UFC 162 was not only the most electrifying card of 2013, but perhaps one of the best in the organization’s history. And that isn’t solely due to Chris Weidman’s knockout of Anderson Silva The last few pay-per-view events have been fairly lack…
UFC 162 was not only the most electrifying card of 2013, but perhaps one of the best in the organization’s history. And that isn’t solely due to Chris Weidman’s knockout of Anderson Silva
The last few pay-per-view events have been fairly lackluster. UFC 161, in particular, stands out as a real stinker with nine of the 11 bouts going to the judges’ scorecards.
However, that was not the case with UFC 162—MMA Mania reports that the event is currently on pace for 800,000 buys.
The event was chock-full of amazing fights from top to bottom. Even the fights that went the distance were exciting. If Tim Kennedy’s out-grappling of Roger Gracie is the most “boring” part of the card, then that’s one heck of a night.
Truthfully, the whole card was awesome, but these were the most impressive performances from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“The Answer” is once again in the title hunt at 145 pounds following his victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 162. It was Frankie Edgar’s first three-round bout in four years. The spirited featherweight and former lightweight champion looke…
“The Answer” is once again in the title hunt at 145 pounds following his victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 162. It was Frankie Edgar’s first three-round bout in four years. The spirited featherweight and former lightweight champion looked as potent a competitor as ever.
Edgar was more than Oliveira could handle. To his credit, the 23-year-old submission artist held on strong and survived a third-round beating that would have left lesser fighters on the floor.
Frankie nabs another win in his already impressive career. No sooner was his hand raised than a flood of questions came pouring in. What is next for Edgar? Should he receive a title shot? Is 135 pounds a possibility?
Five plausible potential bouts sit in front of the featherweight contender. Only time will tell which, if any, he chooses to take.
UFC 162 saw plenty of twists and turns throughout the card. None bigger, of course, than Chris Weidman pulling off the huge upset against Anderson Silva in the main event.Prior to that, fans witnessed some great fights. Frankie Edgar, Tim Kennedy, Mark…
UFC 162 saw plenty of twists and turns throughout the card. None bigger, of course, than Chris Weidman pulling off the huge upset against Anderson Silva in the main event.
Prior to that, fans witnessed some great fights. Frankie Edgar, Tim Kennedy, Mark Munoz and Cub Swanson all found their hands raised at the end of their fights.
For those men, it’s pretty clear as to what’s next; moving up the UFC ladder to face stiffer competition.
But what about the guys who came out on the losing end? What’s next for fighters like Charles Oliveira, who arguably could be considered a winner based on his performance, or Roger Gracie, who looked like he belonged on a regional show rather than in the Octagon?
With a card featuring many fights in the same weight class, the “what’s next” question is fairly simple after UFC 162.
There certainly wasn’t a shortage of surprises at UFC 162, with the biggest being Chris Weidman’s mind-blowing knockout win over Anderson Silva.The MMA world exploded on Saturday night after Weidman knocked off arguably the greatest fighter of all time…
There certainly wasn’t a shortage of surprises at UFC 162, with the biggest being Chris Weidman‘s mind-blowing knockout win over Anderson Silva.
The MMA world exploded on Saturday night after Weidman knocked off arguably the greatest fighter of all time and ended a near-seven-year run. For generations to come, the world will look back on this bout as one of MMA’s great upsets.
The outcome was unforeseeable to even those bold enough to pick Weidman to win the fight. There was plenty of humble pie to go around after he dropped Silva with a left hook and dived in with a right hand to finish.
Weidman wasn’t the only fighter making history on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
A former heavyweight title contender netted the third-fastest knockout in the history of the heavyweight division. A spectacular knockout by a certain featherweight threw another monkey wrench in the UFC title picture, and at lightweight, one fighter proved he doesn’t even need punches to earn a TKO.
Perhaps even stranger than Anderson Silva losing inside the Octagon at UFC 162 to Chris Weidman was his post-fight talk with Joe Rogan.Most fighters who lose immediately go back to the drawing board with the intention of vindicating themselves for a ba…
Perhaps even stranger than Anderson Silva losing inside the Octagon at UFC 162 to Chris Weidman was his post-fight talk with Joe Rogan.
Most fighters who lose immediately go back to the drawing board with the intention of vindicating themselves for a bad performance. Silva didn’t seem to even care about the fact he’d just lost the UFC title along with a taking a major hit to his UFC legacy.
In fact I’m not sure Silva cared less about the actual fight or about what’s next. It’s understandable that Silva would be a little lost. After all, “The Spider” hadn’t lost (legitimately) a MMA bout since 2004. Once Silva is allowed to step away from the cameras for a little bit, I suspect we (along with himself) will have a much clearer picture of what’s next.
It should be pretty elementary as to what’s next. Dana White pushed the fact that if Silva were to lose at UFC 162, he’d get an immediate rematch. Nobody could argue that Silva doesn’t deserve one after how dominant he was prior to facing Weidman and White would surely would love the pay-per-view buys Silva-Weidman II would bring.
However, Silva made it seem as though he was done with the UFC middleweight title and possibly hinted at wanting to make a superfight happen. Understandably, Silva wants to make as much money as possible with the limited time he has left in MMA. Unfortunately for “The Spider.” those big paydays are nonexistent right now.
I’ve seen the idea of Silva facing Michael Bisping in England as a possible big money fight for the Brazilian should he really have no interest in facing Weidman. That makes sense, but the take-home pay from facing Bisping would be chump change compared to what he’d make from the proposed superfights against Jon Jones or Georges St-Pierre.
If Silva really has no interest in facing Weidman, I don’t see very many avenues for him to continue his MMA career. He’s accomplished everything a fighter could possibly do and will go down as one of, if not the best, fighter of all time. Muddling around in non-title fights is not something Silva should engage in for the final days of his career.
We’ve seen plenty of MMA legends fall while attempting to reclaim their lost glory. Silva should fight Weidman one more time and retire following that regardless of how that fight pans out. If he loses, then hey it’s pretty clear his time has passed. If Silva wins a rematch I believe he’s smart enough to realize going out on top and not becoming a human punching bag would be in his best interest.
The narrative of Anderson SIlva’s UFC 162 loss to Chris Weidman is hypocritical to comical proportions. In an article blaming Silva’s hubris for the upset loss, seasoned hypocrite Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports said of Silva’s loss:Anderson Silva em…
The narrative of Anderson SIlva’s UFC 162 loss to Chris Weidman is hypocritical to comical proportions. In an article blaming Silva’s hubris for the upset loss, seasoned hypocrite Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports said of Silva’s loss:
Anderson Silva embarrassed himself and disrespected the sport that made him rich and famous.
USA Today claimed that Sliva “showed little respect to opponent Chris Weidman.” MMA Mania stated “Arrogance caught up to Anderson Silva” en route to his first career loss in the Octagon. Even Chris Weidman was caught on camera calling Anderson Silva a “disrespectful piece of s–t.” A poll with more options than a buffet line on MMA Torch revealed that the majority of readers—33 percent to be exact—felt elated with Silva’s loss since they hated Silva’s clowning.
The lemming-like sentiment continued on Twitter, The Internet’s short bus:
Remember Kevin Iole‘s claim of Anderson Silva embarrassing the sport of MMA after his hands-down loss to Weidman? Here’s that exact same Kevin Iole, following a Silva victory using the exact same strategy:
Anderson Silva, the UFC’s reigning middleweight champion, recorded one of the most sensational victories of his career by knocking out former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin with a jab while Silva was backpedaling.
That bout at UFC 101 saw Silva clown and taunt Griffin like an overzealous street baller at Rucker Park. At one point, Silva mockingly offered to help Griffin to his feet after knocking him down. Iole went on to call the victory “one of the most astounding knockouts of [Silva’s] career.”
Words such as “disrespect,” “arrogance” and “hubris” were nowhere to be found.
In fact, the post-fight narrative of UFC 101 was universally glowing praise of Silva’s dominance, or “MMA mastery” as Bloody Elbow referred to Silva’s clowning at the time.
Silva has received comparisons to Muhammad Ali with his daring, flamboyant style of defense (or lack thereof) mixed with deadly striking ability. But mastery has turned to malice, with the only variable being the outlying result of a strategy once considered awe-inspiring.
Noting the use of the word “strategy” is very important for purposes of perspective. Following Silva’s loss, Joe Rogan adopted a reprimanding tone as he complained that no other fighter is taught to put his or her hands down and dodge punches the way Silva does.
The answer to that dilemma is simple. There is no other fighter like Anderson Silva.
Silva’s tactic to goad fighters into punching him falls perfectly into his plan. He’s the greatest counter-striker of all time. Convincing a fighter to engage with Silva will only facilitate the Spider’s elite counter attack, as has been the case many times in his seven-year reign.
Silva’s clowning has worked especially well against American fighters, who are typically more aggressive and prone to letting ego and pride get the best of them. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar both fell victim to his counter-striking as a direct result of their foolish insistence on taking the bait when Silva dropped his hands.
Following the countless occasions where clowning has worked, Anderson Silva was Muhammad Ali. The one time it didn’t, the irrational drive-by media has deemed him Roy Jones Jr.
Disrespect, arrogance, boredom and the litany of excuses used to over-explain Silva’s loss are simply residual effects of delusion brought on by a disbelief of Anderson Silva’s reported demise.
A risky strategy simply backfired. The fact that he was able to use it effectively for so long isn’t karma coming back to bite Anderson Silva. It is a reminder that Silva’s other-worldly talent is the reason it worked.
The narrative of Anderson SIlva’s