Footage of the emotional Team Nogueira locker room at UFC 134 has surfaced through Gesias Cavalcante’s YouTube account. After watching his long-time teacher and training partner knock out Brendan Schaub, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva can be …
Footage of the emotional Team Nogueira locker room at UFC 134 has surfaced through Gesias Cavalcante’s YouTube account. After watching his long-time teacher and training partner knock out Brendan Schaub, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva can be seen crying tears of joy.
Silva has been very close friends with Nogueira since joining Black House MMA in November 2006. After Nogueira missed more than a year due to injury and was considered a big underdog against Schaub, it is understandable that Silva would be so passionate about the victory.
Among others, elite heavyweight Antonio Silva and manager Ed Soares can also be seen celebrating in the video. In an MMA landscape that has recently been headlined by a feud between former training partners Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, Team Nogueira might be the most tight-knit camp out there.
Not long after this video was taken, Silva entered the Octagon for a title fight against Yushin Okami. After his usual slow start, Silva picked up his pace in the second round and scored a dominant technical knockout victory.
Needless to say, UFC 134, which was held in their home country of Brazil, was an event that Silva and Nogueira will never forget.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com and LowKick.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
At UFC 134 Anderson “The Spider” Silva needed just two rounds to put away Yushin Okami. Silva not only retained his title, but became the leader in consecutive UFC wins and consecutive UFC title defenses. Since the fight, which took place i…
At UFC 134 Anderson “The Spider” Silva needed just two rounds to put away Yushin Okami.
Silva not only retained his title, but became the leader in consecutive UFC wins and consecutive UFC title defenses.
Since the fight, which took place in Rio de Janeiro Saturday night, many have called Silva the greatest MMA athlete in the short history of the sport.
Although that is up for debate, here are some reasons why he is the best in MMA today.
After decimating his latest challenger, Yushin Okami, at UFC 134, Anderson Silva has all but cleaned out the middleweight division and has proven to be one of the greatest of all time. With no serious retirement talk in the air, fans and analysts…
After decimating his latest challenger, Yushin Okami, at UFC 134, Anderson Silva has all but cleaned out the middleweight division and has proven to be one of the greatest of all time.
With no serious retirement talk in the air, fans and analysts are wondering what’s next for “The Spider.”
All that is for sure is that Silva will take on the winner of Brian Stann vs. Chael Sonnen at UFC 136 at an event that is yet to be named, but almost definitely will not take place until 2012.
Assuming Silva can defend his title successfully one more time, fans would love to see a super fight with either welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre or light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
Outside of these aforementioned fights, there seem to be little challengers left for the highly skilled Brazilian fighter.
That leads one to ask, could anyone, from any era of MMA, possess the ability to defeat Anderson Silva?
Let’s take a look inside at some all-time greats who could have given The Spider a closely contested bout.
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva delivered another fantastic performance at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finishing challenger Yushin Okami in brutal fashion in the second round.Now that another top contender has been cast aside, who is le…
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva delivered another fantastic performance at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finishing challenger Yushin Okami in brutal fashion in the second round.
Now that another top contender has been cast aside, who is left to face “The Spider”?
Fans again are calling for a superfight between Silva and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.
The reigning welterweight king is also close to cleaning out his division with former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz as the next, and possibly last, challenger to his belt.
With both fighters seeking only big fights against big names, this potential matchup is starting to make more and more sense, as attested to by UFC President Dana White.
But where would such a monumental bout like this take place?
“There are still a lot of fights for Anderson to do in his division and Georges Saint-Pierre, too,” said White after UFC 134. “But it’s about time for it to happen. I don’t know if we have a stadium that could handle a fight like that.”
Well here are five possible sites that might be able to handle what could be the biggest event in UFC history.
(All in favor of seeing Anderson attempt to improve his moneyweight record, say ‘I.'”)
Since Anderson Silva has effectively cleared out the UFC’s middleweight division and will likely eventually start a string of rematches against the likes of Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, we figured why not come up with a list of fights he could take in the interim that stoke the fires of fans.
Check them out, in no particular order after the jump.
(All in favor of seeing Anderson attempt to improve his moneyweight record, say ‘I.’”)
Since Anderson Silva has effectively cleared out the UFC’s middleweight division and will likely eventually start a string of rematches against the likes of Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, we figured why not come up with a list of fights he could take in the interim that stoke the fires of fans.
Check them out, in no particular order after the jump.
Filed under: UFCAnderson Silva returned home to Brazil in what was essentially a coronation, riding a wave of euphoric fans to another rout, this time smashing the durable Japanese fighter Yushin Okami. We are still no closer to answering the question …
Anderson Silva returned home to Brazil in what was essentially a coronation, riding a wave of euphoric fans to another rout, this time smashing the durable Japanese fighter Yushin Okami. We are still no closer to answering the question that Joe Rogan asked so many fights ago: Who can stop that man?
Silva’s next move is anyone’s guess. UFC president Dana White says that fighting on the UFC’s FOX debut is not happening, so apparently headlining a second mega-show is not in the cards for the long-reigning champion.
So who might be next for Silva? We take a look at the possibilities for him and several other of the UFC 134 participants in this edition of The Forward Roll.
Anderson Silva
Silva should be the main eventer of the FOX show. It’s a spot he’s earned, if he wants it. It would allow the UFC to showcase their best talent, and give fans the value of seeing him for free. Unless UFC executives changes their mind, that’s not going to happen, so it’s virtually a lock that he will face the winner of October’s Brian Stann vs. Chael Sonnen bout. Either fight is easily sellable, but a Sonnen rematch would draw massive interest.
Prediction: Silva faces the Sonnen-Stann winner in February 2012.
Yushin Okami
Okami joins a long list of fighters who fell to Silva in title bouts, yet only one — Rich Franklin — was able to earn a rematch. It’s a long, hard road back to the top for Okami, who took the long path to a title shot in the first place.
After waiting since last November to fight, Okami needs to get back to action quickly. So ideally, he needs to be matched up with a relatively well respected fighter, preferably coming off a loss.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Rebounding from his March title loss, Rua looked spectacular in pounding his way through Forrest Griffin. The result continued Rua’s bumpy ride in the UFC; he’s 4-3 overall since joining the promotion.
That said, Rua’s fights are always exciting, and given his highlight reel, he’s easily promotable. Needing less than two minutes to earn victory, Rua can turn around quickly and get back into the rotation. I’d slot him into a bigtime fight in short order.
Prediction: Rua faces Dan Henderson in November’s UFC on FOX debut.
Forrest Griffin
Griffin’s two-fight win streak was halted with a quickness by Rua. Prior to the event, he sounded disillusioned about the fight game, and the result isn’t likely to help matters. We also know that Forrest had other matters on his mind: his wife was nearing the end of her pregnancy as he flew to Rio to face Shogun.
Griffin deserves a nice break from the grind as he settles into fatherhood, and hopefully that gives him the time to reignite his fire to train and compete.
Prediction: Griffin returns in the spring against a fighter on the verge of top 10 status, someone like Alexander Gustafsson.
Edson Barboza
Barboza’s striking is beautiful to watch, yet he often seems content to hang back and counter rather than attack on his own terms. He is good enough to make that work against most mid-tier competition, but as he moves up the rankings and faces more wily foes, that could lead to trouble.
If I’m the UFC, I put him back in the cage against someone who’s going to force him to fight in many different areas.
Ross Pearson
The British fighter still shows promise. He’s a fierce competitor, has crisp boxing and comes to scrap. It wasn’t enough against Barboza in a close call, but he shouldn’t face much of a downward move after putting up a game performance on enemy territory.
Prediction:Thiago Tavares has won two of three; Pearson has won three out of four. That matchup sounds about right.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Nogueira’s win over Brendan Schaub might have been the night’s emotional high in Rio. Nog came in as a sizable underdog, after a long layoff, and after admitting he had rushed his return to fight in Brazil for the first time.
The relative lack depth near the top of the heavyweight division should allow Nog to take a bit more time off now and let some other fights shake out. But for those who still have questions about Nog’s continuing ability to take a big shot, there is probably a big puncher on the other side of his break.
Prediction: Next spring, Nogueira faces the winner of October’s Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione fight.
Brendan Schaub
What a crazy game MMA is. Schaub was riding high, on top of the world as he made his way to Rio for UFC 134. No one would have ever predicted what was to happen next. The fact that Nogueira beat him was no huge shocker, but that he would knock Schaub out came as a stunner. Nogueira had only two knockouts in his entire, storied career prior to that, and has last one had come over six years ago.
While Schaub had dreams of a title shot, instead, it’s back to the end of the line for the 28-year-old.
Prediction: Schaub eventually fights the loser of September’s Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton match.
Rousimar Palhares
In victory or defeat, Palhares remains one of MMA’s most head-scratching talents. He backed off a sure TKO at UFC 134 to begin a premature celebration, then nearly got knocked out when the fight restarted.
Given his predisposition for unpredictability, who knows what to expect from Palhares in the future? But the man can still fight, so he deserves a big matchup.
Prediction: Palhares fights the winner of November’s Mark Munoz vs. Chris Leben fight.
Footage of the emotional Team Nogueira locker room at UFC 134 has surfaced through Gesias Cavalcante’s YouTube account. After watching his long-time teacher and training partner knock out Brendan Schaub, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva can be seen crying tears of joy.
Anderson Silva