penn did so well at selling pay-per-views is that he had an aura about him. He was one of the all-time greats of the sport, and there was a legitimate excitement surrounding his fights. For as talented as Henderson is, that is not the case for “Smooth.”

Fans simply do not get as excited for his title defenses. One criticism is that he does not finish. He has not stopped an opponent since WEC 48. And two of his seven consecutive decisions have been contentious split decisions.

A big portion of the reason he has yet to stop his opponents inside the Octagon is the level of competition he is facing. It is no easy task finishing any of the combatants he has squared off against. It is a bit of an unfair argument against Henderson. Especially considering many of those bouts have been 15, or 25, minutes of fun.

The question still remains: can he draw? That depends entirely on the expectations.

For a lower weight class, the expectation will be lower than one of the stars of the sport. With two solid performances on Fox to assist him, we may see Henderson surprise many with a solid buy rate for this card.

Henderson is beginning to show his face across several platforms including the latest UFC video game by EA. His mug being shown to new viewers will help come late August.

Henderson should be able to carry cards with low expectations just the same as Dominick Cruz and others. They will not post big numbers, but they will do well enough. The UFC will not expect Georges St-Pierre numbers out of those fighters. It would be an unrealistic expectation.

Henderson should do just fine.

The bar set is low enough for him to clear.

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How Much Gas Does Anderson Silva Have Left in the Tank?

Anderson Silva is the greatest mixed martial artist we have ever seen. There is no denying that. The UFC middleweight champion holds a 33-4 record, and has won 17 consecutive bouts. Sixteen of those 17 have come in the UFC. Of all of his UFC bouts only…

Anderson Silva is the greatest mixed martial artist we have ever seen. There is no denying that.

The UFC middleweight champion holds a 33-4 record, and has won 17 consecutive bouts. Sixteen of those 17 have come in the UFC. Of all of his UFC bouts only two have gone to the judges’ scorecards. He is dominant.

His dominance inside the Octagon has cultivated an aura of invincibility around him. That is perfectly natural, but ultimately naïve. He is mortal, and eventually he will be defeated again. The question is when will his skills fade enough for that to happen?

The culprit will be age. It catches everyone. Silva is 38 years old, and while he has maintained his brutal finishing capability, it is hard to deny that he has had to change some of his tactics inside the cage.

When Muhammad Ali’s physical skills started to deteriorate he resorted to his mental advantage. His game-planning and tactics altered. The most famous development was the implementation of the “rope-a-dope” strategy. Is this something Silva has resorted to?

It is too early to tell, but in his last two bouts Silva has walked backward to the fence and stood straight up against it. He has allowed his opponents to come forward and challenged them to hit him.

One could argue that he avoided much of the damage in those cases, and that is true. However, both of his opponents were not his equal in speed. Yet he still used this strategy and took a little bit of punishment. Time will tell if this is becoming a pattern of Silva’s strategy.

At 38 years of age, it is only a matter of time until we see his speed decrease noticeably. Age will catch him.

When Silva meets Chris Weidman at UFC 162 on July 6, a lot of these questions will look to be answered. The 29-year-old has all of the physical tools to defeat Silva, and the Brazilian’s athletic abilities will be put to the test.

Weidman is an excellent athlete, and there is no getting around the fact that Silva is not the same fighter he was a decade ago, athletically speaking. If Weidman is his equal at UFC 162, we will begin to have our answer to how much is left in Silva’s tank.

As fans, we love to think of fighters of being immortal. That is why their losses come as a surprise. It is just the nature of the beast. Then the new wave of young athletes comes in to replace the old regime to give us another decade of fun. We get lulled back in to believing in their invincibility.

Silva’s amazing career does not look to be complete, but the new wave of talented fighters are here. Athletes like 25-year-old Jon Jones now own the sport. Silva is on his way out.

One can only hope that Silva retires before his skills diminish too much. We never like to see our heroes fade in to obscurity. UFC 162 will gives us a peak into just how much Silva has left in his gas tank. It will give us an idea of just how much more he can give us.

It is time to stop believing he will be giving us stellar performances forever. Those times are coming to an end. They may not end at UFC 162, but they are rapidly approaching and everyone should start preparing for the day he exits the sport.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez will square off against one another sometime this fall.Sanchez, currently unranked, is coming off a contentious decision victory over Takanori Gomi in March. He also came in to the bout overweight. It was his return t…

Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez will square off against one another sometime this fall.

Sanchez, currently unranked, is coming off a contentious decision victory over Takanori Gomi in March. He also came in to the bout overweight. It was his return to the 155-pound division.

Melendez, ranked No. 1, dropped his UFC debut to Benson Henderson by a contentious decision in April. The narrow defeat did not see him drop in the rankings, but it also did not earn him an immediate rematch.

The bout between Melendez and Sanchez looks to be exciting. On paper, it is one of the best upcoming lightweight bouts.

Let’s take a look at this bout, and break it down from head to toe.

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Could a Phil Davis Win over Lyoto Machida Earn Him a Shot at the Title?

Phil Davis, the No. 8 ranked light heavyweight, will meet No. 1 ranked Lyoto Machida at UFC 163 in August. Will a victory in Rio be enough for Davis to potentially challenge for the gold later this year?Yes,it will be. There are several factors at play…

Phil Davis, the No. 8 ranked light heavyweight, will meet No. 1 ranked Lyoto Machida at UFC 163 in August.

Will a victory in Rio be enough for Davis to potentially challenge for the gold later this year?

Yes,it will be.

There are several factors at play for Davis to get a title shot, but first and foremost, lets focus on winning.

A win at UFC 163 will mark Davis’ third in a row—the other two victories in the streak are Wagner Prado and Vinny Magalhaes. While not exactly marquee victories, they are still consecutive wins.Only one fighter ranked above Davis would have a longer winning streak than three: Glover Teixeira.

Of the fighters ranked ahead of Davis currently, two are coming off losses and two are previous victims of his.

In a 2011 fight between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Davis, Davis took home a unanimous decision.

Since that loss, Nogueira has pulled off consecutive victories over Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. Those two wins are certainly better than Davis’, but in making a case for a title shot Davis still holds a head-to-head win over Nogueira.

Aside from the win streak, Davis will have knocked off the No. 1 contender in Machida. Adding that to his resume will only add to his claim for a title shot.

Davis can even claim being the only current blemish on Alexander Gustafsson‘s record. Gustafsson is next up for Jon Jones at UFC 165.

With a win, there is only one likely fighter to be ahead of Davis, and that is No. 3 ranked Teixeira; he has not lost a single fight since 2005. His win streak and momentum will almost definitely win out over Davis.

Teixeira will likely fight again this year, and if he does, No. 4 ranked Evans is a likely choice.

One of the biggest things in Davis’ favor is the upcoming title fight itself.

Machida has been promised a title shot, but according to Dana White at the UFC 161 pre-fight press conference Jones doesn’t want to fight Machida because he already defeated him. The champion wants new challenges, but he has already defeated half of the top 10.

And should Gustafsson win, there is little doubt he would want to try and erase the memory of the loss with a rematch against Davis.

No matter who wins at UFC 165, Davis has a legitimate claim for the next title shot.

First things first, a very dangerous fighter awaits him. A victory against Machida would elevate Davis in to the top five, and a win over the top-ranked light heavyweight would give him a leg up on his competition. Looking too far down the road is dangerous, but it is hard to avoid taking a glance at the top of the mountain.

A win in Rio puts Davis near the summit.

In the current landscape of the division, a win over Machida makes Davis’ title aspirations very realistic— he would be in the catbird’s seat.

So, could he be next in line at the light heavyweight crown?

There is little doubt a win over Machida does just that for Davis. He has all the right things going for him to make it happen.

Now just comes that pesky little detail of defeating Lyoto Machida.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Sarah Kaufman vs Sara McMann Head-to-Toe Breakdown

No. 2 ranked Sarah Kaufman will meet No. 4 ranked Sara McMann in a highly anticipated women’s bantamweight scrap at UFC on Fox Sports 1 #2 in Indianapolis.With Cat Zingano sidelined with a knee injury the winner of this fight could leapfrog her for the…

No. 2 ranked Sarah Kaufman will meet No. 4 ranked Sara McMann in a highly anticipated women’s bantamweight scrap at UFC on Fox Sports 1 #2 in Indianapolis.

With Cat Zingano sidelined with a knee injury the winner of this fight could leapfrog her for the next title shot.

Kaufman rebounded from her title fight loss to Ronda Rousey by edging Leslie Smith on the scorecards at Invicta FC 5. McMann retained her perfect record by stopping Sheila Gaff in their UFC debuts at UFC 159. This is a great matchup to see who is ready for a potential title fight.

Lets take a look at the potential contender’s bout between Kaufman and McMann.

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