UFC 147 Results: Where Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin Go Following Fight

Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin stole the show at UFC 147 Saturday night. It was Franklin who defeated Silva, but it was a great battle to watch.Now that both aging stars put on a quality performance, where do they go from here?I’ll tell you. Wa…

Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin stole the show at UFC 147 Saturday night. It was Franklin who defeated Silva, but it was a great battle to watch.

Now that both aging stars put on a quality performance, where do they go from here?

I’ll tell you.

 

Wanderlei Silva

Silva looked better than he has in years when he fought Franklin at UFC 147. He had vicious power and intensity, and he took a few more shots that didn’t seem to bother him as much as we have seen in the past.

It now leaves the door open for his immediate future. 

 

Where He Goes Next

It depends on where he chooses to go next with his career. He could have one more fight, a couple more fights or just retire altogether.

I’m more in the line of though that he will participate in a couple more fights, however.

The UFC hasn’t been great to Silva in terms of success. He has endured his share of struggles in the company, so I can see him wanting to grab another victory to tuck in his belt before heading into retirement.

At 35, Silva still has some years left in him if he decides to go that route. It may not be several fights per year, but maybe two would be an ideal number.

You will see Silva in the Octagon at least one more time in his career. 

 

Rich Franklin

Franklin’s value as a fighter in the UFC never has been lower than it was before UFC 147. However, with a victory that made him look younger, more agile, quicker and improved cardiovascularly, he has a few more quality fights left in the tank.

After falling off the map for a little while in the UFC, Franklin now has a little momentum heading into potential future fights in the company.

They are fights that I think he will take on.

 

Where He Goes Next

Franklin will look to fight in the relative future. Who, where and when will all be decided sometime, but he’s not done quite yet.

It’s like that older athlete who has a great performance in one game or a solid year and believes he could follow it up. At age 37, Franklin just had that solid performance, and he too believes he can follow it up with another one.

Why not? He looked pretty good Saturday night.

He could do it at least one more time. 

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Silva vs. Franklin: Wanderlei Silva Must Retire After UFC 147 Loss

Wanderlei “the Axe Murderer” Silva should retire after he lost in embarrassing fashion to Rich Franklin at UFC 147. Silva lost to Franklin by a wide margin of 49-46 on all three cards at last night’s event and looked like a shell of his former self aga…

Wanderlei “the Axe Murderer” Silva should retire after he lost in embarrassing fashion to Rich Franklin at UFC 147. Silva lost to Franklin by a wide margin of 49-46 on all three cards at last night’s event and looked like a shell of his former self against the quicker, stronger opponent.

Silva was once a great fighter, starting his career off at an excellent 31-5-1 and winning multiple titles. However, since 2006, the Brazilian legend hasn’t been the same. He’s gone 3-7 since ’06. While his three wins were against Keith Jardine, Michael Bisping and Cung Le, he has lost by KO in four of the seven matches and by embarrassing unanimous decisions in the other three.

The UFC 147 match with Franklin is telling of Silva’s career as a whole. He came out strong and competitive early on and had a flash of greatness toward the middle of the fight. However, as the fight wore on, Silva started to get less and less effective. By the end of the fight, Silva was looking for that one big shot and knockout blow. Unfortunately for Silva, it never came.

There is also the question of who fights Silva next? and that is where the entire problem for Dana White begins. Should Silva fight Vitor Belfort for his last hurrah? Should he take on a younger fighter like Alexander Gustafsson to help him achieve success, much like a WWE wrestler would? Personally, I think it makes sense to see Silva go out with a bang and get a title shot. 

After losing seven of his last 10 fights, he isn’t worthy of a title shot and should have one last hurrah against the younger Gustafsson after he finally gets his match with Belfort. White isn’t as creative in his cards, though, and will likely have Silva fight until he just says he can’t take any more of it. 

Silva has given the UFC name someone to be proud of in his career, but at this point, he is just wasting White’s time and money as a headliner. He’s 35 years old and in the prime of his life and should be spending it with family instead of getting dominated by a middleweight. His best bet is to hang up the gloves and turn himself into the best trainer the UFC has seen.

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Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin Results: Why Silva Should Call It Quits

It almost happened. For the first time in nearly six years, former Pride standout Wanderlei Silva almost won back-to-back fights. Unfortunately for the fan favorite in Silva, he wasn’t able to finish the dazed and confused Rich Franklin despite a rapid…

It almost happened.

For the first time in nearly six years, former Pride standout Wanderlei Silva almost won back-to-back fights. Unfortunately for the fan favorite in Silva, he wasn’t able to finish the dazed and confused Rich Franklin despite a rapid attack in the second frame of UFC 147‘s main event.

Silva would go on to lose the next three rounds where he saw yet another immeasurable opportunity slip away. Silva had fallen again.

When the judges reached their decision, there were few in the world who were surprised to see Franklin’s hand raised via unanimous decision. It was a clear-cut decision and Silva knew it.

Following the loss, the critics hit the social media market questioning whether or not the all-time great in Silva should call it quits to a historical career. And, the answer to that question is very simple. Yes.

There was a time in Silva’s career where he mauled through opponents, quickly becoming recognized as MMA‘s most dangerous fighter. Silva established a legacy that couldn’t possibly be broken as he was able to reel off 18 straight fights without a loss.

Or could it?

Now, at 35 years old, Silva is clearly well past his glory days. Since joining the UFC at UFC 87 to take on heavy-hitting Chuck Liddell, Silva has lost five of his eight UFC fights. No longer is Silva living on his dangerous striking and rapid approach, but merely a fading reputation from his early days in Pride.

While Silva will always be remembered as one of the greatest martial artists of all time, his days as a legitimate contender in any promotion have quickly come to pass.

As his reputation will begin to tarnish, Wanderlei Silva needs to call it quits.

 

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

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UFC 147: Hacran Dias Impressive in Easy Victory over Yuri Alcantara

Hacran Dias easily defeated Yuri Alcantara in the first fight of the main card at UFC 147 on Saturday, winning a unanimous decision from the judges, who scored the fight 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.It wasn’t close at all. Dias had one scary moment, though…

Hacran Dias easily defeated Yuri Alcantara in the first fight of the main card at UFC 147 on Saturday, winning a unanimous decision from the judges, who scored the fight 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.

It wasn’t close at all. Dias had one scary moment, though, when he managed to avoid getting beaten in the second round. Alcantara managed to catch him in an arm bar, but he wiggled out of it in the nick of time.

From the get-go, Dias had control of the action. He used his superior strength and leverage to drag Alcantara to the mat several times throughout the match, where most of the action took place. It wasn’t until late in the third round that Alcantara really did anything to score, and by that time the match was already over.

To be honest, Dias had so much control over the fight that it was rather boring towards the end, unless you enjoy the nuances of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He landed some heavy punches and a ton of rabbit punches, but for the most part he never hurt Alcantara.

It was a methodical, surgical assault on an inferior opponent. Nothing more. Nothing less. What it does for Dias, though, is continue to vault him up the UFC featherweight ranks. He has proven to be a highly-skilled fighter over the course of his young career, and he deserves to continue working his way towards a possible title fight in the near future.

Dias will get his chances. He has only lost one fight in his career, and his nine straight victories since that single loss were all impressive. Look for Dias to continue showing up on main cards in UFC events as time goes on.

 

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UFC 147 Results: Is Wanderlei Silva Still a Title Contender?

It might sound harsh, but when has Wanderlei Silva ever been a title contender in the UFC? Never. On the back of some truly violent victories, “The Axe Murderer” arrived from the now-defunct PRIDE FC to the gates of the Zuffa headquarters a…

It might sound harsh, but when has Wanderlei Silva ever been a title contender in the UFC? Never.

On the back of some truly violent victories, “The Axe Murderer” arrived from the now-defunct PRIDE FC to the gates of the Zuffa headquarters and cataclysmically imploded on impact.

The Brazilian’s first stint in the UFC produced a record of 1-2. His current résumé for said promotion reads: won three and lost five.

The erstwhile PRIDE middleweight champion’s second spell in the company was anything but title-contention material—a loss to Chuck Liddell was followed by a Keith Jardine victory, and then came successive defeats at the hands of Quinton Jackson and Rich Franklin.

His next three outings were more or less the same—triumphant against Michael Bisping, starched by Chris Leben and then he went on to steamroll Cung Le.

At UFC 147, in his rematch with Franklin, the 35-year-old former lethal assassin fought his heart out, and to boot, wore his heart on his sleeve several times over.

However, nothing came to fruition, as “Ace” took home the unanimous decision win to deny Silva a run of consistency.

And that’s the crux of the matter—Silva lacks and has lacked the consistency to get a whiff of the UFC’s Holy Grail, and that’s due to his win/loss ratio. With that record, it is mathematically incorrect to even suggest a tilt at the middleweight title or any belt for that matter would be in the offing.

Now if Silva (34-12-1-1NC MMA, 4-7 UFC) had defeated Franklin and registered two or more wins on the trot against high-calibre opponents, then maybe he might have been in with a shout for title contention, but as things stand, that ship has long sailed for The Axe Murderer.

 

For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.

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UFC 147 Results: What’s Next for Mike Russow?

Mike Russow was quickly battered and finished by a surging Fabricio Werdum at UFC 147, with the Brazilian more than willing to show off his improved striking skills.  Werdum used heavyweight Russow as a stepping stone to claw his way toward title …

Mike Russow was quickly battered and finished by a surging Fabricio Werdum at UFC 147, with the Brazilian more than willing to show off his improved striking skills. 

Werdum used heavyweight Russow as a stepping stone to claw his way toward title contention, but he will likely need another fight in the process.

Meanwhile, Russow entered the UFC Octagon in hostile territory. He was was punished and clearly overmatched against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. 

He lost to a heavyweight fighter really close to competing for the UFC heavyweight title, so it’s hard to see where he truly stands in the division.

Still, there was a lot more expected from him, and he simply couldn’t come close to delivering. It’s hard to figure out what to do with Russow now, as he clearly shouldn’t have anything to do with a fighter in the top 10 or 15.    

The UFC could match him up with the winner (or loser) from the Ben Rothwell vs. Travis Browne fight at UFC on Fox 4 in early August. 

If the UFC wants him to fight for his UFC career, perhaps a fight against Mark Hunt or Brendan Schaub can be arranged.

Of course, Pat Barry is always looking to try and kick someone’s legs off in a fight, and Lavar Johnson just lost to Stefan Struve and might make for an interesting matchup.

It’s truly hard to tell what the UFC will do with Russow, as he isn’t anywhere near the top 15 heavyweights in MMA

They should give him another fight—he did decide to accept a fight with Werdum in Brazil—but they don’t have a reason to keep him around if he loses one more fight.

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