Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva picked up one of his biggest victories in recent memory after defeating former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le in the co-main event of UFC 139.
Silva was dropped in the first round but survived and came back to finish Le with a barrage of punches and knees in the second. The stoppage came just seconds before the end of the round.
What We’ll Remember about This Fight:
With Silva having gone 2-7 in his last nine fights before this fight, it was good for newer mixed martial arts fans to see him get a much-needed victory over an exciting opponent like Le.
The former Sanshou champion didn’t get to have the Octagon debut he would have liked, but there’s always tomorrow, and he may look twice as good in his next fight. He had his moments in this fight, but Silva was able to overcome the adversity and get the stoppage in a memorable performance.
What We Learned from Silva:
Silva showed that he still has what it takes to stay in there with a dangerous striker and not get knocked out by the first punch that lands clean. His 36-second knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 136 will be forgotten after this performance, and he saved his career from coming to a crashing halt with the win.
What We Learned from Le:
Le showed some good things in the fight, and it was similar to his first fight with Scott Smith. He was having success early on with his dynamic striking, but his cardio ultimately began to fail until he was stopped. He won’t ever be a champion, but he will be able to fight and compete with the top 10 fighters and contenders in the division.
What’s Next for Silva:
The UFC needs to do whatever they can to get Silva on the February card in Japan. A possible opponent for him could be Alan Belcher, who recently came back after an extensive layoff to defeat Jason MacDonald.
What’s Next for Le:
Le will have to make a choice of whether nor not he still wants to fight. He vacated the Strikeforce title and never had intentions of defending it. He also took part in several movie roles over the past two years, which may have cost him the training necessary to compete at the highest level in MMA.
Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the November 19 fight card, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis.
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