As the career of a sporting great winds down, we often ask ourselves if we will ever see their likes again.With Anderson Silva rapidly approaching his forties, that same question can now be applied to him—unless his impending mid-life crisis take…
As the career of a sporting great winds down, we often ask ourselves if we will ever see their likes again.
With Anderson Silva rapidly approaching his forties, that same question can now be applied to him—unless his impending mid-life crisis takes the form of protracted mixed martial arts career.
Pele, Sampras, Jordan, Nicklaus, etc. have all come and gone in their respective sports, leaving unsurpassed legacies that we daren’t believe will be bettered—and certainly not in the near future.
However, if there is one thing we have learned from the sporting world it is that athletes are constantly improving.
Pele was followed by Maradona, Sampras was eclipsed by Federer, while Woods seems destined to transcend the achievements of Nicklaus. Sport is a perpetual game of one-upmanship, with records acting as guarantors of immortality.
Anderson Silva’s current 15-fight winning streak inside the Octagon might seem trivial when compared to the unblemished record of a Floyd Mayweather, but MMA and boxing offer different paths for their fighters.
Entry into the exclusive ranks of the UFC guarantees that future opponents will be amongst the best in the world. There is no record padding, no gimmes against journeymen who boast the kind of win-loss record that would make Bob Sapp blush.
If you need proof of this, consider for a moment that Silva’s nearest competitor is on a mere 9-fight run—though Jon Jones should be riding a 12-fight winning streak, but for Steve Mazzagatti’s dreadful officiating.
We can expect the long-reigning middleweight king to extend the gap this Saturday when he faces Stephan Bonnar, further solidifying his already peerless legacy.
For how long will Silva’s career remain the yardstick by which all others are judged?
It might not take as long as you think.
There are at least two fighters on the roster who could challenge the Brazilian’s greatness. The 25-year-old Jones has time on his side and, excluding having to endure a VitorBelfortarmbar, hasn’t looked even remotely close to losing.
The former JUCO national champion wrestler could theoretically hang around in the slightly shallow 205 pound division and punch holes in the competition for a few more years, which would probably get him somewhere close to Silva’s record.
Then there is GSP, who would be the current record holder if he hadn’t been mugged by Matt Serra in 2007.
The Montreal native is still just 31-years-old and, assuming he fully recovers from his knee injury, we can expect him to continue racking up the wins—with the tantalising prospect of a superfight with “The Spider” a very realistic possibility.
These are all ifs and buts, though. Mixed martial arts is an unpredictable sport and we have learned to respect its somewhat chaotic nature.
So can we expect to see another run like Anderson Silva’s? All things come to an end, even those sporting achievements that presently seem almost prohibitively elusive.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira returns to the cage for the first time since Frank Mir broke his arm with a Kimura at UFC 140, and he will be taking on Dave Herman in the co-main event of the evening.Herman will try to end his two-fight slide with a victory o…
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira returns to the cage for the first time since Frank Mir broke his arm with a Kimura at UFC 140, and he will be taking on Dave Herman in the co-main event of the evening.
Herman will try to end his two-fight slide with a victory over the former PRIDE and Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion.
The last time Nogueira competed at the HSBC Arena, he got his first career knockout against Brendan Schaub. Can he replicate his success against Herman, or will “Pee Wee” take out the legend in front of his home crowd?
Here is how the two heavyweights stack up against one another for this Saturday’s contest.
Some people watch sports to cheer their favorites. Others to mercilessly boo athletes they’ve come to despise. If you are one of those people, this series of articles is for you. Do you know you hate Stephan Bonnar but can’t say exactly why? Allow me…
Some people watch sports to cheer their favorites. Others to mercilessly boo athletes they’ve come to despise. If you are one of those people, this series of articles is for you. Do you know you hate Stephan Bonnar but can’t say exactly why? Allow me to help. This is no reflection on Stephan as a person. He might be lovely. But as a TV character his smug face has plagued us way too long. It ends now.
Stephan Bonnar had the whole world within his grasp. It was right there for the taking—fame, fortune, women and legacy. All squandered. Bonnar comes into the main event of UFC 153 dragging a career’s worth of failure behind him, chained to his past like all of us are, a cautionary tale and a story of what might have been.
Bonnar, instead of building to this crescendo, that magical UFC pay-per-view main event, has once again backed into success. Bonnar‘s fight against the great Anderson Silva at UFC 153 wasn’t earned in the cage. Like so many things in his career, it was a gift from the UFC, a thank you for the night seven years ago, a night that saw Bonnar and Forrest Griffin define for many new fans exactly what mixed martial arts is all about.
Bonnar has sucked off the Zuffa teat for his entire career, taken full advantage of all the goodwill he built in 15 magical minutes against Griffin. He’s like the ultimate legacy, a screw up and a failure, but a failure who has the goods on his boss.
UFC President Dana White owes Stephan Bonnar. And, seven years after the first season on The Ultimate Fighter, it’s a debt White is still repaying.
For Griffin, it was the launching point, the first step that eventually led him all the way to the championship of the world. His is a legacy of success, making the most of his limited physical tools and dragging himself all the way to the pinnacle, a UFC title in the sport’s prestige weight class.
For Bonnar, The Ultimate Fighter was a high point. He was never again as relevant, never again mattered. The two men, so evenly matched, saw their career paths diverge so wildly, that it’s easy to forget that there even was a time Stephan Bonnar seemed the more promising of the two.
Bonnar, despite his fearless standup and Carlson Gracie pedigree on the ground, never amounted to anything in the cage. In his professional career, he’s never once beaten an opponent ranked in the top 10. Against the Sam Hogers and Eric Schafers of the sport he’s a monster. Against the cream of the crop? He melts away into nothing.
Of course, failure in sports is commonplace. The pro ranks are filled with college stars who could never adapt to the next level of competition. If that was Stephan Bonnar‘s story, it wouldn’t be especially remarkable. But Bonnar‘s failures have come in all areas of life.
He didn’t just, for example, lose to Forrest Griffin in a 2006 rematch. He lost to Griffin with the proverbial needle dangling, falling short in the cage and in the post-fight drug test. Bonnar tested positive for Boldenone, which would have made sense if he was a horse, seeing as it’s a drug only sold legally by veterinarians. Since he’s a man, it led to a nine-month suspension.
Bonnar, being Bonnar, didn’t even manage to dope right. Hundreds of MMA fighters manage their cycles right and pass athletic commission drug tests with flying colors. Bonnar, instead, chose a drug best known in body building circles for both its effectiveness and for how long it stays in your system. Even when it came to doping, Bonnar could only be bothered to give a smidgen of effort.
Like many fighters, Bonnar looked to supplement his on again, off again paychecks with his own clothing line. A tried and true formula for most fighters. Stephan Bonnar is not “most fighters.” Bonnar managed to come up with a pretty cool idea, presenting himself and his fellow UFC stars as “Garbage Pail Kid” style cartoons.
The problem?
He never got fellow Ultimate Fighter alumnus Josh Koscheck‘s permission to use his image. In fact, he was expressly denied the right to use Koscheck‘s image. He did so anyway, then when sued, challenged the wrestler (who competes at 170 pounds, a full 35 pounds below Bonnar‘s 205) to a fight.
“Words cannot describe how bad I want to kick Josh Koscheck‘s ass right now,” Bonnar said during a UFC Fight Club Q&A session. “Sometimes I can’t sleep at night because I’m up just thinking about all the things I want to do to him – and kick his ass.”
That’s classic Bonnar. He’s so used to being given something for nothing, he actually gets angry when called out for doing the wrong thing. He eventually settled down and offered Koscheck an apology. But his true colors were clear for all to see.
Bonnar, somehow, even managed to botch his own retirement. Citing a desire to fight someone with a lot of Twitter followers, despite Twitter followers being a weird metric easily faked by anyone with $50 and 24 hours, Bonnar kind of, sort of, maybe, said he was done. UFC on Fuel host Jay Glazer attempted to clarify (HT: Cage Potato):
Glazer: “Let’s clear this up. What are you saying here?”
Bonnar: “Hey who knows…um…”
Glazer: “It sounds like you’re saying you’re retiring.”
Bonnar: “Maybe they’ll still let me fight Forrest. Maybe there’s the chance that Rampage wants to fight again. That’s a fight I really wanted too. But, hey, if he doesn’t got a lot of Twitter followers, then maybe it’s God’s way of saying maybe do something else.”
Anderson Silva has more than 2 million Twitter followers. That, it seems, is enough to drag Bonnar back into the cage for a fight no one was demanding. God, it seems, wants to see Stephan Bonnar punched in the face a few more times. I can’t say that idea displeases me either.
Plenty of fans are down for this bout. They expect a televised murder, or an MMA approximation at least. In other words, good clean fun.
The UFC’s commercial for the event seems to be promising a spectacular Silva performance. Bonnar is merely an afterthought, the glorified punching bag, there only to allow Silva a target for his punches and kicks. Here’s hoping that comes to pass.
The best of all possible outcomes here is an easy and exciting Silva win, a fat check to send Bonnar off into retirement and Stephan disappearing from the MMA scene—for real this time.
While the UFC has been struggling with drawing in fans to their live events and pay-per-views, the reason issues have arisen with UFC 153 is because the injury bug continues to devastate the roster.The company will travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on O…
While the UFC has been struggling with drawing in fans to their live events and pay-per-views, the reason issues have arisen with UFC 153 is because the injury bug continues to devastate the roster.
The company will travel to Rio deJaneiro, Brazil on Oct. 13 for their latest PPV, but the hype around a card featuring Anderson Silva is nowhere near where it should be.
Dana White and UFC officials are trying their best to put together a product that MMA fans can get behind, but too many main events have been ruined due to injuries for the company to be considered reliable.
With just a few days until the big event, the UFC is doing their best to build as much hype in this short time period, but so far it has been very unsuccessful.
If Anderson Silva can’t draw a substantial increase in viewers on short notice, no fighter in the UFC will be able to do so.
Full PPV Fight Card
Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Dave Herman
Glover Teixeira vs. Fabio Maldonado
Erick Silva vs. Jon Fitch
Wagner Prado vs. Phil Davis
Demian Maia vs. Rick Story
Fighters That Pulled Out
VitorBelfort—The former UFC Champion was pulled out of his scheduled fight (h/t MMA Junkie) with Alan Belcher to fight Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title at UFC 152. Belfort lost in his title shot, but fans can’t blame him for stepping up to fight a champion when asked by the UFC.
Alan Belcher—While there is no doubt the fans wanted to see Alan Belcher and VitorBelfort, the UFC’s choice to break up this match was a blessing in disguise. Soon after Belcher was told he would not fight Belfort, the MMA veteran announced he had a fractured spine (h/t Belcher’s Twitter).
Rashad Evans—After Quinton Jackson was pulled from the PPV, Dana White and UFC officials asked former champion Rashad Evans if he would be interested in taking the fight against Glover Teixeira, but turned it down due to lack of time to prepare (h/t Rashad Evans’ Twitter).
Geronimo dos Santos—UFC officials announced Geronimo dos Santos would not fight at UFC 153 after being injured, but the company went no further with their explanation (h/t MMA Junkie).
Gabriel Gonzaga—While there was nothing medically wrong with Gabriel Gonzaga, the fight was scratched all together after Geronimo dos Santos pulled out and a viable opponent wasn’t found in time (h/t MMA Junkie).
Frankie Edgar—With Koch out of the main event, the UFC pushed Frankie Edgar to the title fight, but the veteran was also forced out of the fight (h/t MMA Junkie). These injuries are what caused the hastily thrown together main event we have now.
Main Event Prediction
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar
While many fans weren’t expecting to see Anderson Silva headline this Brazilian card, that is the steps that a veteran will take to keep the business that has treated him so well going.
Other top-tier fighters such as Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have turned down mega-fights that could have saved cards because of lack of preparation time, but Silva was willing to put in the extra work to give the MMA fans what they want.
More fighters need to step up just as Silva has done for UFC 153.
With that said being though, more fighters would step up if the caliber of fighter they were scheduled to face was that of Stephan Bonnar. While the former Ultimate Fighter runner-up has been a crowd favorite since Day 1, he doesn’t stand a chance against the much more versatile Silva.
If Bonnar stands and trades shots with Silva, the challenger will find himself knocked out by the end of the first round. Since that is Bonnar’s offensive attack in a nutshell, this fight won’t go very long.
Final Word: Anderson Silva wins via first-round TKO
Phil Davis will try again in his attempt for redemption as he faces off against Wagner Prado.Davis delivered a poke to Prado’s eye, one that rendered Prado unable to continue 1:28 into their bout in August on Fox.He was previously in the UFC on Fox 2 m…
Phil Davis will try again in his attempt for redemption as he faces off against Wagner Prado.
Davis delivered a poke to Prado’s eye, one that rendered Prado unable to continue 1:28 into their bout in August on Fox.
He was previously in the UFC on Fox 2 main event against former light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, taking the five-round decision loss in the process in January.
What will happen in this coming bout and how will Davis get the victory?
Saturday’s UFC 153 main-event battle between Anderson Silva and Stephan Bonnar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will, by no stretch of the imagination, be an evenly contested affair.The UFC middleweight champion, who will be making the move to light heavywei…
Saturday’s UFC 153 main-event battle between Anderson Silva and Stephan Bonnar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will, by no stretch of the imagination, be an evenly contested affair.
The UFC middleweight champion, who will be making the move to light heavyweight once again, is the astronomically heavy favorite over “the American Pyscho” in this late-replacement main event.
While anything can happen in MMA, it will take a miracle for The Ultimate Fighter veteran to pull out the upset.
Let’s take a look at just how unevenly matched Silva and Bonnar are in this bout.
As the career of a sporting great winds down, we often ask ourselves if we will ever see their likes again.