Tag: Chris Weidman

Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman Results: Live Blog For UFC 162’s Main Event

UFC 162 goes live this evening on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET, and we’ve got you covered with the live blog of the main event.The card is headlined by a middleweight title match between champion Anderson Silva and top contender Chris Weidman. Silva, the…

UFC 162 goes live this evening on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET, and we’ve got you covered with the live blog of the main event.

The card is headlined by a middleweight title match between champion Anderson Silva and top contender Chris Weidman. Silva, the favorite, looks to continue his unbeaten streak in the UFC, while Weidman looks to keep his undefeated professional record intact as well. 

Join us throughout the evening for live updates from the Las Vegas event.

And, as always, enjoy the fights. 

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Silva vs. Weidman: 3 Areas of Concern For Anderson Silva

UFC 162 may provide the greatest challenge to Anderson Silva’s belt in his long career with the UFC. Despite taking on top-level competitors in the past, such as Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami, he has made them all look foolish in their a…

UFC 162 may provide the greatest challenge to Anderson Silva‘s belt in his long career with the UFC. Despite taking on top-level competitors in the past, such as Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami, he has made them all look foolish in their attempts at snagging his title.

However, fighters such as Sonnen and Dan Henderson have given a glimmer of hope as to providing a blueprint to defeating Silva. Silva’s wrestling is the chink in his armor, which American wrestlers with decent striking can look to expose.

Chris Weidman may be the perfect guy to expose Silva’s wrestling.

Here are three areas of concern for Silva going into his title defense against Weidman.

 

Wrestling

As mentioned in the intro, Silva’s biggest area of concern comes in the wrestling department. And as stated before, Weidman is one of the best wrestlers in the business.

If there was anything Sonnen gave us other than entertainment, it was the game plan for dominating Silva from the top position. Had he been able to hold out for around two more minutes, Sonnen would have walked away with Silva’s golden strap.

Weidman finds himself with a similar, yet more refined, skill set to Sonnen. He is just as skillful in the wrestling department, but he can probably set up his takedowns better because of his hands. His boxing opens up the ability to use his wrestling. 

If he plants Silva on the mat, he not only has great ground-and-pound, but he has very good submission skills. Silva is equally competent in submission grappling, but once Weidman wears him down, opportunities for tapouts may arise.

 

Going Through the Motions

When you have dominated for as long as Silva has and not come close to losing often, you tend to get bored with the lack of competition. That is another area of concern for Silva, especially against a dangerous young stud like Weidman.

We have seen Silva give lackluster performances against the likes of Thales Leites and Demian Maia, when he knew he was going to win easily. If he comes in with that mindset, he could easily kiss his belt goodbye. 

He could always start off with that too-relaxed attitude and get woken up when Weidman brings it to him. However, if he takes that Maia-Leites attitude, he is in for a long (or possibly short) night.

 

Age

As great as Anderson Silva still looks, he is not the spring chicken he used to be. That being said, there is still a reason he is the best, so perhaps, this concern should fall upon deaf ears.

However, it could also be Weidman‘s age that causes concern. Weidman is a young, hungry kid that has the youth to conquer Silva’s older age.

Sometimes, experience is a great advantage, which it may be here. However, when you consider Weidman has more than a couple UFC fights under his belt, his youth may triumph over Silva’s experience in the Octagon.

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Silva vs. Weidman: 3 Areas of Concern For Anderson Silva

UFC 162 may provide the greatest challenge to Anderson Silva’s belt in his long career with the UFC. Despite taking on top-level competitors in the past, such as Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami, he has made them all look foolish in their a…

UFC 162 may provide the greatest challenge to Anderson Silva‘s belt in his long career with the UFC. Despite taking on top-level competitors in the past, such as Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami, he has made them all look foolish in their attempts at snagging his title.

However, fighters such as Sonnen and Dan Henderson have given a glimmer of hope as to providing a blueprint to defeating Silva. Silva’s wrestling is the chink in his armor, which American wrestlers with decent striking can look to expose.

Chris Weidman may be the perfect guy to expose Silva’s wrestling.

Here are three areas of concern for Silva going into his title defense against Weidman.

 

Wrestling

As mentioned in the intro, Silva’s biggest area of concern comes in the wrestling department. And as stated before, Weidman is one of the best wrestlers in the business.

If there was anything Sonnen gave us other than entertainment, it was the game plan for dominating Silva from the top position. Had he been able to hold out for around two more minutes, Sonnen would have walked away with Silva’s golden strap.

Weidman finds himself with a similar, yet more refined, skill set to Sonnen. He is just as skillful in the wrestling department, but he can probably set up his takedowns better because of his hands. His boxing opens up the ability to use his wrestling. 

If he plants Silva on the mat, he not only has great ground-and-pound, but he has very good submission skills. Silva is equally competent in submission grappling, but once Weidman wears him down, opportunities for tapouts may arise.

 

Going Through the Motions

When you have dominated for as long as Silva has and not come close to losing often, you tend to get bored with the lack of competition. That is another area of concern for Silva, especially against a dangerous young stud like Weidman.

We have seen Silva give lackluster performances against the likes of Thales Leites and Demian Maia, when he knew he was going to win easily. If he comes in with that mindset, he could easily kiss his belt goodbye. 

He could always start off with that too-relaxed attitude and get woken up when Weidman brings it to him. However, if he takes that Maia-Leites attitude, he is in for a long (or possibly short) night.

 

Age

As great as Anderson Silva still looks, he is not the spring chicken he used to be. That being said, there is still a reason he is the best, so perhaps, this concern should fall upon deaf ears.

However, it could also be Weidman‘s age that causes concern. Weidman is a young, hungry kid that has the youth to conquer Silva’s older age.

Sometimes, experience is a great advantage, which it may be here. However, when you consider Weidman has more than a couple UFC fights under his belt, his youth may triumph over Silva’s experience in the Octagon.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Pre-UFC 162 Video Party [Weigh-Ins, Dana White, Countdown & More]

UFC 162 is now just hours away, you potato heads. So, we’re bringing you a collection of UFC 162-related videos to help you get through the pre-game home stretch.

After the jump you’ll find video of yesterday’s weigh-ins, the full Countdown to UFC 162, Dana White‘s pre UFC 162 media scrum and Joe Rogan holding court and taking questions from fans at the UFC 162 Q&A. Short of video footage of Dave Herman peeing in a cup 63 times in order to get cleared to fight at UFC 162, we’re not sure what else there is out there.

So quit complaining and start pissing off your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife early by making UFC 162 an all-day event. All videos after the jump.

UFC 162 is now just hours away, you potato heads. So, we’re bringing you a collection of UFC 162-related videos to help you get through the pre-game home stretch.

After the jump you’ll find video of yesterday’s weigh-ins, the full Countdown to UFC 162, Dana White‘s pre UFC 162 media scrum and Joe Rogan holding court and taking questions from fans at the UFC 162 Q&A. Short of video footage of Dave Herman peeing in a cup 63 times in order to get cleared to fight at UFC 162, we’re not sure what else there is out there.

So quit complaining and start pissing off your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife early by making UFC 162 an all-day event. All videos after the jump.

UFC 162 Weigh Ins:

Countdown to UFC 162:

Pre UFC 162 Media Scrum:

Joe Rogan UFC 162 Q&A:

– Elias Cepeda

UFC 162: Why Chris Weidman Will Give Anderson Silva Trouble

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 hand…

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.

 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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Silva vs. Weidman: Keys to Victory in UFC 162 Middleweight Showdown

The David and Goliath narrative in the sports world rarely plays out in the exciting fashion many would like. Sometimes Goliath is just too big and David is a little short on ammo. In the case of Anderson Silva and his spotless 16-0 record inside the O…

The David and Goliath narrative in the sports world rarely plays out in the exciting fashion many would like. Sometimes Goliath is just too big and David is a little short on ammo.

In the case of Anderson Silva and his spotless 16-0 record inside the Octagon, there hasn’t been a challenger in the UFC quite capable or prepared enough to sling a stone heavy enough to take him down.

Chris Weidman isn’t exactly dwarfed by Silva’s greatness, however.

The 29-year-old submission specialist is 5-0 in the UFC and boasts several attributes that could give Silva some issues on Saturday night at UFC 162. While Silva will likely be a heavy favorite in every fight until the day he retires, he’s never guaranteed a victory.

Let’s take a look at the tale of the tape for this fight and break down keys to victory for each fighter, highlighting what Weidman has to do in order to hand Silva his first loss in the UFC.

 

Anderson “The Spider” Silva   Fighter    Chris “The All-American” Weidman
38 Age (at fight)      29
185 lbs Weight    185 lbs
6’2″ Height    6’2″
77.5″ Reach    78″
Southpaw/Switch Fighting Stance    Orthodox
33-4 Pro Record    9-0
16-0 UFC Record    5-0
88% UFC Win Finish Rate    60%
142 UFC Minutes    44%
1997 Fighting Pro Since    2009
266 Days Layoff    360 Days

 

Anderson Silva

Silva isn’t one to get caught in his own web. If he hopes to keep his spotless UFC record intact, he’ll have to avoid Weidman’s attempts at spinning one of his own.

Weidman is a tremendous submission specialist who is adept in the ground-and-pound game, feasting on opponents who give him even a small window in which he can capitalize. The 29-year-old has the ability to win by knockout, but don’t count on seeing that result against Silva.

For the Spider to win, he won’t have to change much. Silva boasts a 16-0 UFC record for a reason, and as long as he sticks to his game plan and doesn’t make costly mistakes, there’s little reason to believe he’ll come up short at UFC 162.

Silva can win this fight in a multitude of ways. He’s an accurate striker. He’s tremendous on the canvas. And like Weidman, he understands how to capitalize on the smallest of mistakes.

While both fighters will be cautious about making those mistakes, neither will be timid in his approach. For Silva, the key to victory in this fight will be limiting costly mistakes while sticking to his guns—or in this case, staying close to his web while Weidman lets himself get stuck.

 

Chris Weidman

Many expect Weidman to be the greatest challenge Silva has faced in defense of his belt. The All-American is the unquestioned No. 2 middleweight with a lot to prove.

At 29, Weidman has age and athleticism on his side, as well as a half-inch reach advantage. He also doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses in the Octagon.

But besting the pound-for-pound kingpin will require a tremendous effort predicated on perfection, and Wediman can’t afford to leave his comfort zone unless he does so to exploit a big opportunity. In other words, Weidman must stick to his guns to win this fight.

Silva is a much more accurate striker who also hasn’t been taken down in any of his last three fights. Weidman, on the other hand, boasts 2.6 takedowns per fight and has used those opportunities to capitalize with tremendous ground-and-pound and submission skill sets.

The All-American may need to take Silva down to finish him off, but he can’t expect that to be an easy task. At the risk of being redundant, Weidman has to be cautious and opportunistic. He can’t afford to get careless against the best fighter on the planet.

Weidman can win this fight if he plays to his strengths and avoids getting caught in the Spider’s traps. Anything short of perfection will likely result in another tally in Silva’s win column.

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