Author: Sam Quinn

Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin: Silva Must Keep Fighting Despite UFC 147 Loss

Yes, Wanderlei Silva lost via unanimous decision to Rich Franklin at UFC 147. No, the Axe Murderer should not hang up his gloves just yet.Despite his loss—and the fact that the image of Ace’s left fist connecting with Silva’s face to wobble …

Yes, Wanderlei Silva lost via unanimous decision to Rich Franklin at UFC 147. 

No, the Axe Murderer should not hang up his gloves just yet.

Despite his loss—and the fact that the image of Ace’s left fist connecting with Silva’s face to wobble his knees and send him halfway to the mat as the final horn sounded will be forever engraved in fans’ minds—it is not Silva’s time to go yet.

The downward trend is concerning for Silva, who has lost seven of his last 10 fights, but he has not been manhandled. Disregard his inexplicably embarrassing loss to Chris Leben and Silva has put on some of the most exciting shows in recent UFC history.

He’s 35 years old and is certainly on the verge of running the well dry in terms of his ability to compete, but he has one left in him. It wouldn’t be fitting for the UFC fans’ last memory of the Axe Murderer to be him heading towards the mat.

Silva has provided the sport with too much carnage and brutality for him not to go out with a victory. His loss to Franklin was named Fight of the Night. So was his last knockout victory against Cung Le. He beat Michael Bisping in a fight that went the distance. His first loss to Franklin was also named Fight of the Night.

Prior to that it was his Knockout of the Year against Keith Jardine and a Fight of the Night loss to Chuck Liddell. His losses have come against formidable opponents for the most part, and there’s no reason for him to pack it in after his loss to Franklin.

This is not the familiar situation that we have all witnessed when the washed up veteran thinks he still has something left in the tank and gets completely dominated in the last few fights of his career before he is too humiliated to come back out for another.

This is Silva—a great fighter—running into other great fighters.

He floored Franklin in Round 2 with a right but was not able to finish him off. That in itself is disheartening, as his ability to finish his opponents off once he smells blood has become his calling card since he burst onto the scene. But don’t forget that Franklin could not finish him off when he took Silva to the ground.

Silva had plenty of opportunities to win this fight, but he could not get it done against a fighter that so many have failed to do the same.

The Axe Murderer is surely on his way out, but we need to wait for another fight to decide exactly when he will be walking out of the octagon for the final time.

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UFC 146 Results: Roy Nelson Shows Dana White He Doesn’t Need to Slim Down to Win

Dana White has believed for a long time that Roy “Big Country” Nelson would be an absolute force if he were able to get his weight down to 205. But at UFC 146, Nelson showed his boss that he doesn’t need to cut weight to win fights.The president of the…

Dana White has believed for a long time that Roy “Big Country” Nelson would be an absolute force if he were able to get his weight down to 205. But at UFC 146, Nelson showed his boss that he doesn’t need to cut weight to win fights.

The president of the UFC voiced his displeasure with Nelson once again when he said this, as per MMAweekly.com:

“I’m cool with him; I like him. Listen, he’s a tough guy with a ton of heart. He goes in there and he gives it his everything. My thing is I’ve always said to him, I’d love to see you take this thing seriously and rip off some weight,” said White.

“When you’ve got a chin like that and a heart like that, you can’t deny the guy’s got a great chin, a ton of heart and he can knock people out. If he really could get to 205, he’d be a force at 205. He’d be a scary dude. He’s got great wrestling, awesome submissions, great chin, a ton of heart and has knockout power.

Nelson must have listened to White’s “I’d love to see you take this thing seriously…” comment and decided he was going to take his frustrations out on his opponent, Dave “Pee-Wee” Herman.

Nelson and Herman both proceeded with caution in the first round, feeling each other out as they looked for a weak point in one another’s defenses. Unfortunately for Herman, “Big Country” found an opening first and laid the smack down on “Pee-Wee” in the form of an overhand right that immediately dropped him to the canvas.

White’s comments must have hit a nerve with Nelson, as he came into this fight looking like he was in great shape. It wasn’t the overly flabby, jiggly Nelson that we’re accustomed to seeing, but rather the semi-tight, relatively skinny Nelson.

I can just imagine the following Dana White quote playing on repeat in Nelson’s headphones as he trained for this fight:

“Who knows what Roy Nelson could really achieve if he applied himself.”

Talk about a zinger. That one will cut you deep even if you say you don’t care about it.

Nelson has came out and put on quality performances in his last three fights. He scored a TKO over Mirko Filipovic, then suffered a unanimous decision loss to Fabricio Werdum (the fight won Fight of the Night), followed by his knockout of Herman, which was awarded Knockout of the Night at UFC 146.

The UFC now has an interesting dilemma on their hands. We might get to see Nelson fight against Stefan Struve, which will surely be a mind-blowing fight. The two fighters weigh about the same, but Struve is nearly a foot taller, which will give Nelson a problem when it comes to landing his knockout punches while the two are on their feet.

Nelson knocked Struve out less than 40 seconds into the first round of their fight in March of 2010, but Struve is a much different fighter now.

White is right to say that Nelson would be a force at 205 pounds, but I don’t believe that it’s fair to say that he doesn’t take what he does seriously.

You don’t win 17 of 24 fights if you think your job is a joke. And you certainly don’t have the power to come out of the gate, throw one punch and knock out your opponent unless you’ve trained enough to do so.

Nelson has had a rough go at it over the course of his last five fights, losing three of them. Don’t forget that he went the distance in all three, though, losing to Junior dos Santos, Frank Mir and Werdum. 

Not many fighters can say that they’ve gone the distance with all three of those guys. Nelson may not look to be in top physical shape, but he certainly is conditioned enough to go three rounds with three of the best heavyweight fighters in the world.

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Junior Dos Santos vs Frank Mir Results: JDS Proves He Is Top Heavyweight Fighter

Junior Dos Santos retained his heavyweight title against Frank Mir at UFC 146 on Saturday, proving that he is the top fighter in the heavyweight division.Dos Santos avoided playing to Mir’s advantage and stayed on his feet for the entire match, capital…

Junior Dos Santos retained his heavyweight title against Frank Mir at UFC 146 on Saturday, proving that he is the top fighter in the heavyweight division.

Dos Santos avoided playing to Mir’s advantage and stayed on his feet for the entire match, capitalizing on his superior boxing skills to score a TKO at the 3:04 mark in the second round. Dos Santos showed that he is not only the most physically gifted heavyweight, but that he is one of the most intelligent strategists of the division by being able to avoid going to the canvas with Mir.

Even when it appeared that JDS would be wise to jump on Mir, who had fallen on his back after a takedown attempt, the Brazilian sensation let his opponent rise to his feet instead of going for the kill shot early. Mir tried time and time again to close the distance between the two, but Dos Santos would have none of it. He landed all different types of punches on his punchless opponent, working both the head and body with lightning-fast strikes.

Mir is no slouch either. He came into this fight on a three-match winning streak, knocking out Mirko Filipovic with a knee, beating Roy Nelson via unanimous decision and making Antonio Nogueira double-jointed with a kimura.

Despite Mir’s past accomplishments, Dos Santos made him look like an amateur in UFC 146. Mir hardly landed anything other than a few leg kicks, and Dos Santos hardly missed anything. Body shots, head shots, face shots, hooks, jabs, uppercuts, counter punches, you name it, Dos Santos landed it. He was almost able to finish it off before the conclusion of the first round, unloading a flurry of quick punches on Mir in the closing seconds before Mir went for the leg.

In between rounds, the doctor asked Mir where he was. Mir named the wrong casino. The sheer power that is behind Dos Santos’ strikes is something to behold. At 6’4″, 240 pounds, a fighter shouldn’t be able to land punches like he does with such precision and timing.

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the world who can beat Dos Santos right now, as he put on one of the best performances of his career at UFC 146 and struck down yet another star in the process.

He’s beaten Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez and now Frank Mir in his last five fights.

The most impressive takeaway from the fight was Dos Santos’ ability to exhibit self-control through the entire match. He could have easily gotten too eager to finish Mir and jumped on him the first two times he went to the canvas, but he knew that he had much less of a chance at victory on the mat.

His planning for this match was so impeccable that he motioned for Mir to get back up the two times he went down. It wasn’t until the third time Mir went down, when Dos Santos knew Mir was seeing cobwebs, that he punched on his challenger and forced referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.

This was an impressive showing by Dos Santos and we are obviously witness to the best heavyweight fighter in the UFC building on his legendary career, dominating great fighter after great fighter in the process.

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UFC 146 Fight Card: Velazquez-Silva Will Top Dos Santos-Mir

The matchup pitting Cain Velazquez against Antonio Silva will steal the show from the heavyweight title bout between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir.Dos Santos is heavily favored to retain his title against Mir, and somehow the UFC promotional departme…

The matchup pitting Cain Velazquez against Antonio Silva will steal the show from the heavyweight title bout between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir.

Dos Santos is heavily favored to retain his title against Mir, and somehow the UFC promotional department has finagled us into thinking that this will be a close fight. This is not meant to defame Mir or take any credit away from his illustrious career, but he’s on the decline. Dos Santos, however, is the best fighter in the heavyweight class, posting a 14-1 record and knocking out 10 of his opponents.

Mir is surely a great fighter and he stands his best chance against JDS if he can take the fight to the ground. Dos Santos, however, is too intelligent of a fighter to let that happen. Not only is he too intelligent, he is going to use his boxing skills, and Mir’s weak chin, to keep his opponent at a distance and fight the way he wants to.

If Mir does try to go for a takedown, which he probably will, he’s going to be introduced to a Dos Santos’ fist to the chin, resulting in a knockout finish.

Dos Santos also has the power of momentum and confidence on his side, as he hasn’t lost in almost five years. Mir, on the other hand, took a beating from Shane Carwin back in March of 2010.

But enough bashing the Mir-Dos Santos matchup and on to talking up the Velasquez-Silva clash.

That fight will be the UFC debut of former Strikeforce fighter Antonio Silva. He’s largely a mystery to UFC fans, but that’s what makes this exciting. Back in February of 2011, he scored a victory over legend Fedor Emelianenko due to a doctor stoppage.

We’re looking at a fight between two of the biggest guys in the UFC. Velazquez stands at 6’1″, 249 pounds and Silva boasts a ridiculous 6’4″, 265-pound frame. Silva also has a five-inch reach advantage over Velazquez (82 inches to 77 inches). This is a more intriguing story than the Mir-JDS fight, as we’re looking at a guy coming from Strikeforce who is looking to make a name for himself in the UFC against a perennial contender.

Silva has a ridiculous chin, both in size and durability. It’s going to be interesting to see how Velazquez plays this, as he’ll probably want to keep the fight standing up as to avoid struggling against Silva’s impressive jiu-jitsu skills. But even if the two end up on the ground, Silva has his wrestling background to combat the jiu-jitsu.

My guess is that if Velazquez gets taken to the ground, he’s going to have a hard time getting out from under the gigantic Silva. It will be interesting to see if this first look at Silva in the UFC is the beginning of a career that will see him vault to the top of the heavyweight rankings.

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UFC 146 Fight Card: Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman Clash Will Be Best of Night

The matchup between Roy Nelson and Dave Herman at UFC 146 will be more exciting than any other fight of the night. It probably won’t last that long, but you can bet that it will be the most intense, action-packed bout on any card.Nelson is an absolute …

The matchup between Roy Nelson and Dave Herman at UFC 146 will be more exciting than any other fight of the night. It probably won’t last that long, but you can bet that it will be the most intense, action-packed bout on any card.

Nelson is an absolute bear of a human being, or a bowling ball, whichever way you look at it. Question his physical condition if you want, but you can’t question the raw power and heart that Nelson provides every fight.

Herman’s physical appearance is a stark contrast to Nelson’s, as he is five inches taller than the six-foot Nelson and 12 pounds lighter. He possesses the same type of knockout power that Nelson does and is every bit as dangerous as his counterpart.

One of the main reasons this matchup is so exciting is because Nelson loves to get close up and lay the hammer on his opponents. However, it’s going to be difficult for him to do that against Herman, as he is at a four-inch reach disadvantage as well as the aforementioned height advantage.

The only way Nelson is going to be able to get close enough is if he gets Herman up against the cage and tries to use his size to keep him there. Nelson typically relies on that size to bully his opponents, but a five-inch height differential is a big deal while standing up and will put Nelson at a disadvantage.

Another aspect of this fight that makes it so intriguing is that both guys could be fighting to remain in the UFC.

Dana White recently blasted Herman for his appearance and the song he came in to prior to his loss to Stefan Struve (per MixedMartialArts.com):

“I like Dave Herman,” said White, adding, “the stuff that he pulled this week? I can’t stand that stuff.

“Listen, if you want to get noticed … get noticed for your fighting skills. Not for coming in like a gorilla or wearing pink scarfs. And coming in to “Macho Man?” As I was sitting there, I’m thinking ‘did I seriously let him come into this song?'”

The UFC President also wasn’t too happy with Nelson because of his poor conditioning and made it known, per Yahoo’s Steve Cofield:

“Listen, he’s a tough guy with a ton of heart,” White said. “He goes in there and gives it his everything. My thing is I’ve always said to him, ‘I’d love to see you take this thing serious and really rip off some weight and try to fight. When you’ve got a chin like that and a heart like that, I mean, you can’t deny the guy’s got a great chin, great heart, and he can knock people out, too.

It’s never a good thing when your boss says that you aren’t taking your job seriously.

White can say what he wants about the two, but I’m sure he knows that we’re going to see some serious brawling on Saturday night. The power punches are going to be thunderous and the crowd is going to love it. This fight isn’t going to the judges and it might not even get past the opening round due to a combined factor of poor conditioning and knockout power.

Nelson and Herman are going to be wailing on each other from the get go, and they’ll put on a better show than Cain Velasquez will against Antonio Silva or Junior dos Santos will against Frank Mir.

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