With UFC 147 in the books, it’s time to analyze the results and break down who Saturday’s biggest losers were.
As easy as it is to point to the loser of a fight here, many factors make each loss even tougher for each man. Add in that the actual host city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil was deprived of the main event they wanted and that this wasn’t the best UFC show.
All of the following were losers coming out of Saturday, in one form or another.
Mike Russow
With a serious effort at trying to prove that stocky guys can fight, heavyweight Mike Russow was TKO’d by Fabricio Werdum in the first round of their Saturday brawl.
It was clear from the get go that Werdum was waiting out Russow’s big punches and ended up catching him with a vicious uppercut. The ref stopped the fight after Werdum pummeled Russow, but this fight proved the point that many fans believe; fat guys lose MMA fights.
While Roy Nelson is an exception, just imagine the talent and destruction a pairing of Russow and Nelson could cause at 205 pounds. This fight proved it’s time for a change for Russow.
After losing seven of his last 10 fights—including the unanimous decision loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 147—it’s time for the MMA legend to hang up his gloves for good. He has reached the end of his road.
Franklin is getting to the end of his career as well, but he outclassed Silva for five rounds and really exposed him as the shell of the fighter MMA fans had come to love.
There is no debating how great Silva was during his career, but this last stay with the UFC has been terrible. While fans still remember him for the amazing knockouts of the sport’s toughest men, he needs to walk away and save that legacy.
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
After the announcement that Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II would be in Brazil at UFC 147, the hype around a prominently Brazilian card that would be this epic international event was through the roof.
Unfortunately, scheduling issues stopped the super main event from coming to fruition, but UFC is never caught with their pants down. The company quickly reevaluated the situation and gave the Brazilian crowd two of their own in Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva.
While Silva was ready to go, Belfort broke his hand in training and the UFC threw in former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. By this point, the fans were not seeing a fight that they had paid for.
There were solid fights throughout the night, but nothing really amazing that sent the fans home talking about it. UFC can not foresee these kinds of issues, but it was clear that the Brazilian fans were the biggest losers on Saturday.
What a shame.
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