You know nothing about how the rematch will play out. Then again, you probably know everything.
Normally in the fight game, so called “experts,” and the lay fan too, have at least a modicum of insight into how a fight might play out.
In this corner we have a hulking wrestler, and in the opposite corner we have a scintillating striker. Can the wrestler take the striker to the ground enough times to win via judges decision—maybe finish with some ground-and-pound—or will the striker keep things upright long enough to get the knock out?
With the curious case of Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 2, we have just that. Weidman is that hulking wrestler. And Silva is that scintillating striker. But they are so much more than that, too.
Not only with the respective physical tools they possess—and all their intangibles—but with how they ply their trade at such a high level inside the cage. Most importantly, the mental moxy (if you will) they have both wired into themselves somewhere along the way.
Anything can, and just might, happen in their rematch.
In their first fight, which you can view here, Silva trotted out his normal juke-and-jive routine.
The purpose being to taunt his opponent to throw them off their game. Get them to start swinging at him, a guy who cannot be hit, so he can counterstrike his way into their heart and squeeze it until it stops beating. But for those who’ve been watching Silva ‘dance-and-prance’ for years, it felt like something more.
Whether it was just Silva being himself plus a little icing on the cake, him disrespecting Weidman because he felt disrespected that so many were picking the challenger in the upset or the “heavy is the head that wears the crown” theory and he was simply looking for a way to lose, Silva took it too far—and for that, he paid dearly.
It cost him his status as champion. But he was more than just a champ. He was the greatest MMA belt holder of all time, having successfully defended it over the course of seven years and 14 foes.
He also gave up having never been knocked out in his record-breaking career. And he was not just knocked out, he was embarrassingly so—getting blasted while in character, that character looking like a jackass to many when Weidman’s left hand, clenched tight, landed flush on Silva’s face.
Silva’s body, unhinged, like all his bones had left his body—like someone pulled the plug on an appliance and it just quit working—unraveling backward to meet the unforgiving Octagon floor. Weidman finished Silva off with some ground-and-pound that had “go f**k yourself” written across his gloves, because, well, he felt Silva had been disrespectful to him during the entire course of the fight.
Weidman don’t play that juke-and-jive game, no sir he does not.
In the post-fight speech, Silva gave the impression he was retiring, only to sign on for the rematch a few weeks later. No doubt, Dana White applied the right amount of pressure and flashed the appropriate amount of dollar signs for Silva to run it back at least one more time. One more time translates to what some are calling the biggest and/or most important fight in UFC history.
So yeah, uh, what is going to happen in this rematch? Your guess is as good as mine. There is literally not one thing that will happen before, during or after the fight that should leave anyone surprised.
Be that as it may, the following slides offer some thoughts on what could happen, some of which probably will in fact happen.