UFC 162 is now just hours away, you potato heads. So, we’re bringing you a collection of UFC 162-related videos to help you get through the pre-game home stretch.
After the jump you’ll find video of yesterday’s weigh-ins, the full Countdown to UFC 162, Dana White‘s pre UFC 162 media scrum and Joe Rogan holding court and taking questions from fans at the UFC 162 Q&A. Short of video footage of Dave Herman peeing in a cup 63 times in order to get cleared to fight at UFC 162, we’re not sure what else there is out there.
So quit complaining and start pissing off your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife early by making UFC 162 an all-day event. All videos after the jump.
UFC 162 is now just hours away, you potato heads. So, we’re bringing you a collection of UFC 162-related videos to help you get through the pre-game home stretch.
After the jump you’ll find video of yesterday’s weigh-ins, the full Countdown to UFC 162, Dana White‘s pre UFC 162 media scrum and Joe Rogan holding court and taking questions from fans at the UFC 162 Q&A. Short of video footage of Dave Herman peeing in a cup 63 times in order to get cleared to fight at UFC 162, we’re not sure what else there is out there.
So quit complaining and start pissing off your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife early by making UFC 162 an all-day event. All videos after the jump.
Anderson “The Spider” Silva enters Saturday’s UFC middleweight championship defense against “Supernatural” Chris Weidman as a fairly substantial favorite, but there is reason to believe that the undefeated Weidman will give Silva everything he can hand…
Anderson “The Spider” Silva enters Saturday’s UFC middleweight championship defense against “Supernatural” Chris Weidman as a fairly substantial favorite, but there is reason to believe that the undefeated Weidman will give Silva everything he can handle and perhaps even come away with a huge upset win.
The 38-year-old Silva has a long and storied history in mixed martial arts, so his reputation precedes him. Fans have seen him win big fights on so many occasions that they seemingly expect him to come through with ease. Silva is still in phenomenal shape, but conventional wisdom states that age will catch up with him eventually.
Whether or not it happens against Weidman remains to be seen, but Weidman is clearly no pushover. His big disadvantage lies in experience, as he has had just nine professional fights compared to Silva’s 37. Weidman has an unblemished record, though, and that is something that will likely be on the mind of Silva.
With that said, Silva has a pretty impressive run of his own going. The Brazilian star hasn’t lost a fight since he was disqualified for an illegal upkick against YushinOkami in 2006. That means he is currently in the midst of a 17-fight unbeaten streak. You have to go back even further to find the last time Silva suffered a legitimate loss, when RyoChonan forced him to submit way back in 2004.
Silva has beaten some pretty big names during his win streak, including Forrest Griffin, VitorBelfort and ChaelSonnen. All of them are great fighters in their own right, but they faced Silva due to their name recognition rather than merit. Weidman has clearly earned this bout and will be Silva’s toughest test in a very long time.
Although Silva has never been known as a guy who backs down from a fight, Weidman has been very vocal about Silva’s reluctance to fight him. According to radio personality Jim Rome, Weidman told him that UFC essentially had to force Silva to agree to the fight.
That could very easily be a tactic on Weidman‘s part to throw Silva off his game, but it stands to reason that Silva may have preferred opponents other than Weidman. Most of Silva’s opponents in recent years have been established guys, so Silva knew what he was going to get. Weidman is a wild card, though, and he could pull out anything from his bag of tricks.
Weidman‘s career resume confirms that as he is 9-0 with three wins by way of knockout, three by submission and three by decision. He is well-versed in all aspects of the sport, and that versatility gives him the ability to challenge Silva. The champion will have to be on his toes at all times as Weidman could come after him with anything at any time.
While Weidman does have a couple impressive victories under his belt, Silva is unquestionably his biggest challenge yet. Weidman has talked a big game up to this point, but he has to prove on Saturday that facing a UFC legend like Silva isn’t too much for him.
If his confidence in the Octagon matches his confidence outside it, he should be just fine.
If Weidman defeats Silva on Saturday, he will quickly become one of the faces of UFC. That means that there is plenty of pressure on his shoulders. That is nothing compared to the burden that Silva bears, though, as he is expected to win every fight.
Silva has almost always come through in the past, but he’ll have to dig down deep and come up with something special in order to halt the progress of the up-and-coming Weidman.
The David and Goliath narrative in the sports world rarely plays out in the exciting fashion many would like. Sometimes Goliath is just too big and David is a little short on ammo. In the case of Anderson Silva and his spotless 16-0 record inside the O…
The David and Goliath narrative in the sports world rarely plays out in the exciting fashion many would like. Sometimes Goliath is just too big and David is a little short on ammo.
In the case of Anderson Silva and his spotless 16-0 record inside the Octagon, there hasn’t been a challenger in the UFC quite capable or prepared enough to sling a stone heavy enough to take him down.
Chris Weidmanisn’t exactly dwarfed by Silva’s greatness, however.
The 29-year-old submission specialist is 5-0 in the UFC and boasts several attributes that could give Silva some issues on Saturday night at UFC 162. While Silva will likely be a heavy favorite in every fight until the day he retires, he’s never guaranteed a victory.
Let’s take a look at the tale of the tape for this fight and break down keys to victory for each fighter, highlighting what Weidman has to do in order to hand Silva his first loss in the UFC.
Anderson “The Spider” Silva
Fighter
Chris “The All-American” Weidman
38
Age (at fight)
29
185 lbs
Weight
185 lbs
6’2″
Height
6’2″
77.5″
Reach
78″
Southpaw/Switch
Fighting Stance
Orthodox
33-4
Pro Record
9-0
16-0
UFC Record
5-0
88%
UFC Win Finish Rate
60%
142
UFC Minutes
44%
1997
Fighting Pro Since
2009
266 Days
Layoff
360 Days
Anderson Silva
Silva isn’t one to get caught in his own web. If he hopes to keep his spotless UFC record intact, he’ll have to avoid Weidman’s attempts at spinning one of his own.
Weidman is a tremendous submission specialist who is adept in the ground-and-pound game, feasting on opponents who give him even a small window in which he can capitalize. The 29-year-old has the ability to win by knockout, but don’t count on seeing that result against Silva.
For the Spider to win, he won’t have to change much. Silva boasts a 16-0 UFC record for a reason, and as long as he sticks to his game plan and doesn’t make costly mistakes, there’s little reason to believe he’ll come up short at UFC 162.
Silva can win this fight in a multitude of ways. He’s an accurate striker. He’s tremendous on the canvas. And like Weidman, he understands how to capitalize on the smallest of mistakes.
While both fighters will be cautious about making those mistakes, neither will be timid in his approach. For Silva, the key to victory in this fight will be limiting costly mistakes while sticking to his guns—or in this case, staying close to his web while Weidman lets himself get stuck.
Chris Weidman
Many expect Weidman to be the greatest challenge Silva has faced in defense of his belt. The All-American is the unquestioned No. 2 middleweight with a lot to prove.
At 29, Weidman has age and athleticism on his side, as well as a half-inch reach advantage. He also doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses in the Octagon.
But besting the pound-for-pound kingpin will require a tremendous effort predicated on perfection, and Wediman can’t afford to leave his comfort zone unless he does so to exploit a big opportunity. In other words, Weidman must stick to his guns to win this fight.
Silva is a much more accurate striker who also hasn’t been taken down in any of his last three fights. Weidman, on the other hand, boasts 2.6 takedowns per fight and has used those opportunities to capitalize with tremendous ground-and-pound and submission skill sets.
The All-American may need to take Silva down to finish him off, but he can’t expect that to be an easy task. At the risk of being redundant, Weidman has to be cautious and opportunistic. He can’t afford to get careless against the best fighter on the planet.
Weidman can win this fight if he plays to his strengths and avoids getting caught in the Spider’s traps. Anything short of perfection will likely result in another tally in Silva’s win column.
After being hyped as the biggest UFC fight of the year, fans at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas eagerly awaited for Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva to step on the scales Friday afternoon. What ended up transpiring wasn’t what most peo…
After being hyped as the biggest UFC fight of the year, fans at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas eagerly awaited for Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva to step on the scales Friday afternoon.
What ended up transpiring wasn’t what most people had bargained for though, as Silva and Weidman pushed their faces close together to the point where their lips made contact.
As various pictures and videos from the UFC 162 weigh-in make their rounds on the internet, many fans are saying that “The Spider” kissed Weidman during the customary stare down after both competitors make weight.
“The All-American” made light of the situation immediately afterwards when talking to color commentator Joe Rogan, stating that Silva has “nice lips” (via MMA Mania).
Weidman continues to be light-hearted about the situation on Twitter:
The undefeated prospect faces inarguably the biggest test of his career in “The Spider,” a man who boasts a 17-fight undefeated streak (with 14 finishes).
While the Brazilian lost to perennial middleweight contender via controversial disqualification in January 2006, Silva hasn’t convincingly been beaten since falling victim to a RyoChonan flying heel hook in December 2004.
Despite his dazzling resume, many fans, analysts and fighters alike are at the very least giving Weidman a chance—given his high-level grappling pedigree.
The Long Island native was a two-time Division I All-American wrestler at Hofstra University and earned his brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu about a month ago.
In nine professional victories, Weidman boasts six via stoppage—three submissions and three knockouts—finishing all of his opponents when he had a full fight camp.
Will Weidman be able to live up to the hype tomorrow night? Or will Silva simply further cement his legacy as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time?
JohnHeinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.
For the most part, UFC weigh-ins go down without a hitch. A bunch of almost naked fighters step on the scale, flex, mean mug each other during the staredown, and then walk off the stage. Sometimes there is pushing and shoving and brief trash-talk and g…
For the most part, UFC weigh-ins go down without a hitch. A bunch of almost naked fighters step on the scale, flex, mean mug each other during the staredown, and then walk off the stage. Sometimes there is pushing and shoving and brief trash-talk and gesticulating. It’s rare that the truly bizarre happens.
Friday’s UFC 162 weigh-ins was one of those bizarre occasions.
The first 20 fighters that weighed in on Friday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center got through the event with little more than a push or two. Then main event fighters Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman took their spots for their staredown.
The two took the nose-to-nose staredown to a different level when they pretty much went lip to lip before being separated by UFC president Dana White.
There was also some words exchanged, words that were audible to White, who took to Twitter to relay what was said:
People keep asking me what Anderson and Chris said… Chris said I’m not afraid of u like everyone else & Anderson said we will see 2 morrow
Jon Jones is growing tired of the media bombarding Anderson Silva with superfight talk.The UFC light heavyweight champ knows a thing or two about the importance of remaining focused on the task at hand and not looking too far ahead.At UFC 162, Silva wi…
Jon Jones is growing tired of the media bombarding Anderson Silva with superfight talk.
The UFC light heavyweight champ knows a thing or two about the importance of remaining focused on the task at hand and not looking too far ahead.
At UFC 162, Silva will defend his middleweight title for an 11th time against undefeated contender Chris Weidman. There has never been a more dangerous matchup for Silva on paper, and a sizable chunk of the MMA community is banking on a historic upset.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of fans consider this bout a transitional fight that will ultimately pave the way for a dream match between Silva and Jones. The public’s infatuation with super fights has pushed the media to follow suit and ask redundant questions.
At a media luncheon on Monday, Silva attempted to bypass the superfight talk by flat out admitting he didn’t believe he could defeat Jones at light heavyweight. Unfortunately, his comments only fueled the media’s interest in the bout, and questions have since been pouring in about whether or not Silva is afraid of Jones.
On Wednesday, Jones hopped on Twitter in defense of Silva.
Jones has always been open about the overwhelming respect he has for Silva as a fighter and a person. In an interview with ESPN Radio, he called a fight with Silva a “lose-lose situation.”
He doesn’t want to be the guy to end Silva’s run, but he also doesn’t want to lose to Silva either.
As Jones bluntly puts it in the interview, “Some things were just not meant to be seen.”
Anderson “The Spider” Silva enters Saturday’s UFC middleweight championship defense against “Supernatural” Chris