Anderson “The Spider” Silva enters Saturday’s UFC middleweight championship defense against “Supernatural” Chris Weidman as a fairly substantial favorite, but there is reason to believe that the undefeated Weidman will give Silva everything he can handle and perhaps even come away with a huge upset win.
The 38-year-old Silva has a long and storied history in mixed martial arts, so his reputation precedes him. Fans have seen him win big fights on so many occasions that they seemingly expect him to come through with ease. Silva is still in phenomenal shape, but conventional wisdom states that age will catch up with him eventually.
Whether or not it happens against Weidman remains to be seen, but Weidman is clearly no pushover. His big disadvantage lies in experience, as he has had just nine professional fights compared to Silva’s 37. Weidman has an unblemished record, though, and that is something that will likely be on the mind of Silva.
With that said, Silva has a pretty impressive run of his own going. The Brazilian star hasn’t lost a fight since he was disqualified for an illegal upkick against Yushin Okami in 2006. That means he is currently in the midst of a 17-fight unbeaten streak. You have to go back even further to find the last time Silva suffered a legitimate loss, when Ryo Chonan forced him to submit way back in 2004.
Silva has beaten some pretty big names during his win streak, including Forrest Griffin, Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen. All of them are great fighters in their own right, but they faced Silva due to their name recognition rather than merit. Weidman has clearly earned this bout and will be Silva’s toughest test in a very long time.
Although Silva has never been known as a guy who backs down from a fight, Weidman has been very vocal about Silva’s reluctance to fight him. According to radio personality Jim Rome, Weidman told him that UFC essentially had to force Silva to agree to the fight.
That could very easily be a tactic on Weidman‘s part to throw Silva off his game, but it stands to reason that Silva may have preferred opponents other than Weidman. Most of Silva’s opponents in recent years have been established guys, so Silva knew what he was going to get. Weidman is a wild card, though, and he could pull out anything from his bag of tricks.
Weidman‘s career resume confirms that as he is 9-0 with three wins by way of knockout, three by submission and three by decision. He is well-versed in all aspects of the sport, and that versatility gives him the ability to challenge Silva. The champion will have to be on his toes at all times as Weidman could come after him with anything at any time.
While Weidman does have a couple impressive victories under his belt, Silva is unquestionably his biggest challenge yet. Weidman has talked a big game up to this point, but he has to prove on Saturday that facing a UFC legend like Silva isn’t too much for him.
If his confidence in the Octagon matches his confidence outside it, he should be just fine.
If Weidman defeats Silva on Saturday, he will quickly become one of the faces of UFC. That means that there is plenty of pressure on his shoulders. That is nothing compared to the burden that Silva bears, though, as he is expected to win every fight.
Silva has almost always come through in the past, but he’ll have to dig down deep and come up with something special in order to halt the progress of the up-and-coming Weidman.
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