UFC 147 | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 147: Why Wanderlei Silva Must Retire After Loss to Rich Franklin

A rematch from UFC 99, Rich Franklin versus Wanderlei Silva headlined UFC 147. It was an exciting match that left fans realizing Silva’s time might be coming to an end in MMA.Their last fight went to the scorecards, with Franklin coming out victorious….

A rematch from UFC 99, Rich Franklin versus Wanderlei Silva headlined UFC 147. It was an exciting match that left fans realizing Silva’s time might be coming to an end in MMA.

Their last fight went to the scorecards, with Franklin coming out victorious. Instead of being able to learn from his mistakes and hold the fate of this fight in his own hands, Silva once again let the judges decide.

And once again it didn’t work out for him.

Silva rocked Franklin toward the end of the second round and almost had the former champion beat, but Franklin would ride out the storm the remainder of the round and survived the onslaught.

That would be the last time Silva would control this bout.

Franklin would slowly climb back into the fight and began scoring points with solid strikes and a few key take downs. It was Franklin’s pace that was the difference in this fight as a clearly gassed Silva had used all his energy trying to knock Franklin out in the second round.

Silva would make one last-ditch effort to save the fight, but to no avail. Franklin took the victory and thus begins his march back to the front of the middleweight division for one final title run.

The loss for Silva was a harsh reminder that he will never be the fighter he once was. Silva didn’t have much gas in the tank to begin with and was outworked by Franklin in nearly ever round. Franklin was the quicker fighter and easily controlled the pace of this fight.

Once Silva exerted all his energy into whiffing at a knockout against Franklin, “The Axe Murderer” slowed down considerably and proved he is but a one-trick pony. From there on, the once-vibrant Silva changed from hopeful to hopeless all in the span of a round.

Even before his second-round exploits, Silva wasn’t moving well. The near knockout only made it worse. He looked old and slow for the rest of the fight, making it easy for Franklin to score points and take the decision.

Silva is now 2-4 in his last six fights and doesn’t have a very promising future ahead of him. This loss will undoubtedly send him back to the bottom of the barrel in the division and dash any career-ending title hopes he might have had.

At this point, The Axe Murderer doesn’t have much reason left to fight other than money. There is nothing left to realistically accomplish, nor is there anything to prove.

Silva has defeated some of the greatest fighters ever to step into an MMA ring. He is a first-ballot Hall of Famer in the UFC as well as any other fighting organization he has been in.

The last thing his fans want to see is for their favorite fighter to get his brains beat in over and over again. Losing to Rich Franklin isn’t exactly something to be proud of since Franklin is at the tail end of his career as well.

Silva is no more than a measuring stick for new fighters coming into the UFC and that is a far cry from what the former champion used to be. It’s time to go out with dignity.

What better time than now for The Axe Murderer?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 147 Franklin vs. Silva Results: Grades for the Main Card

UFC 147 is in the books, so let’s take a look at the entire main card and grade the fighters. In the main event Rich Franklin defeated Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision. Some fans online were trying to make the case for the fight being a draw. Thos…

Rony Jason and Cezar Ferreira closed out a fantastic season of the Ultimate Fighter: Brazil to become the first two champions of the series.

And finally Fabricio Werdum became the first man to stop Mike Russow in the UFC. He hopes to fight Junior dos Santos for a chance at redemption.

With the fights over, let’s who walked away with the highest scores.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 147 Results: Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin Redefine Courage in Brazil

There are a lot of big sets of…courage in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It takes cajones just to step into the cage at all, daring to take the best another man has to give. Every fighter who steps up and competes has a special place in my heart…

Without their certifiable indifference for their own health and well being, we wouldn’t have a sport at all. But even among this collection of lunatics, Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin stand out. At UFC 147 in Brazil on Saturday night, they did it in distinct ways.

Silva dropped his hands as the fifth and final round drew near its end, signaled to Franklin he was coming and then charged forward, throwing crazy, looping punches, ready to live or die. He didn’t seem to care which, simply demanding one or the other. Demanding that something—anything—happen that makes the fans and both fighters feel alive.

Fists flew and Silva ended up knocked to one knee. True to character, that didn’t seem to faze him. He was just glad to have the energy, the blood, flowing through his veins.

For Franklin, just taking the fight on short notice was a sign of incredible bravery. On just two weeks’ notice, Franklin stepped in for an injured Vitor Belfort to take on the legendary Wanderlei Silva. In Silva’s home country of Brazil. That’s a man with either courage, confidence, a crack habit or all of the above.

Franklin tasted the best Silva had to offer; the former Pride champion knocked him down toward the end of the second round and pounced with a fury that made Shane Carwin’s sustained attack on Brock Lesnar look measured and controlled.

Franklin, like Lesnar, never stopped fighting. Despite telling announcer Joe Rogan after the fight that he couldn’t remember the third and fourth rounds, the former UFC middleweight champion controlled the action in both. It proved to be all the difference, earning Franklin a unanimous decision.

For Silva, it was a fight he could be proud of, even if it ends up being his last. He was still “Wanderlei Silva,” if only in spurts and not for the whole fight. He finished the bout in a blaze of glory, recklessly charging forward and making Franklin, who was in flight mode, stand and fight until the final bell.

It was vintage Wanderlei Silva—glorious violence personified. It was beautiful—beautiful and amazingly stupid. His fans, whether he wins or loses, wouldn’t have it any other way. We can live with Silva going down, with him being outgunned, so long as he expends all his bullets on his way to the mat.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 147: What We Learned from Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin

The rematch at UFC 147 between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva was a fight MMA fans could get excited about, as we all expected a slugfest between the two veterans. Throughout the 25-minute fight over five rounds, that’s exactly what MMA fans were a…

Both fighters have uncertain futures in the UFC Octagon and they brought everything they had into the cage with them on Saturday. Not surprisingly, both fighters also won themselves a $65,000 Fight of the Night bonus, according to UFC President Dana White (via Yahoo! Sports).

What We’ll Remember About This Fight

Yet another battle between two former champions absolutely interested in bringing it. Silva looked to have the fight finished in the second round, but appeared to burn himself out after he was unable to get the finish.

Interestingly, Franklin admitted he didn’t remember the third and fourth rounds, but snapped out of it when his coaches told him he was heading into the fifth round.

What We Learned About Rich Franklin

Franklin is a warrior. Against most fighters, the Brazilian would have won a second-round TKO. Instead, Franklin kept working at defending himself and kept moving to indicate to the referee that he was trying to intelligently defend himself.

What We Learned About Wanderlei Silva

He can still rock fighters and his chin hasn’t completely dissolved. Franklin hit Silva with some hard shots, but he looked okay absorbing most of those shots. I don’t know if Silva wants to enter into too many more complete standup battles like he did vs. Franklin, but it seems like that fighting style is in his DNA.

What’s Next For Rich Franklin

The UFC company man hopes to make another run toward the middleweight title before retirement, but we’ll see what happens next. I find it amazing that Franklin wants another piece of Anderson Silva.

What’s Next For Wanderlei Silva

No idea. Silva said he still wants a piece of Vitor Belfort, and the UFC could promote that fight even though Silva lost a unanimous decision (again) to Franklin. I still don’t like the thought of Silva fighting Belfort, so we’ll see what the UFC decides to do with Silva.

The UFC would also be able to market a fight against Chael Sonnen if Sonnen loses his rematch to Anderson Silva at UFC 148 in two weeks. Silva’s chin survived the fight with Franklin tonight, but I’m not so sure he can endure a potential three-round standup war again.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Silva vs. Franklin: 5 Key Takeaways from the UFC 147 Main Event

Rich Franklin marched into Wanderlei Silva’s home country and earned a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian at UFC 147 on Saturday night. Here are five main takeaways from the bout… Rich Franklin Really Has Nothing to Prove Seriou…

Rich Franklin marched into Wanderlei Silva’s home country and earned a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian at UFC 147 on Saturday night. Here are five main takeaways from the bout…

Rich Franklin Really Has Nothing to Prove

Seriously. Rich Franklin is one of the most underrated, underappreciated fighters in UFC history, but he has done everything one could expect out of him. He has fought, and beaten, legends in the sport and is yet to become the sort of drag Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz were since leaving their prime.

He is one of the UFC’s best champions and is, rightfully, one of the fighters that Dana White chooses to highlight to MMA’s naysayers. There is nothing to say about Rich Franklin that is not positive. His win tonight was just a bonus.

Wanderlei Silva Does Not Want to Stop Fighting

Dana White tried to nudge Wanderlei into the old-folks home after he was knocked out hard by Chris Leben last year. He bought himself some time by beating Cung Le, but Silva is channeling his inner-Tito Ortiz lately by calling out Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen in…ahem…less-than-flattering ways.

Right now, Silva is not in their league. He almost certainly will not fight either, especially after the loss he just suffered. But he is very intelligently playing the game and trying to keep himself relevant enough to remain on the minds of fans…he just needs to set his sights a little bit lower.

Rich Franklin Has a Remarkable Chin

Seriously. Think about Chuck Liddell toward the end of his career. Fighters that are not dedicated wrestlers like Vladimir Matyushenko rarely end up being able to take a punch once they reach a certain point.

Rich Franklin, though, ended up eating punches, kicks and knees that would have put out far younger fighters, never even mind a 37-year-old like himself. The fact that he could even stand after the onslaught in the second round shows how special a fighter he is.

Both of These Fighters Should be Commended for Their Gas Tanks

Remember Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman? Remember how they both gassed out really, really badly after about two rounds?

Now think about how Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva, at their respective advanced ages, just put out five strong rounds each. This is to the credit of both of these legends, for sure. It should also be to the shame of the younger fighters who cannot even achieve half of this.

Dana White’s Efforts to Force Out Wanderlei Silva Were Premature

The NFL is in some very hot water for their poor handling of players who had been concussed. After seeing Wanderlei Silva get put onto the mat, and stay there, was scary. No doubt.

That said, Silva clearly has something left in him, and he deserves at least one more fight, even after the loss. There is no shortage of fighters that would love the opportunity to face Wanderlei Silva, and given the fact that he was able to take a fair amount of punishment from Franklin, it is possible that he may not be as fragile as many (including this writer) thought.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 147 Results: Cezar Ferreira Defeats Sergio Moraes

In what was a bout between two seemingly evenly matched opponents, Cezar Ferreira defeated Sergio Moraes in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil middleweight tournament at UFC 147. The victory promises to propel Ferreira to bigger and better thing…

In what was a bout between two seemingly evenly matched opponents, Cezar Ferreira defeated Sergio Moraes in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil middleweight tournament at UFC 147. The victory promises to propel Ferreira to bigger and better things, but it may be equally as damaging for the talented Moraes.

This was an exciting bout, full of knockdowns and huge kicks and elbows. Ultimately, Ferreira won with a unanimous decision.

The card took place at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, so it was a homecoming of sorts for both men. The crowd was split for the Brazilian stars, just like it was for much of the night, so it made for a fantastic atmosphere that ensured that a big fight felt like exactly that.

Ferreira was initially supposed to face Daniel Sarafian in the finals, but he was forced to pull out due to injury. That opened the door for Moraes, as he was presented with a golden opportunity, but Ferreira was able to persevere. Ferreira was likely at a disadvantage since he had to change his preparation, but that didn’t show in his performance.

Ferreira entered The Ultimate Fighter Brazil with just a 4-2 career record and was knocked out in 25 seconds by Elvis Mutapcic in his last professional fight. Ferreira was dominant for Team Belfort, however, as he defeated Gustavo Sampaio, Leonardo Maccarao and Thiago Perpetuo en route to the tournament finals.

Moraes lost to Sarafian by way of first-round knockout in the semifinals, but he was gifted a spot against Ferreira. Unfortunately for Moraes, however, he was unable to take advantage of his good fortune. Ferreira built off the momentum he created in his previous three fights, while Moraes obviously wasn’t able to rebound from the loss to Sarafian.

The win figures to reach Ferreira to new heights, as he is a rising star in the MMA-crazed country of Brazil. There are plenty of options for him to fight in the stacked middleweight division and it will be interesting to see if he has what it takes to sustain his success. His first foray into the professional ranks wasn’t overlay successful, but he has grown a lot as a fighter throughout this process.

The Ultimate Fighter Brazil may very well have been the stepping stone that Ferreira needed to get on track, and it appears as though he now has an extremely bright future. Time will tell if he takes advantage of what he has learned and accomplished, but for now his win over Moraes should be celebrated.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com