Tag: UFC 162

Anderson Silva Wants Chuck Norris for His UFC 168 Training Camp

According to Fighters Only Magazine, Anderson Silva has decided to add a new coach to his camp for his rematch with Chris Weidman: Chuck Norris.
“I had a nightmare with Weidman, but I don’t fear him. He is determined, but has two arms …

According to Fighters Only Magazine, Anderson Silva has decided to add a new coach to his camp for his rematch with Chris Weidman: Chuck Norris.

“I had a nightmare with Weidman, but I don’t fear him. He is determined, but has two arms and two legs just like me,” Silva said. “Now I’ll bring Chuck Norris [to my camp]. I’ll bring both, Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal.”

It is a curious move in light of Silva’s recent loss at UFC 162. One would have assumed he would want to bring in an Olympic wrestler or otherwise-qualified ground fighter. Instead, Silva has chosen another celebrity martial artist to complement his use of Steven Seagal.

BloodyElbow.com quoted Damian Maia in a July interview on Brazilian television, as the former contender stated that he and others in the MMA community saw the Seagal and Silva connection as a sort of publicity stunt.

It’s a lie. It’s marketing. Like every actor from Hollywood, when Seagal saw Anderson’s success, he glued himself to him. He was down on his career and made it up again. It worked because he appeared in the media again. He never taught Silva anything … For everyone who knows about it, it’s a joke.

If Maia is correct, then Silva appears to be doubling down on the joke.

To be fair, Norris is accomplished in his own martial arts career. In 1968 he defeated Louis Delgado to win the Professional Middleweight Karate title. Norris held the title for six years. He is also the first Westerner to hold an eighth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Silva utilizes the style in his fights, so it is possible Norris will be able to assist the middleweight in his already extensive striking game.

Time will tell if Silva’s interest is genuine. For now, the move will likely perplex MMA fans more than endear Silva to them. 

 

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

It Looks Like Roger Gracie Will Be the Third Straight Gracie to Go “One and Done” in the UFC


(“And he couldn’t be more thrilled. Back to you in the studio, Ariel!” Photo via Getty.) 

It’s safe to say that time has not been kind to the Gracie family, at least in the UFC. Hell, it’s safe to say that time has been kinder to the Sumatran Tiger than it has to the Gracies, and I see at least fourteen adds asking me to save the former from poachers every goddamn day.

It all started when Rolles Gracie shit the bed in his octagon debut at UFC 109. While you could argue that he might have been called up to the UFC a little prematurely (being that he was only 3-0 at the time), Dana & Co. showed no such consideration or hespect for the Gracie name when they gave him the boot. Next, Renzo Gracie was leg kick TKO’d by Matt Hughes at UFC 112 and that’s all we are willing to say about that. Most recently, Roger Gracie rode a two-fight win streak in Strikeforce over to the UFC, where he was upended by Tim Kennedy in an absolute snoozefest at UFC 162.

Unfortunately, it looks like the most qualified Gracie to…grace the octagon in years will suffer the same fate as the former two. Combate.com is passing along word that the Brazilian’s four fight Strikeforce contract — which transferred/expired following Roger’s uninspiring UFC 162 loss — has not been renewed by the promotion. We know what you’re thinking, and yes, it looks like Rampage vs. Ortiz just became A TRIPLE THREAT CAGE MATCH FOR THE WHATEVERF*CKYOUWEIGHT TITLE!


(“And he couldn’t be more thrilled. Back to you in the studio, Ariel!” Photo via Getty.) 

It’s safe to say that time has not been kind to the Gracie family, at least in the UFC. Hell, it’s safe to say that time has been kinder to the Sumatran Tiger than it has to the Gracies, and I see at least fourteen adds asking me to save the former from poachers every goddamn day.

It all started when Rolles Gracie shit the bed in his octagon debut at UFC 109. While you could argue that he might have been called up to the UFC a little prematurely (being that he was only 3-0 at the time), Dana & Co. showed no such consideration or hespect for the Gracie name when they gave him the boot. Next, Renzo Gracie was leg kick TKO’d by Matt Hughes at UFC 112 and that’s all we are willing to say about that. Most recently, Roger Gracie rode a two-fight win streak in Strikeforce over to the UFC, where he was upended by Tim Kennedy in an absolute snoozefest at UFC 162.

Unfortunately, it looks like the most qualified Gracie to…grace the octagon in years will suffer the same fate as the former two. Combate.com is passing along word that the Brazilian’s four fight Strikeforce contract — which transferred/expired following Roger’s uninspiring UFC 162 loss — has not been renewed by the promotion. We know what you’re thinking, and yes, it looks like Rampage vs. Ortiz just became A TRIPLE THREAT CAGE MATCH FOR THE WHATEVERF*CKYOUWEIGHT TITLE!

Despite opening most of our eyes to this great sport in 1993, this most recent setback brings the Gracie’s UFC record to 0-4-1 since, well, 1994. While success in the modern era of MMA can be defined by much, much more than UFC wins, to say that the UFC performances of the Gracies in recent years have been anything less than disheartening would be an understatement that everyone else in the room would silently resent you for making.

We blame the disintegration of the Gracie Train. How about you?

–J. Jones

UFC News: Roger Gracie a Free Agent After UFC Opts Not to Renew His Contract

Highly regarded Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Roger Gracie will be seeking a new employer after the UFC decided to pass on the option to renew his contract, as Combate’s Ivan Raupp first reported (translation by Fighter’s Only’s John Joe O’Regan)…

Highly regarded Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Roger Gracie will be seeking a new employer after the UFC decided to pass on the option to renew his contract, as Combate‘s Ivan Raupp first reported (translation by Fighter’s Only’s John Joe O’Regan). 

Gracie, a 10-time World Champion in BJJ, lost a fairly one-sided decision to fellow Strikeforce import Tim Kennedy at UFC 162 last month. 

Despite bringing the fight to the mat and taking Kennedy’s back in the first round, Gracie was unable to lock up a submission and the Jackson’s MMA fighter was able to get back on his feet. 

From there, Kennedy was able to dictate the pace of the fight, outstriking Gracie and even taking him down and maintaining top position on a few occasions. 

Apparently, the higher-ups of the UFC were so put off by the performance that they felt Gracie didn’t belong with the best fighters in the world at 185 pounds. 

The 6’4″ Gracie is apparently considering returning to the light heavyweight division, believing that the weight cut to middleweight was too taxing, via BJJEE.com.  

Bellator is said to be interested in acquiring Gracie’s services, according to the report, but there has not been any communication between the two parties. 

Gracie posted a 4-1 record in Strikeforce, notching three of those wins by way of submission. His only loss came at the hands of ex-promotional champ Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. 

After competing in hundreds of Brazilian jiu-jitsu matches, Gracie made his MMA debut in December 2006 and currently has a 6-2 record inside the cage. 

Will Gracie ever be able to compete at a high level in MMA or is his best bet at being successful in combat sports sticking to the mats? 

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Key Statistics from the Month of July in the UFC

The month of July is winding down, and a pair of UFC events—UFC 162 and UFC on Fox 8—have come and gone. And we have the key statistics from this month right here.
The first event featured a good deal of stoppages, including an improbable u…

The month of July is winding down, and a pair of UFC events—UFC 162 and UFC on Fox 8—have come and gone. And we have the key statistics from this month right here.

The first event featured a good deal of stoppages, including an improbable upset in the main event that saw Anderson Silva’s title reign come to an abrupt halt. 

The second event, meanwhile, was live and free on Fox, featuring a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga. Johnson took home a slick fifth-round submission win in that main event. 

But the major upset from UFC 162 and Johnson’s exciting stoppage win were just two outcomes in the month of July, and there were many more interesting takeaways from this month. 

Check out where July stands in comparison to the first five of 2013 in the UFC in our list of key stats from the past 30 days. 

 

Striking and Takedown statistics courtesy of FightMetric.com

Begin Slideshow

Anderson Silva Breaks Down His UFC 162 Loss to Chris Weidman

It’s been almost three weeks since Anderson Silva’s epic reign as the UFC’s middleweight champion came to an end.
That end came by way of one of the most bizarre knockouts we’ve seen in MMA at the hands of Chris Weidman.
Since t…

It’s been almost three weeks since Anderson Silva’s epic reign as the UFC’s middleweight champion came to an end.

That end came by way of one of the most bizarre knockouts we’ve seen in MMA at the hands of Chris Weidman.

Since then, Silva has been in recrimination mode. He appeared on Brazilian TV in tears and promised the world a different Silva when the pair are to have a rematch later in the year.

Those promises are pinned on an honest assessment of what went wrong for the former champ at UFC 162. He spoke to Brazilian late-night talk show Agora é Tarde, per ESPN, breaking down the entire fight.

“Getting knocked out is the worst,” Silva said “There are always going to be questions — people want to know what happened, but [when you’re knocked out] you don’t remember anything. You black out and that’s it.”

Silva explained his technical mistakes in the fight, including standing too parallel to Weidman instead of stepping back on one foot. That might be an understatement considering Silva’s “antics” in the fight.

While the first round was closely contested, in the second, the Brazilian stood square on with Weidman, his hands down by his side, taunting his opponent to hit him like a used cars Oklahoma City salesman.

Of course this is nothing new from Silva, and we’ve seen this behaviour before—such as during his fight against Demian Maia. In many ways, this is a tactic he employs to get into the head of his opponent, but against Weidman, it left him flat on his back with only the referee standing in between him and a Weidman onslaught.

“Several factors led to the knockout. The tension in the air before the fight, you just want to burst … it was a series of mistakes… In my career, I’ve always went back to my corner [for advice]… Against Weidman, I went back to argue, and I should have gone back to my corner and calmed down. I didn’t do any of that; I lost control.”

As for the taunts and antics in the fight, Silva said that he was merely trying to entice Weidman into a more “fan-friendly” fight.

“Because standing up is much cooler than fighting on the floor,” Silva said.

Silva and Weidman are due to fight again for the 185-pound title at UFC 168 scheduled for December 28.

The Brazilian still has 10 fights left on his contract, which he intends to see out.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

5 Reasons to Look Forward to the Weidman vs. Silva Rematch

You may be surprised that the author of “Anderson Silva Should Not Receive an Immedaite Rematch” would write this article. But despite one’s own feelings on “The Spider” receiving an immediate rematch, only a fool would not be e…

You may be surprised that the author of “Anderson Silva Should Not Receive an Immedaite Rematch” would write this article. But despite one’s own feelings on “The Spider” receiving an immediate rematch, only a fool would not be excited about the opportunity to see Weidman and Silva face off at UFC 168.

There are seemingly countless variables that add intrigue into the bout. From the shaping of the middleweight division to the fight itself, Silva vs. Weidman II is likely to push anticipation to the limit. Regardless of the outcome, both men have created an ever-cresting wave of interest that has more than just the hardcore fans talking.

Begin Slideshow