After nearly six months of waiting, fight fans finally got to see the rematch between UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and longtime divisional kingpin Anderson Silva at UFC 168 last night.
“The All-American” looked to silence the doubters by taking the fight to the legendary Brazilian in the opening frame, dropping Silva with a short right hand from the clinch just a couple minutes into the bout.
Despite eating the occasional elbow and fist from the champ, “The Spider” remained active on the ground, throwing hammer fists and elbows off his back while he maintained his guard.
While Weidman clearly won the first round, no one in their right mind could have possibly fathomed the ending to this title tilt being even more unbelievable than the fighters’ UFC 162 encounter in July.
As Weidman checked a leg kick early in the second round, Silva shattered his left ankle, collapsing to the mat in pain.
The fight video highlights come courtesy of Fox Sports.
The 29-year-old New York native said afterwards that a pivotal part of his training camp was checking Silva’s leg kicks, since the Brazilian had some success with that technique in the first fight.
Silva had to be stretchered out of the arena and was immediately operated on, expecting to need three to six months to recover from the broken left tibia and fibula, per MMA Fighting.
While many analysts and fans alike believe the injury with force the 38-year-old Silva into an unceremonious retirement, UFC President Dana White stated at the post-fight press conference that the decision is Silva’s to make, also via MMA Fighting.
As we await on what’s next for Silva, the middleweight division forges ahead, with Weidman next set to meet ex-light heavyweight titleholder Vitor Belfort at a yet to be named event.
Will Silva decide to make a return to the Octagon after this gruesome leg injury or will he decide he no longer has anything left to prove inside the cage?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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