UFC welterweight star Georges St-Pierre suffered a torn left ACL while in training recently and will undergo surgery this week, the fighter announced on his Twitter feed Thursday:
It’s unclear as to what St-Pierre refers to when he says “training…
UFC welterweight star Georges St-Pierre suffered a torn left ACL while in training recently and will undergo surgery this week, the fighter announced on his Twitter feed Thursday:
It’s unclear as to what St-Pierre refers to when he says “training.” The longtime UFC Welterweight Champion vacated the title in December after a grueling split-decision victory over Johny Hendricks and was taking some needed time away from the sport.
While St-Pierre, 32, never officially retired, it was unknown whether he was planning an immediate return to the ring or simply training to stay in shape. Hendricks captured St-Pierre’s vacated championship with a unanimous-decision win over Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 this month.
Working sporadically as a fight analyst and with the UFC making public appearances, St-Pierre hasn’t sounded like someone itching for a comeback. He told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports before UFC 171 that he was better off having given up the title, and his life without the competitive pressure has allowed him to decompress:
When I have a fight, it completely takes over my brain and all of my thoughts. From the day they told me, ‘Georges, you’re going to fight this guy, or you’re going to fight that guy,’ I didn’t think of anything else. When I was awake, it was always in my head and in my mind. I would completely obsess about every detail of that fight. ‘Am I doing this right? Do I need to do this? Should I do that?’ It was crazy.
St-Pierre will be forced into an even longer break now—whether he was planning it or not. This is the second time the Canadian has torn an ACL in the last three years. In December 2011, St-Pierre blew out his right knee while training for a fight with Nick Diaz at UFC 143 and was forced to sit out until the following November while recovering.
He came back to the ring 11 months later, which falls in line with a typical ACL timetable. Depending on the sport and how rehabilitation goes, recovery from ACL tears usually last at least eight months.
More than recovery time, though, one has to wonder whether this setback will push St-Pierre into permanent retirement. It was obvious that the limelight and pressure was eating him away toward the end of last year, and the potential to take a full year off could make him realize he’s better off riding off into the television sunset.
Then again, with athletes like St-Pierre, it’s impossible to tell. His legendary competitive spirit may kick in one last time and force him into a rigorous rehabilitation program aimed at a comeback—simply to prove that he can do it. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden is one of many who have pointed out how much the sport would benefit from his return:
Ultimately, time will tell the story. But now more than ever, it looks like the final shot UFC fans will get of St-Pierre in the ring is of him raising his hand after his controversial win over Hendricks.
UFC featherweight fighter Cole Miller may have received Submission of the Night honors for his second-round victory over Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 35, but the long-term implications of that bout could be more damaging than encouragi…
UFC featherweight fighter Cole Miller may have received Submission of the Night honors for his second-round victory over Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 35, but the long-term implications of that bout could be more damaging than encouraging.
Miller confirmed after the bout that he suffered a broken left hand in the match-ending sequence to defeat Sicilia, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
As noted by Martin, it is unclear how long Miller will be on the shelf. He is expected to meet with doctors soon to get a full diagnosis, at which point a decision will be made on the best long-term treatment option. A damaged hand is obviously a huge detriment to any mixed martial artist, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the coming days.
The injury comes at the worst possible time for Miller.
Coming in needing a victory to establish himself as a true featherweight contender, Miller did just that in a dominant performance. He stifled nearly every attack Sicilla attempted, easily winning the first round before putting the match away in the second.
The 29-year-old fighter landed a series of power strikes to eventually knock down his overmatched opponent, and he finished him off with a rear-naked choke at the 1:54 mark. The victory earned Miller his fourth Submission of the Night bonus.
And even with Miller knowing his hand was hurting, he was already ready to call out his next opponent, per MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle:
It’s you, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. You said you want to come down to 145, come on down. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, I’ll send Mike Dolce over to you and you can put the bill on me. He’s going to tell you the same thing I’ll tell you, lay off them cheeseburgers and them Twinkies, homie.
Cerrone, currently a lightweight, is coming off a submission victory over Evan Dunham at UFC 167. Whether the two would be able to agree to a fight remains to be seen.
But with Martin awaiting word on his hand, scheduling his next bout against anyone might be a long way away.
Anderson Silva is a fighter. It seems a rather obvious and unnecessary thing to spell out in words—yes, man who punches people in the face for a living is indeed a fighter, smart guy—but it’s an important distinction that separates Silva fr…
Anderson Silva is a fighter. It seems a rather obvious and unnecessary thing to spell out in words—yes, man who punches people in the face for a living is indeed a fighter, smart guy—but it’s an important distinction that separates Silva from other athletes.
Quitting is a taboo phrase for all athletes, but it’s an especially recoiling turn of phrase for a boxer or mixed martial artist. In other sports, you’re conditioned to give it your all but another opportunity will come. Fighters are conditioned to know that every time they step inside the ring or octagon that this time could be their last.
It’s why “No Mas” is one of the most memorable sports moments of the 20th century. Even in ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on the bout, some folks who were around in 1980 (I was not) remained incredulous to this day. There is no quitting, no saying you’ve had enough. Unless you are knocked out cold or forcefully held out by an authority figure (trainer or referee), you do not quit.
Silva didn’t even get to decide what came next. Facing Chris Weidman at UFC 168, Silva went for a simple-enough leg kick, only to have his leg shatter in perhaps the most gruesome injury in the sport’s recent history. Thanks to a failure of his body—and a pretty good block from Weidman—Silva could not re-establish the stranglehold he once held over the sport.
It should come as no surprise that he’s already thirsting for it back. Silva’s broken leg, which required emergency surgery, is expected to keep him from training for at least six and possibly up to nine months, per Matt Erickson of USA Today.
Pedro Rizzo, Silva’s coach, has already indicated his fighter is ready for a return.
“At the hospital, Anderson told me ‘I will be back, master. I will be back,’” Rizzo said, per Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com. “I told him ‘yeah, you’ll be back home to recover and rest’. And he said ‘I will be back, master.’ He’s a fighter. He has six months to recover, heal and then decide what he’s going to do next.”
Before reacting to that quote, let’s make one thing clear: No one outside of Anderson Silva’s immediate family has the right to tell him what to do with his life. He’s a grown man. Imploring someone whose financial situation to which we are not privy is one of the dumbest things we do in sports. If the checks keep coming and the money is good, keep on rockin‘ in the name of cash.
That said, it’s hard to not look at Silva’s situation and see the “no quit” fighter’s mentality driving him arguably past the point where he should be in the ring. It’s perhaps the oldest story in all of professional sport: Past-his-prime fighter hangs on for a few extra checks, takes a few too many blows to the head and winds up regretting it later.
This phenomenon typically gets attributed to boxers, with the lack of a centralized governing body leading to fights being sanctioned that shouldn’t. Because it is so relatively young, especially as a mainstream sport, it is difficult to discern the long-term ramifications of mixed martial arts. UFC president Dana White has done a nice job thus far of massaging players into retirement or even putting it in no uncertain terms that they could not return.
As for Silva, White seemed ready to write him off after UFC 168.
“Anderson Silva has been amazing,” White said, per Matt Erickson of USA Today. “He’s one of the greatest of all time, if not the best ever. It’s a (expletive) way to see him go out, but it’s part of the game.”
Even if White refused to lay it out in black-and-white, all logical signs pointed toward Silva being at the end. At age 38, he’s accomplished arguably more than anyone in MMA history. His nearly seven-year reign as the middleweight champion is a UFC record, and his combination of speed, athleticism and power is unmatched on a pound-for-pound level.
In two fights against Weidman, Silva has been knocked out cold and completely shattered his leg. He may still be a damn good fighter—he certainly looked it in the first round against Weidman. But bodies don’t heal at 38 the way they did at 28, so it’s nearly impossible to see him coming back and even approaching his former greatness.
“I hope he doesn’t [come back] because why?” UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis said, per Yahoo! Sports’ Marcus Vanderberg. “His legacy is already fulfilled. What’s he going to come back and win the belt? He’s done what he’s going to do in the sport.”
There is really only one thing Silva has left to prove: that he can beat Weidman. Only Silva is no longer in a position of power that demands an instant rematch. Assuming Weidman retains the UFC Middleweight Championship through Silva’s recovery, the Brazilian will need to get through at least one bout to return to top contender status.
The situation requires so many variables—Weidman retaining the belt, a lack of complications and victory for Silva, etc.—it almost seems like a lost cause. It’s understandable to want to go out on top, but no smart human being would dock Silva’s legacy if he hung it up now.
And yet…Anderson Silva is a fighter. He’s dedicated his entire adult life, starting in 1997, to this sport. Silva has watched as MMA has evolved from a bunch of pot-bellied dudes pounding Coors Lights ruled the world to true athletes, Silva acolytes, who have helped spearhead a charge so strong that it’s threatening boxing. Silva once fought when they were offering dimes; why not fight when they’re offering millions?
It’s a fair question. And I’m certainly not faulting him for strutting right to the bank and toward a final ending that he, not an injury, gets to write.
But given what we know now and what we’ll know years from now, is it not at least somewhat fair to wonder whether any of this is a good idea?
One kick. One block. And what could be the end to one of the greatest careers in mixed martial arts history.
Anderson Silva’s attempt to regain the UFC Middleweight Championship ended abruptly at UFC 168, when his leg snapped in half on a blocked kick …
One kick. One block. And what could be the end to one of the greatest careers in mixed martial arts history.
Anderson Silva‘s attempt to regain the UFC Middleweight Championship ended abruptly at UFC 168, when his leg snapped in half on a blocked kick from Chris Weidman. Just 1:16 into the second round, Silva attempted a lower leg kick, but when Weidman checked it with his right knee, the Brazilian legend crumpled to the ground in agony.
The fight was immediately called off, with Weidman retaining the championship he took from Silva in July at UFC 162. That victory was seen as one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, as Silva had gone more than seven years without losing a competitive bout. Instead, now Weidman looks to be the face of the UFC middleweight division.
As for Silva, there are any number of possibilities. UFC president Dana White raised the possibility that this injury could end Silva’s career, though he acknowledged it’s almost entirely dependent on how he feels after surgery.
“He could come back, obviously, or it could be the end,” White said, via Brett Okamoto of ESPN. “We’ll have to see. He’s going into surgery right this second.”
Zuffa, LLC, which owns the UFC, also released a statement indicating that the surgery was successful:
Following Saturday evening’s UFC 168 main event, former champion Anderson Silva was taken to a local Las Vegas hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken left leg. The successful surgery, performed by Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC’s orthopedic surgeon, inserted an intramedullary rod into Anderson’s left tibia. The broken fibula was stabilized and does not require a separate surgery. Anderson will remain in the hospital for a short while, but no additional surgery is scheduled at this time. Recovery time for such injuries may vary between three and six months.
Anderson is deeply touched by the outpouring of support from his fans and the entire MMA community. There has been no immediate decision about his future, and he would kindly ask for privacy at this time as he deals with his injury and prepares to return home to recover.”
Should this be the end, debate will rage on as to where Silva ranks among the all-time greats. At his height there may have been no better pound-for-pound fighter in the sport’s history, and his reign atop the middleweight division set records that may never be broken. But for now, almost the entire sports community has spent their evenings and early mornings reacting to the injury.
In the wake of seeing the footage, many reached out to offer their condolences and words of support. Weidman himself was chief among them, sending out his thoughts while attending his post-fight press conference:
Actress Olivia Munn was at UFC 168, and she captured Silva being taken on the gurney:
Free-agent NFL quarterback Tim Tebow sent out his prayers while congratulating Weidman:
While typically associated with the WWE and film, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has also been known to have an affinity for MMA. After the fight, he sent out his congratulations to all of the night’s participants while leaving fans with an image of him and Silva:
That mostly summed up the mood of everybody. Weidman may have won the fight, but most seemed to go out of their way to reach out to Silva, who is regarded highly by nearly everyone in mixed martial arts. Still, as Justin Timberlake pointed out, the image and highlights of the injury were jarring to say the least:
Basketball Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Reggie Miller also seemed understandably shaken up by the situation:
In the immediate aftermath, many compared Silva’s injury to that of former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann and Louisville forward Kevin Ware. Blake Murphy of The Score suggested avoiding going down the rabbit hole of trying to decide which one was more scary:
Tito Ortiz, whose own career in the UFC had a disappointing ending, doesn’t think Silva will reach the same heights if he comes back:
Dan Henderson was one of Silva’s victims at his peak. Henderson lasted only two rounds before being placed in a rear-naked choke at UFC 82. Even though the two have history, Henderson seemed to hope to see Silva back in the ring again:
Four words from Luke Rockhold may sum up the emotions of the night best of all:
Whether Silva returns to the octagon or not, it’s fair to wonder if he’d be better off just walking away. He’s accomplished so much that the only thing left to prove is that he can beat Weidman. With two losses in a row, Silva would need at least one tune-up fight to get another rematch, and that would come after months of rehab.
At this point, though, the only correct answer is to wish Silva well and hope that nothing like this mars another pay-per-view like this again.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has come a long way since the days of potbellies, eight-man tournaments and taglines like “there are no rules.”
The UFC that entered the public lexicon on Nov. 12, 1993, no longer exists. For much of its early incepti…
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has come a long way since the days of potbellies, eight-man tournaments and taglines like “there are no rules.”
The UFC that entered the public lexicon on Nov. 12, 1993, no longer exists. For much of its early inception, the UFC amounted to little but sanctioned barbarism, a human steel cage match where everyone beat the holy hell out of one another with headbutts and strikes to the nether regions.
It was a sport on the fringes of existence, only loved by true zealots and despised by the American government. The UFC that existed then would have no chance of existing now. The increased attention on concussions would have killed the sport before it ever got off the ground.
It’s amazing just how much 20 years can accomplish.
Now, UFC is a heavily regulated, regularly covered mainstream sport that may be the most popular pugilistic endeavor on the planet. Dana White‘s vision has helped mixed martial arts not only get sanctioned by the government but emerge as arguably a safer and more skilled profession than boxing.
Though the 20th anniversary has technically passed, those at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday will get to see just how far the UFC has come. Before a filled house at one of boxing’s most prominent venues, White’s promotion will put on a card befitting this historic occasion.
In many ways, this is the perfect card to show the dichotomy between what was, what is and what could be the future in mixed martial arts.
Of course, UFC 167 is headlined by Georges St-Pierre, who will defend his UFC Welterweight Championship against top contender Johny Hendricks. Depending on how you feel about Jon Jones, St-Pierre is either the best or second best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world. He hasn’t lost since August 2007 and became the undisputed welterweight champion the following April after winning the interim belt in December 2007.
A heady fighter who is more tactical than powerful and more patient than bloodthirsty, GSP is the opposite of the barbarism that once defined the sport. He can harness a level of aggression—which is needed to reach this level—but St-Pierre thrives with systematic destruction of his opponents rather than one-shot knockouts.
Each of his past six fights has gone to the judges’ scorecards, all with the same result: a unanimous-decision victory for St-Pierre.
Hendricks is an interesting opponent who packs every bit of that one-punch power that could shock the MMA world. He has perhaps the best left hand in the sport and is difficult to defend because he’s an adept grappler on the ground as well.
Although “Bigg Rigg” is well-respected and has only one loss, St-Pierre’s presence makes the matchup seem preordained. The Canadian will flex his genius once more, dispatch a touted up-and-comer and move onto the next beautiful landmark he can turn into a parking lot.
He’ll give us a tactical masterpiece so great that we’ll forget about the words “Tank” and “Abbott.”
The co-main event will carry nearly as much intrigue for a completely different reason: the cult of personality.
White has long recoiled at being known as the “Vince McMahon of UFC,” but the comparison is more apt than any MMA head would like to admit. He’s counseled his fighters to develop personalities beyond the ring, cultivating the hero-villain concept that has allowed the WWE to thrive for decades
Perhaps no man has ever worn the villain hat in MMA better than Chael Sonnen. Secretly one of the more thoughtful men in the history of the sport, he has made up for what he lacks in the ring with some world-class buffoonery. He’s made questionable comments on race that have drawn the ire of fellow fighters, cracked wise on domestic violence and offered countless other claims that make him one of the most hated fighters in the sport’s history.
He often draws criticism from fans of the “sport” because he gets a platform perhaps more deserving fighters should have. But he’s thrived in understanding the “entertainment” part of his job. And you know what? That’s good for the sport.
The casual fan knows who Sonnen is—good or bad—and that’s going to draw a ton of more eyeballs on his fight with Rashad Evans.
Evans’ career has been about as up and down as can be, with his back-to-back losses to Jon Jones and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira jeopardizing his status among the world’s best. But his victory over Dan Henderson in June put him back in good standing within the light heavyweight division, and that will probably continue against Sonnen on Saturday.
No one would call Evans a fighter you’d enjoy taking home to grandma, but in all likelihood Sonnen will get another moral comeuppance—to the delight of the hooting and hollering fans in the stands.
Still, any result is good for White and the UFC. Their work is already done. The secondary market is flooding with fans hoping to pay top dollar for tickets, and pay-per-view buys seem almost certain to take a spike.
And that all comes before the year-end UFC 168, which features two of the biggest names in the sport—Anderson Silva and Ronda Rousey. Rousey represents White’s latest alteration of his sport; he created a women’s division for her after years of denying it would ever happen.
That’s kind of the story for the UFC, isn’t it? Twenty years of people saying this or that can’t or won’t happen, and then the sport thumbing its nose and making it happen anyway. Sometimes it was the United States government; other times it was gender equality. On Saturday, the UFC will show the world once again just how world class its athletes are.
The UFC may not be perfect, but it’s come a long way from punches to the groin.
If there were any doubts about who reigns atop the UFC heavyweight division, Cain Velasquez assuaged those and then some at UFC 166 on Saturday night.
With a barrage of punches to the covered head of Junior “Cigano” dos Santos, Velasquez atoned fo…
If there were any doubts about who reigns atop the UFC heavyweight division, Cain Velasquez assuaged those and then some at UFC 166 on Saturday night.
With a barrage of punches to the covered head of Junior “Cigano” dos Santos, Velasquez atoned for his only UFC defeat and forced a stoppage in the fifth round to retain his UFC Heavyweight Championship. As dos Santos’ face gushed with blood on the canvas, Velasquez’s arms and his opponent’s (and his) sanguine fluid served as a Rambo-like warpaint of triumph.
In typical Velasquez fashion, he had used the first four rounds as a pulpit to enact his will. Executing takedowns in each of the first two rounds, Velasquez methodically wore down dos Santos early—making the final three rounds but a mere display of dominance.
Referee Herb Dean looked on the verge of stopping the fight multiple times, especially in the third round. Velasquez landed a flurry of punches in that round, one knocking dos Santos square to the ground and leading to a series of strikes on the ground. A similar feeling crept over the proceedings when Velasquez had dos Santos against the cage in the fourth round.
Although the champion was somewhat sheepish after the fight, it was clear to everyone at the Toyota Center that this bout was one between two different classes of fighters.
“It was a pretty tough fight,” Velasquez said, via the Associated Press. “It was very difficult. It was a tough night. I give him a lot of credit, he is a tough fighter. We were ready for everything. We trained hard in camp and prepared for everything. I tried to get him down this time. I was trying to throw crisper punches this time. I love the competition.”
The win brought Velasquez’s record to 13-1, his fourth straight victory. It also gave him a 2-1 series advantage in his trilogy with dos Santos, which began when Cigano shockingly knocked out Velasquez at UFC on Fox on Nov. 12, 2011.
That KO was a career-defining moment for dos Santos. The 29-year-old Mexican fighter reached an unexpected height in popularity with that win, and he’s still unquestionably one of the best heavyweights in the sport.
But we now have 10 rounds of data showing just how superior Velasquez really is. Their second bout wasn’t even close—a unanimous decision if there ever was one. And Saturday’s rubber match was the Velasquez manifesto, the “Act of Obliteration.” There were stanzas and punctuation points, pugilistic soliloquies delivered by a man who, yes, is just that damn much better.
With that manifesto came the conclusion of a rivalry. Dos Santos won’t and shouldn’t get another fight against Velasquez for a very long time—if ever. After nights like Saturday, even the capitalistic Dana White wouldn’t sentence his fighter to the fate of Joe Budden.
What’s next for Velasquez, in fact, already seems set in stone. White spoke to reporters after the conclusion of festivities in Houston, indicating that FabrícioWerdum would get the next chance to run through the impenetrable wall:
“His whole game has improved,” White said, speaking of Werdum (h/t MMA Junkie’s Steven Marrocco). “The guy’s a big, strong, durable guy. And his jiujitsu, he’s going to want to go to the ground—which makes this fight very interesting.”
In a stylistic vacuum, Velasquez-Werdum does seem interesting. Velasquez’s takedowns versus Werdum’s ability to submit an opponent at any moment is a nice contrast that could make for an interesting fight.
But Werdum is 36. He’s improved, yes—from a guy who was cut from UFC a few years ago. Stylistic differences can so often play a bigger difference than anyone even gives credit, but this is still going to be like throwing Macklemore into a rap battle with Eminem.
Velasquez will dominate. Again. With the same precision with which he took down dos Santos on Saturday and with the same ease that he’s defeated all other oncomers since joining the sport.
The heavyweight division presents almost zero challenges to Velasquez. Opponents come in hoping to land that one punch the same way dos Santos did, but knowing their odds are somewhere between Amanda Bynes winning an Oscar and Chief Keef winning a Grammy.
Velasquez has reached that rarefied air in pugilism, where his competition is not the man staring him in the face but other fighters outside his weight class. Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre are the only two in Velasquez’s strata on the male side, and it’s arguable that no one is more dominant than female champion Ronda Rousey.
But those are the four names that define UFC at the moment: Jones. St-Pierre. Rousey. Velasquez. I like Jose Aldo as much as the next guy; I’m only discussing those who I’d set my house ablaze if they lost: the rare place in the sport that Anderson Silva started—until right about the time Chris Weidman stopped it.
That’s where Velasquez stands right now—at the top of his division, his only blemish discarded, consigned to the midcard and vanquished from his purview.
Well, at least he will be. Right after Velasquez wipes dos Santos’ blood off his face.
UFC welterweight star Georges St-Pierre suffered a torn left ACL while in training recently and will undergo surgery this week, the fighter announced on his Twitter feed Thursday: