Tag: UFC 162

Chris Weidman Doesn’t Just Want to Beat Anderson Silva, He Wants to Finish Him

Earlier this week, Chris Weidman finally received the call to face Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title in July—and it’s a fight that’s more than four years in the making. To explain that lengthy timeline, you have to go back to 2009 whe…

Earlier this week, Chris Weidman finally received the call to face Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title in July—and it’s a fight that’s more than four years in the making.

To explain that lengthy timeline, you have to go back to 2009 when Weidman first strapped on the gloves and stepped into a mixed martial arts ring, because even back then he knew one day he would be the man to eventually challenge Anderson Silva in the UFC.

Silva has been the king of the middleweights for longer than Weidman has even been fighting, but the New York native had a goal back then, and now he finally gets the chance to bring that dream to reality in July.

“It’s not a fight I’ve been waiting for, for a year, it’s a fight I’ve been waiting for since I started MMA,” Weidman explained when speaking to Bleacher Report. “He was the champion when I started MMA and I’ve been envisioning fighting him since day one. I believed I could beat him since day one because my goal is to be champion and I didn’t get into this sport for any other reason.”

When Weidman defeated Mark Munoz last year to move his MMA record to a perfect 9-0, he immediately entered the discussion as the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds.  He began a series of interviews and social networking campaigns with one goal in mind—to land the fight with Anderson Silva.

It wasn’t easy, however, because for most of the last six months, Silva has downplayed fighting Weidman. It seemed for a while that the fight may not happen.

“I had no idea what was going on,” Weidman said. “Like Dana said, we’re going to make this fight happen, but at the same time, Anderson Silva is the greatest of all time, the negotiation process is probably a little different than anybody else. I wasn’t really getting my hopes up at all to be honest with you.”

Now that he’s landed the fight, part one of his mission is complete. But none of the hard work, sacrifice and dedication will matter if he doesn’t beat Anderson Silva. 

Weidman knows deep down inside that it’s no different than an NFL team making it to the Super Bowl, then losing. He’s honored to fight Anderson Silva, but Weidman reaches immortality by finishing the champion and ending his unreal consecutive title defense streak, which currently stands at 10 victories.

“I’m not getting too excited to be honest with you until I get the victory because that’s what I’m here to do,” Weidman stated.

“That’s all that matters. I didn’t put myself in this position to get this fight just to lose, that’s for sure. I’d be sick with myself, and that would be an understatement, if I were to get this shot and lose the fight. I’m in here to win it, and I’m in here to go for the finish like every other fight I’ve had.

Finishing the fight is a key element for Weidman because he’s not a fan of decisions. The top middleweight contender has only gone to decision twice in his UFC career with both occasions being a result of taking a fight on short notice.

Whenever Weidman has had a full training camp the results have been much different. He’s finished all three of those fights inside of 10 minutes, winning two by submission and the third by knockout. He will happily add Anderson Silva’s name to that list come July.

“Any time I’ve ever had a full training camp, I’ve had a finish in either the first or second round, and I plan on keeping that going. I have a lot of respect for Anderson but that’s how I’m going to take the fight. I think that gives you the best chance of getting the ‘W’ is to be aggressive and have confidence in myself,” said Weidman.

“I definitely feel like I have a lot of strengths where he lacks a little bit. The guy is good everywhere, it’s not like he’s a bad wrestler or has bad jiu-jitsu or anything like that, but I do feel like I have an advantage in both those areas. I’m going to try my best to expose it.”

As the fight approaches, Weidman knows he’s going to be the underdog against Silva, and there’s going to be plenty of talk about the next fight for the champion once he finishes the 11th challenger to his title. People are already assuming Silva will win yet again and that could potentially set up a superfight with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones later this year.

Weidman invites the doubters to keep doubting because he will gladly spoil all of those plans by beating Anderson Silva and capturing the UFC middleweight crown.

“There’s going to be a lot of people that are thinking I’m going to get killed,” Weidman said. “That just fires me up because I can’t wait to prove those people wrong, too. It’s just a great opportunity to do that.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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UFC 162 Odds: Anderson Silva Opens as Small Favorite vs. Chris Weidman

Although UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman is less than 10 fights into his MMA career, oddsmakers are giving him a good shot against Anderson Silva.In fact, Weidman is opening with the best betting line against Silva in years.As relayed by betti…

Although UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman is less than 10 fights into his MMA career, oddsmakers are giving him a good shot against Anderson Silva.

In fact, Weidman is opening with the best betting line against Silva in years.

As relayed by betting aggregate website BestFightOdds, Silva has been pegged as a -215 favorite by 5Dimes, while Weidman is rated as a strong +165 underdog.

When you look at Silva’s history on the betting books, that’s actually kind of remarkable.

To break it down further, here’s the list of opening odds (via BestFightOdds) given to Silva’s opponents over the last seven years or so:

• UFC 162: Anderson Silva -215 / Chris Weidman +165
• UFC 153: Anderson Silva -1350 / Stephan Bonnar +850
• UFC 148: Anderson Silva -235 / Chael Sonnen +175
• UFC 134: Anderson Silva -425 / Yushin Okami +325
• UFC 126: Anderson Silva -325 / Vitor Belfort +250
• UFC 117: Anderson Silva -450 / Chael Sonnen +300
• UFC 112: Anderson Silva -425 / Demian Maia +325
• UFC 101: Anderson Silva -240 / Forrest Griffin +190
• UFC 97: Anderson Silva -275 / Thales Leites +215
• UFC 90: Anderson Silva -370 / Patrick Cote +300
• UFC Fight Night 14: Anderson Silva -600 / James Irvin +400
• UFC 82: Anderson Silva -140 / Dan Henderson +100
• UFC 77: Anderson Silva -300 / Rich Franklin +220
• UFC 73: Anderson Silva -190 / Nate Marquardt +155

[Note: BestFightOdds does not have fighter data or odds for UFC 67, UFC 64 or UFC Fight Night 5.]

Historically, this means that Weidman has opened with the best odds against Silva since the champion’s UFC & Pride FC middleweight title unification bout against former Pride champion, Dan Henderson.

Incidentally, Weidman’s +165 underdog status gives him better odds against Silva than even welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

Naturally, the betting line will shift in the lead up to the fight, especially in the last couple of weeks.

Although Silva is widely recognized as the No. 1 pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the sport, his major weakness is known to be strong wrestling, a trait exploited by takedown specialists like Henderson and Chael Sonnen.

Weidman’s strong odds likely come from both his undefeated 9-0 career fighting record, in addition to his credentials as a multi-time NCAA All-American wrestler.

Not only did Weidman earn two All-American honors in junior college, but he also repeated the feat in Hofstra University at the NCAA Division 1 level.

Additionally, the relatively close opening odds could also be a matter of a strong young talent against an aging champion—Weidman is in his athletic prime at 28 years old, while Silva will turn 38 on April 14 this year.

But the talented Silva has proven capable of dealing with all kinds of fighting styles, including elite wrestling, which has led to his current 16-0 record in the UFC and 10 consecutive title defenses. To put it mildly, Weidman has a tough task ahead of him, even if the early odds aren’t against him yet.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and tech writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld, PC World, 1UP, NVision, The Los Angeles Times, FightFans Radio, MMA Mania and Bleacher Report. Talk with him on Twitter.

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Anderson Silva Has Never Turned Down a Fight, Chris Weidman Won’t Be the First

On July 6, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will look to extend his historic title defense streak to 11 when he faces Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 162. Some believe this fight is essentially a year in the making after Weidman dispatch…

On July 6, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will look to extend his historic title defense streak to 11 when he faces Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 162.

Some believe this fight is essentially a year in the making after Weidman dispatched Mark Munoz at UFC on Fuel in July 2012, and immediately began a campaign to land the next shot at Silva and the UFC 185-pound crown.

Silva’s camp was never ultra excited about the potential fight due to Weidman‘s relative novice status in terms of being a recognizable name in the UFC as well as his overall experience level. Weidman is 9-0 as a fighter with a perfect record in the Octagon, but still falls well short of Silva’s accolades in the UFC.

Ultimately, UFC officials decided Weidman was the best choice to face Silva next, but the champion’s camp wants one thing to be perfectly clear—Silva has never turned down a fight and didn’t plan on starting with Weidman.

“At the end of the day and I’ve always said before, Anderson is there to fight and he never turned away an opponent,” said Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, when speaking to Bleacher Report on Wednesday. “We have our opinions, people ask us our opinions, but we’ve never turned away an opponent and we never will. Anderson fights whoever the UFC puts in front of him and he always has and he always will.

“When people ask our opinion, I feel we have the right to state our opinion. It is what it is, I think it’s going to be an incredible fight. I do think Chris Weidman is definitely a tough opponent, our biggest complaint was that he wasn’t the biggest name and not well known, but I know that the UFC is going to get behind him and really make it a big promotion.”

Soares and Silva were never wrong in what they said about Weidman by referencing his status as a star in the UFC. He’s never headlined a pay-per-view or even been on the main card of a UFC pay-per-view for that matter, and has only taken part in one main event for his fight against Munoz that aired on Fuel TV.

That doesn’t change the fact that Weidman has separated himself from the rest of the middleweight division with his record and immense talent showcased every time he’s fought. Soares has no doubt that even if Weidman isn’t the most well-known name now, by the time July rolls around everybody will be well-aware of what he brings to the table.

“I’ve got to leave it in their hands,” Soares said about the UFC. “People always doubted what the UFC does and they doubted them in the Ronda Rousey fight and look what ended up happening. It was a huge success. So time and time again they prove themselves and they know what they’re doing and we’ve got to get behind them and believe this is going to be a great, huge event.”

At 37 years of age, Silva has said time and time again he wants to be part of the biggest fights possible to continue his legacy as the greatest fighter mixed martial arts has ever seen. He’s also faced the absolute best of the best throughout his career, and while Weidman wasn’t always his first choice, he’s who the UFC wanted him to fight, so they will fight.

“It has to do with trying to put the biggest fights possible together,” said Soares. “If Chris Weidman is really what everybody says he is, he would have been there in two more fights with more promotion. In our business sometimes we don’t get those luxuries. People get injured, people get hurt, people that people thought were going to win didn’t win, so this business is strategically you want to plan something and it never really goes to plan. 

“You take it one at a time, one opportunity at a time, and right now Chris Weidman is the best opportunity at the time. Anderson’s going to go out there and train and put on a show like he always does. Everyone that thought he should have got a shot, now he’s getting a shot.”

Sometimes asking to face Silva and then actually fighting him becomes a clear-cut case of “be careful what you wish for,” but Weidman will finally have his chance to prove he can go with the best middleweight in the world on July 6 at UFC 162.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Mark Munoz vs. Tim Boetsch Confirmed for UFC 162 Card in Las Vegas

Even more fights have been announced for the upcoming UFC 162 card in Las Vegas, with the promotion further padding out the rapidly growing event.Official UFC sources confirmed with Bleacher Report that Mark Munoz vs. Tim Boetsch is now scheduled …

Even more fights have been announced for the upcoming UFC 162 card in Las Vegas, with the promotion further padding out the rapidly growing event.

Official UFC sources confirmed with Bleacher Report that Mark Munoz vs. Tim Boetsch is now scheduled for the event, in addition to another middleweight and light heavyweight tilt.

Per the promotion’s official news brief, here’s the four matches confirmed for July 6:

• Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman
• Roger Gracie vs. Tim Kennedy
• Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante vs. Thiago Silva
• Mark Munoz vs. Tim Boetsch

That’s six middleweights and two light heavyweights, with Munoz and Boetsch both coming off derailing losses to Weidman and Costa Philippou respectively.

Like UFC 161, there’s a strong presence of former Strikeforce fighters on the card as well.

Between the three of them, Gracie, Kennedy and Feijao have 18 Strikeforce bouts on their records, with all three making their UFC debuts in Las Vegas.

Feijao is the lone member of the group not coming off a win, as he most recently had a May 2012 submission win over Mike Kyle overturned to a no-contest decision after testing positive for stanozolol—a banned substance most commonly used for bodybuilding.

Thiago Silva is the fighter most at-risk on the card so far, as the Blackzilian team member hasn’t recorded a win since August 2009 at UFC 102. That’s due to two failed drug tests, plus a pair of defeats to Rashad Evans and Alexander Gustafsson, giving Silva a mediocre 1-2-0-2 record in his last five trips to the Octagon.

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UFC 162 Fight Card: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman Early Prediction

Anderson Silva’s potential superfights with Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre will be put on hold.Instead, the UFC middleweight champion will defend his belt against top 185-pound contender Chris Weidman, who has been vocal about his desire to fight Silv…

Anderson Silva’s potential superfights with Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre will be put on hold.

Instead, the UFC middleweight champion will defend his belt against top 185-pound contender Chris Weidman, who has been vocal about his desire to fight Silva since knocking out Mark Munoz in July.

The fight between Silva and Weidman will headline UFC 162, which is expected to take place in July at a Las Vegas destination to be determined (via NewsDay.com).

Now, the question becomes whether Silva can retain his championship and keep the possibility of a superfight with Jones or St-Pierre alive. 

Given his incredible run of success inside the Octagon, it’s easy to assume Silva will be able to do his thing again, but Weidman presents a lot of problems for the long-reigning middleweight champion and could be the one to bring his winning streak to an end.

Since his near-loss to Chael Sonnen in August 2010, it has been assumed Silva would ultimately be defeated by a high-level wrestler with strong submission defense, and Weidman fits that description well.

During his time at Hofstra University, Weidman became a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler, making him fully capable of testing Silva’s takedown defense. Additionally, Weidman has picked up jiu-jitsu quickly under Matt Serra, forcing multiple opponents to tap inside the Octagon and even competing in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.

Weidman‘s 72 percent takedown success rate is higher than that of Sonnen, who has taken Silva down repeatedly in the seven rounds he’s spent inside the cage with the Brazilian legend.

In one of the few times Sonnen was shut down by the champion, he had his shorts grabbed by Silva, which kept him from dropping his level lower and cutting the corner to finish the takedown.

Now, Silva has stuffed 81 percent of takedowns attempted on him, so it’s possible he could have evaded that takedown that led to a knockout win without grabbing Sonnen‘s shorts, but it’s worth noting to show that he’ll have trouble staying on his feet against Weidman without utilizing such tactics.

If Silva does force Weidman to stand, though, the challenger will find himself in serious trouble.

While Weidman has made strides in his striking with the help of Ray Longo, Silva has the ability to make seasoned stand-up fighters look like amateurs. The times Weidman has stood with opponents, he was looking at grapplers in Munoz and Demian Maia and not strikers anywhere near the level of Silva.

In fact, Weidman‘s striking statistics are strikingly similar to Sonnen‘s, landing 68 percent of his strikes thrown and being hit with 43 percent of strikes thrown at him.

There’s a good chance Weidman will find a way to take Silva to the ground at least a couple of times, but it won’t be easy for him to finish the fight once he does. Being in a championship fight, that means Weidman could have to start in standing position with Silva up to five times.

Though that wasn’t a problem for Sonnen at UFC 117, it’s highly unlikely Silva will enter UFC 162 with the same rib problem he had during that first meeting with his archrival.

Until proven otherwise, it’s never a good idea to bet against Silva, even when the matchup in front of him appears to be tough stylistically.

Silva has a much longer track record of success against wrestlers than Weidman does against elite strikers. It’s not out of the question that the 37-year-old Silva could show up to his fight with Weidman and finally look like a fading legend, but there’s no way Weidman is banking on that, and prognosticators shouldn’t, either.

As long as Silva isn’t taken down immediately in every single round, he should have an opportunity to score a second-round finish like he has in past two fights against Sonnen and Yushin Okami. And that could finally set up a blockbuster with Jones or St-Pierre in late-2013.

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Report: Thiago Silva vs. Rafael Cavalcante Likely for UFC 162

It looks like Rafael “Feijao” Calvalcante will be joining team Black House stablemate and UFC champ Anderson Silva on the scheduled UFC 162 card later this year.According to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight titl…

It looks like Rafael “Feijao” Calvalcante will be joining team Black House stablemate and UFC champ Anderson Silva on the scheduled UFC 162 card later this year.

According to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight titleholder is reportedly set to make his promotional debut against fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva at the July 6 event in Las Vegas, although UFC officials have not yet confirmed the bout.

Coincidentally, both fighters are coming off of lengthy suspensions due to failed drug tests from their most recent contests.

Calvalcante received a one-year suspension and a $2,500 fine from the California State Athletic Commission after he tested positive for anabolic steroids for his May 19 bout against Mike Kyle at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier. The former champ submitted Kyle with a guillotine choke just 33-seconds into the first round; however, the win was changed to a no contest following the failed test.

He is due to come off of suspension on May 19.

Silva, meanwhile, also recently watched his own submission win turned into a no contest after testing positive for marijuana metabolites during the UFC’s trip to Macau, China last November. The Blackzilian team member submitted Stanislav Nedkov with an arm-triangle choke in the third round; however, he was stripped of the victory following the failed test and was ordered to participate in a drug rehab program.

Luckily for the Silva, he did not receive a fine and his suspension is set to end on April 10. The MMA veteran is pretty much in a must-win situation, as he has won just once since 2009, going 1-3 (2) during the suspension-ridden stretch.

Headlining the card will be middleweight champ Anderson Silva who will defend his title against the undefeated Chris Weidman.

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