Roger Gracie is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, but even he would have his work cut out for him against Chris Weidman.As a 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Gracie’s…
Roger Gracie is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, but even he would have his work cut out for him against Chris Weidman.
As a 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Gracie’s opinion is highly respected and valued in the MMA community, which is why his most recent comments regarding Weidman managed to steal headlines Sunday.
During an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com, he was asked to give a prediction on the upcoming UFC middleweight title bout between Weidman and Anderson Silva. Despite siding with the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Gracie was admittedly blown away by Weidman‘s grappling skills:
I think [Weidman] is very, very dangerous. His grappling is at a very high level. He can submit any world-class grappler. I think he’s really that good. He can tap anyone, even me. It’s just a matter of if he can put Anderson in those situations. I would still put my money on Anderson but I think Chris Weidman is dangerous and can surprise him.
Skeptics are bountiful leading up to the championship showdown at UFC 162.
Fans have generally been reluctant to seek greener pastures on the Weidman bandwagon; however, this doesn’t appear to be the case with most pros. World-class fighters like Gracie have continuously come forward and delivered gushing diatribes regarding Weidman‘s astonishing skills.
During a media scrum for UFC 161, UFC President Dana White revealed that every pro fighter he has spoken to believes Weidman will be the man to finally dethrone Silva.
Are they all wrong?
Silva has achieved every accolade possible in his UFC career and will likely go down as the greatest fighter in MMA history. Meanwhile, Weidman is still a fresh face in the sport.
There is something to be said about such a young fighter generating this much hype from his peers. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, we can all pretty much agree on one thing.
On July 6, Chris Weidman will attempt what 10 other middleweight fighters before him have failed to accomplish—unseat the reigning UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.Silva has held UFC gold since defeating Rich Franklin via TKO at UFC 64. …
On July 6, Chris Weidman will attempt what 10 other middleweight fighters before him have failed to accomplish—unseat the reigning UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.
Silva has held UFC gold since defeating Rich Franklin via TKO at UFC 64. Yup, almost 100 pay-per-view cards have passed since Silva defeated Franklin. Oh, and something else: Silva has never lost in the UFC. Silva is currently 16 fights into a run that began with a 49-second knockout of Chris Leben in June, 2006.
Weidman is a solid wrestler with a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and many people, including UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, believe that Weidman has the skill set to defeat Silva.
In preparation for the upcoming bout between Silva and Weidman at UFC 162, I went back and watched each of Weidman‘s professional MMA bouts, ranking Weidman‘s performance in each contest.
Chris Leben knows a thing or two about Anderson Silva. After all, it was Leben who welcomed Silva to the promotion back in June 2006. Leben talked a good game before that fight, saying during his pre-fight interview, “After he gets in there with …
Chris Leben knows a thing or two about Anderson Silva. After all, it was Leben who welcomed Silva to the promotion back in June 2006.
Leben talked a good game before that fight, saying during his pre-fight interview, “After he gets in there with me and I knock him out, he may want to go back to Japan or somewhere where the competition is a little easier.”
Forty-nine seconds after the fight began, Silva had his first win in the UFC and has never looked back. Including the victory over Leben, Silva has run off a UFC record 16 consecutive wins in the UFC. Ten of those victories have been UFC middleweight title defenses, another promotional record.
Leben and Silva will both compete at UFC 162. Leben will face Andrew Craig on the preliminary card portion of the show. Silva will put his crown on the line against Chris Weidman in the main event.
Leben recently took some time to discuss the headlining bout on the July 6 card, and it appears that he was not one of the fighters UFC president Dana White spoke to about the fight between Silva and Weidman.
White recently proclaimed, via Mike Bohn of MMAMania.com, “All the pros, when you talk to all the fighters – every fighter out there that I’ve talked too that we’ve interviewed thinks Weidman is going to beat him [Silva]. Georges St. Pierre thinks he’s going to win so much that he didn’t even want to plan to fight Anderson.”
UFC 162 will take place on July 6 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
The moment that the UFC 162 main event was announced, middleweight contender Chris Weidman became the sexy pick to finally dethrone Anderson Silva from his reign as UFC champion. Silva has virtually been untouchable since winning the title back in 200…
The moment that the UFC 162 main event was announced, middleweight contender Chris Weidman became the sexy pick to finally dethrone Anderson Silva from his reign as UFC champion.
Silva has virtually been untouchable since winning the title back in 2006, but the seemingly invincible armor he wore took more than a few dings when he faced Chael Sonnen in two fights between 2010 and 2012.Despite Silva ultimately coming out on top in both fights, Sonnen’s wrestling countered the Brazilian’s laser-like accuracy on the feet for the better part of 25 minutes in total.
So with Weidman carrying a similar background, being a former two-time NCAA All-American wrestler with an added element of a rapidly developing submission game honed under Brazilian jiu-jitsu legends like Renzo Gracie and John Danaher, it’s safe to say the New York native is a popular choice to finish what Sonnen started in his fights with Silva.
“All the pros, like when you talk to all the fighters, every fighter out there that I’ve talked to and that we’ve interviewed think Weidman’s going to beat him,” UFC president Dana Whitesaid recently when speaking to the media about the upcoming UFC 162 main event.“Georges St-Pierre thinks he’s going to win so much that he didn’t even want to plan to fight Anderson.”
White didn’t get a chance to talk to every fighter on the roster because at least one middleweight contender who spent several weeks preparing for Weidman last year doesn’t believe he’s going to walk out of UFC 162 with the title in tow.
“I think Dana’s quote was all the fighters he’s talked to were picking Weidman,” UFC middleweight Tim Boetsch recently told Bleacher Report about the upcoming fight.“He didn’t call me to get my opinion because I’m with Anderson Silva on this one.”
Boetsch was set to face Weidman late last year before the top middleweight contender suffered a shoulder injury that put him into surgery instead of the Octagon.While the fightdid change to a new opponent, Boetsch studied plenty of tape to get familiar with the weapons that Weidman would bring to the table for their fight.
In his opinion, Boetsch believes that it would have done Weidman some good to get more in-cage experience before taking on the greatest fighter of all time with only nine fights to his name
“I’m happy for Chris that he got what he asked for, but I think he’s going to find out he should have taken a little more time to get there, a little more experience,” Boetsch stated.“It would be a surprise for me if he won.”
No one would deny that Weidman has the kind of skills necessary to give Silva problems in a similar way that Sonnen did during their two fights.If Weidman can get the fight to the ground and keep it there, Silva could struggle to get up from under his top control and wrestling game.
A five-round fight is still an awful long time to give Silva opportunities to land that one perfect knockout blow, and Boetsch thinks it will happen at some point before the final horn sounds.
“I think Weidman has the tools to do it, but with the experience and Anderson just being the greatest fighter in the world, I think he’s going to hang onto that title for a little bit longer until I get there to take it away from him,” Boetsch said.
Boetsch will be front and center for the main event because he will also be a part of the UFC 162 card when he faces Mark Munoz that same night.With hopes of jumping back into title contention, Boetsch will look to pick up a win of his own and then sit down and watch the main event between Silva and Weidman unfold.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
Repeat something enough and those words will eventually be viewed as the truth. For quite some time, UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman has been telling all who will listen that he is a bad matchup for longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson …
Repeat something enough and those words will eventually be viewed as the truth.
For quite some time, UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman has been telling all who will listen that he is a bad matchup for longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Not only does Weidman feel he is a bad matchup for Silva but he feels that he has what it takes to become the middleweight champion and cost the UFC a lot of money in the process.
According to UFC president Dana White, “(Weidman) looked me right in the eye and said ‘I’m telling you, I apologize, but I’m going to f**k up all your superfights, but I’m going to win this fight. I’m going to f**k up all your superfights and be your next champion.’” Weidman then added that he would give Silva an immediate rematch at Madison Square Garden.
Well, we know the rematch at MSG is out after New York, once again, refused to take the legalization of MMA in that state to vote.
The other part, the part about “f’ing up the superfights between Silva and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre,” how realistic are those claims? After watching all nine of Weidman’s fights, I just don’t see him having what it takes to dethrone Silva, at least not at this point in his career.
Sure, White has claimed that (via Mike Bohn of MMAMania.com), “All the pros, when you talk to all the fighters—every fighter out there that I’ve talked to whom we’ve interviewed thinks Weidman is going to beat him [Silva]. Georges St. Pierre thinks he’s going to win so much that he didn’t even want to plan to fight Anderson.”
That’s a nice quote—one that will accomplish White’s goal of driving up interest in the upcoming pay-per-view. The quip will get the fans talking about the fight, but St-Pierre is not every fighter.
St-Pierre has trained with Weidman in the past. He’s also a fighter whom the UFC is trying to book to face the larger and dangerous Silva. If you don’t think St-Pierre has reasons to push Weidman as a huge threat to Silva, well, you’re being naïve.
As far as the promo clip the UFC released around the fight, that’s the same deal. It’s trying to convince you to buy the UFC’s product, stringing together a few one-liners to make Weidman into a king killer.
Don’t believe what the UFC is selling you on this fight.
Silva has held the UFC middleweight title since October 14, 2006. He has defended that crown 10 times in a row and remains unbeaten in his last 17 fights, 16 of which have been with the UFC.
Weidman is 9-0 in his career—a career that began nearly three years after Silva defeated Rich Franklin for the middleweight title at UFC 64. If you don’t think that experience is going to play a huge part in this fight, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Silva has seen it all, he’s done it all, and he’s won it all. Weidman has a nice run going, but his two last wins were against an injured Mark Munoz and Demian Maia. The Demian Maia who thought he was a striker, not the Demian Maia who knows he is one of the best submission artists in the sport.
Yes, Weidman’s knockout over Munoz made for great television. It was perfect timing on Weidman’s part, but there’s no way Silva leaves himself open for that type of elbow to the head. He’s not stepping in and swinging wildly like Munoz did; it’s not going to happen.
Weidman’s plan is easy to figure out. He works from distance and uses strikes to set up the takedown. Once he is on the ground, he transitions to side control and looks for submissions, patiently looks for submissions.
The problem for Weidman is not the ground game. If Weidman can get Silva to the mat, he will give the champion problems on the ground.
The problem is his striking to set up the takedown. If Weidman works from distance and fires looping punches, something he has done in almost all of his previous bouts, he will leave himself open to a counter from Silva. If you’ve watched any Anderson Silva fight you know that all it takes is one mistake, one opening, one bad position and the fight is over.
Talk is cheap, and there has been a lot of it around this fight. Most of that talk has come from the challenger and those looking to build up his chances in the July 6 contest against Silva. That’s a smart move from Weidman, and it’s a smart move from the UFC. That talk will build up interest, and it will build up ticket sales, but don’t expect it to turn into reality.
Chris Weidman’s time may come, and it may come in the not too distant future. I just wouldn’t count on that time being July 6 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC 162, set for July 6, will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva. While Silva will enter the match as the decided favorite, there is a sense that Weidman poses a realistic threat to “The Spider’s” r…
While Silva will enter the match as the decided favorite, there is a sense that Weidman poses a realistic threat to “The Spider’s” reign and that the challenger may just give the champion the stiffest test he has faced in quite some time.
Weidman himself believes so, asserting that his own set of skills will prove problematic for Silva.
“He’s a great champion for a reason,” Weidman explained during a pre-fight interview. “But he knows that I’m a really bad matchup, and I’m a tougher opponent than some people might understand.”
With NCAA Division All-American honors, experience competing in an ADCC grappling tournament and a striking arsenal that has visibly grown each time he’s fought, Weidman keys on something important in his assessment.
Silva has fought good grapplers before and beat them. He’s fought good wrestlers and beat them. And he’s fought good strikers and beat them.
But with capable stand-up, power wrestling that is difficult to stop and the submission skills to make his opponent pay for every takedown, Weidman may just prove to be the foil no other fighter has been.
Then again, how many competitors have claimed to be Silva’s kryptonite, only to be quickly dispatched inside the Octagon?
Weidman is confident that won’t happen to him, though, and he plans to prove himself on July 6.
“He’d be a fool not to respect me as a fighter,” Weidman warned. “On July 6, when we step in that cage, he’s going to respect me.”
The moment that the UFC 162 main event was announced, middleweight contender Chris Weidman became the sexy pick to finally dethrone