Since Anderson Silva‘s arrival at the gates of the UFC back in 2006, 15 fighters have fallen victim to MMA’s pound-for-pound king. If Chris Weidman also elects to take that route, he’ll become just another victim entangled in the web of “The Spider.”
At this moment in time, the star of “The All-American” is shining ever so brightly—he’s 9-0 in all competitions and 5-0 in the UFC and recently dismantled No. 3 contender Mark Munoz in scintillating fashion.
Long story short, the 185-pounder is on a tear—literally.
Weidman has wrestling pedigree almost on par with that of Chael Sonnen, but on two separate occasions, Sonnen’s ace of spades failed to completely nullify Silva.
Furthermore, the Brazilian’s takedown defense, which was his Achilles’ Heel in their first encounter, has undergone a makeover—he actually stuffed several of Sonnen’s takedown attempts.
So in that respect, Silva has that part of his game covered, and the assumption is that more improvement is underway, which would leave Weidman with one other option—to stand and strike.
His standup is improving, but nowhere near good enough to cause Silva problems.
Remember Chris Leben? Well he was one hell of a fistic banger until Silva put a 49-second end to his six-fight win streak. Vitor Belfort, another combatant from the hard-hitting persuasion, also suffered an opening-stanza starching.
With that in mind, Silva is one of the most technically gifted and precision-type strikers ever to have laced up a pair of MMA mitts, and no fighter as of yet has matched him in that department. So for Weidman to stand and bang would definitely result in an abrupt, cataclysmic fail.
The 37-year-old Sao Paulo native has only ever been submitted twice in his career; however, both submission defeats took place almost eight years ago. Since then, he’s tightened up his submission defense whilst earning a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in the process.
At UFC 112 Silva fought BJJ expert Demian Maia and, knowing his limitations, kept the fight standing, en route to a lackluster yet unanimous decision.
Weidman (BJJ purple belt) is nowhere near Maia, let alone Silva, in the aforesaid discipline.
That said, Weidman has three submissions on his résumé to Silva’s six.
If the inevitable happens and Silva finds himself on his back, the chances of Weidman pulling off a submission are slim at best.
As earlier mentioned, Silva has improved.
It’s more likely the 28-year-old New Yorker will fall victim to a sub himself.
Presently, Silva has every aspect of the game on lockdown, and as a consequence Weidman is in for a rude awakening if and when he sets foot into the Octagon with The Spider.
And just like those before him, he will most surely fall.
For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com