Tag: UFC 168

UFC 168 Results: 3 Fights for Josh Barnett to Take Next

Age in mixed martial arts is always a factor. 
It often plays a role in training, performing inside the cage and possessing the mental determination to keep doing what you love.
Now whether or not age is a factor for 36-year-old Josh Barnett has y…

Age in mixed martial arts is always a factor. 

It often plays a role in training, performing inside the cage and possessing the mental determination to keep doing what you love.

Now whether or not age is a factor for 36-year-old Josh Barnett has yet to be determined, but if his first-round collapse opposite Travis Browne showed us anything, it’s that “The Warmaster” has a ways to go before challenging for a heavyweight title.

That leaves him in limbo amongst aging UFC veterans and rising prospects who have tried their best to make one of the shallowest divisions in the promotion look pretty.

So, on the heels of his first UFC loss since 2001, here are three fights Barnett should gear up for next.

 

Winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

As arguably the best rising star in the heavyweight division besides the aforementioned Browne, Miocic possesses a lot of momentum heading into his bout with Gonzaga at UFC on Fox 10.

His recent victory over Roy Nelson suggested he’s ready to take on the next level of heavyweights, but we’re just not sure.

A fight opposite a red-hot Gonzaga would give him the notch on his belt he needs to contend with a guy like Barnett come the summer.

As for Gonzaga, who’s riding a two-fight knockout streak and shares Barnett’s misery with a first-round loss to Browne back in April, a victory over both Miocic and Barnett would provide similar divisional momentum as when he knocked out Mirko Filipovic so early in his career.

 

Alistair Overeem

Overeem is big, tough and still one of the most recognized names in the sport.

The problem is that he hasn’t won a UFC fight since picking apart the already beaten Brock Lesnar in 2011.

That means he has to get past Frank Mir in February or face a potential roster cut in 2014. And by the way, if Mir wins, don’t expect the UFC to make a rematch between him and Barnett. Nobody wants to see that one-sided affair again.

As far as Barnett vs. Overeem, the bout makes perfect sense because Overeem is trying to re-establish himself in a division that’s blowing past him.

Now while Barnett isn’t quite a gatekeeper at this point in his career, he’s a perfect candidate to test Overeem’s overall title potential if he happens to get past Mir.

Not to mention the public banter that would ensue once the fighters sign on the dotted line.

 

Mark Hunt

After his hellacious battle with a testosterone-fueled Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva earlier this month, Hunt remains one of the biggest heavyweight draws in the world right now.

Fans love him, the UFC loves him, and he never fails to bring it when it counts the most. That’s exactly the type of fighter to test Barnett’s will after such a crushing defeat to Browne.

Hunt is the perfect person to drag Barnett to hell and back. A fight with him would give The Warmaster insight into his own career.

How much does he have left? Can he still contend with the best of the best?

These are questions that are going to be answered in 2014. And what better opponent than Hunt to provide the answers?

 

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UFC 168 Results: 3 Fights for Dustin Poirier to Take Next

Before the leg break heard around the world crippled the greatest of all time, two featherweights went to war.
In a bout contested the night before as Diego Brandao failed to make weight, counter-half Dustin Poirier shined.
Driven by divisional determi…

Before the leg break heard around the world crippled the greatest of all time, two featherweights went to war.

In a bout contested the night before as Diego Brandao failed to make weight, counter-half Dustin Poirier shined.

Driven by divisional determination, evolving striking and world-class moxie, “The Diamond” once again proved that he belongs to be mentioned alongside the best at 145.

But in a division stacked to the brim with elite contenders and future title threats, where exactly does the 24-year-old fit in?

Here are three fights that Poirier should take next en route to a 2014 title run.

 

Nik Lentz

Even though Lentz is coming off a heart-wrenching defeat at the hands of Chad Mendes earlier this month, this is still a great matchup for Poirier.

As one of the toughest guys in the division, Lentz offers something that many other featherweights do not. He’s resilient and well-rounded, possesses solid wrestling, loves stirring the media pot and would give Poirier one of the grittiest fights of his career.

Plus, considering each of them just fought, the turnaround wouldn’t be astronomical.

 

Dennis Siver

As the other top featherweight who excelled at UFC 168, Siver seems like the logical bet to fight Poirier next.

They each share a recent loss to Cub Swanson and are joined at the hip when it comes to divisional ranking.

For Poirier, he’d essentially be padding his resume in an effort to challenge a Top Five fighter in the weight class sometime in mid-2014.

For Siver, he’d have the opportunity to challenge a ranked opponent after outmuscling Manny Gamburyan on Saturday night.

Either way, it would be an explosive showdown and one that would spark any high-interest pay-per-view main card.

 

Cub Swanson

This is a fight that gets the blood boiling, but it probably isn’t going to be made at this point in time.

With these two already meeting back in February, it’s unlikely that the UFC would book a rematch just one year later.

While their first encounter was an absolute war and arguably much closer than a unanimous-decision victory for Swanson would suggest, the fact remains that Swanson’s five-fight win streak may ultimately close the door on Poirier‘s journey for revenge.

However, with Mendes scheduled to fight the winner of Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar tied up in The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC could opt to give Swanson one more high-profile contender before considering him title worthy.

Poirier would be a perfect candidate for the job.

 

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Anderson Silva’s Horrific Leg Injury Robs Chris Weidman of Legend-Killer Status


(Weidman checks on the wounded Silva. / Photo via Getty)

Chris Weidman knocked Anderson Silva out cold at UFC 162, but it didn’t count because it was just a fluke—or at least a significant percentage of MMA fans wrote it off as one. Their logic: Silva got cocky and paid the price.

The UFC 168 rematch was supposed to be different. Weidman and Silva were supposed to give MMA the answers it wanted needed: Was UFC 162 just Weidman channeling coach Matt Serra’s predilection towards unlikely knockouts? Or was it truly the end of Silva’s time and the beginning of Weidman’s?

When Anderson Silva‘s foot turned to jello, these questions entered the ranks of MMA’s great counterfactuals and unsolved mysteries.

Before UFC 168 started, I had an article planned for each main-event outcome. In the case of a Chris Weidman victory, I was going to write about how defeating Silva a second time propelled him into living-legend status. Weidman would become the new Jon Jones—an insanely talented, legitimately clean-cut, polite fighter that the UFC can build the (near) future on.

I was going to claim I was ahead of the curve on the subject (though about a year off on my prediction), since I wrote about Weidman claiming the “Jon Jones” mantle back in 2012:

There will be the rise of a new “Jon Jones”—a nigh invincible superhero—in 2012, and his name is Chris Weidman.

Just as the current UFC light heavyweight champion ran through the ranks of his division and captured the title, middleweight Weidman is beginning to rack up impressive victories. In 2012, Weidman will finally earn the recognition among MMA fans and pundits that he deserves; he will become the “Jon Jones” of the middleweight division.

… 

Because of his youth, skill set and training camp, he will dominate the middleweight division and become the 185-pound Jon Jones.

If Weidman smashed Silva decisively at UFC 168, such statements wouldn’t be hyperbolic. It’s a rare, special talent that can humble the greatest MMA fighter of all time twice in a row with only four years experience in the sport.

But Silva departed the cage on a stretcher because of a freak, Corey Hill-like leg injury, not because of a clean knockout or submission.

With this outcome, nobody wins. Find out why after the jump.


(Weidman checks on the wounded Silva. / Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Chris Weidman knocked Anderson Silva out cold at UFC 162, but it didn’t count because it was just a fluke—or at least a significant percentage of MMA fans wrote it off as one. Their logic: Silva got cocky and paid the price.

The UFC 168 rematch was supposed to be different. Weidman and Silva were supposed to give MMA the answers it wanted needed: Was UFC 162 just Weidman channeling coach Matt Serra’s predilection towards unlikely knockouts? Or was it truly the end of Silva’s time and the beginning of Weidman’s?

When Anderson Silva‘s foot turned to jello, these questions entered the ranks of MMA’s great counterfactuals and unsolved mysteries.

Before UFC 168 started, I had an article planned for each main-event outcome. In the case of a Chris Weidman victory, I was going to write about how defeating Silva a second time propelled him into living-legend status. Weidman would become the new Jon Jones—an insanely talented, legitimately clean-cut, polite fighter that the UFC can build the (near) future on.

I was going to claim I was ahead of the curve on the subject (though about a year off on my prediction), since I wrote about Weidman claiming the “Jon Jones” mantle back in 2012:

There will be the rise of a new “Jon Jones”—a nigh invincible superhero—in 2012, and his name is Chris Weidman.

Just as the current UFC light heavyweight champion ran through the ranks of his division and captured the title, middleweight Weidman is beginning to rack up impressive victories. In 2012, Weidman will finally earn the recognition among MMA fans and pundits that he deserves; he will become the “Jon Jones” of the middleweight division.

… 

Because of his youth, skill set and training camp, he will dominate the middleweight division and become the 185-pound Jon Jones.

If Weidman smashed Silva decisively at UFC 168, such statements wouldn’t be hyperbolic. It’s a rare, special talent that can humble the greatest MMA fighter of all time twice in a row with only four years experience in the sport.

But Silva departed the cage on a stretcher because of a freak, Corey Hill-like leg injury, not because of a clean knockout or submission.

With this outcome, nobody wins.

One of the UFC’s last well-known names is gone. At 38 years old, his career is almost definitely over after such a devastating injury.

Furthermore, Weidman’s reputation wasn’t able to benefit as much as it could’ve from this win. Earlier this week, I wrote about how Weidman winning was essential for the UFC’s future. But did Weidman really win?

Yes, he controlled and nearly finished Silva in the first round. However, there will always be an asterisk next to this victory. Weidman didn’t beat Silva, fans will say. A highly unlikely, devastating, tragic injury bested the GOAT (even though Weidman stated that checking Silva’s leg kick with his knee was an intentional technique and not dumb luck). Winning in such a fashion robbed Weidman of borderline deific status.

Instead of becoming a legend-killer and potential star after UFC 168, Weidman will become something less enviable. Fans will view him as merely a benefactor of circumstances. He didn’t beat Silva the first time because Silva didn’t take him seriously. And he didn’t beat Silva the second time because Silva got hurt.

Weidman, despite incredible abilities and 12 lbs. of gold, did not steal Anderson Silva’s thunder at UFC 168. He became a victim of it, and always will be. His reign as middleweight champion will forever be haunted by one question: Was he really a better fighter than Anderson Silva?

We’ll never know.

UFC 168: Anderson Silva’s Surgery a Success, out Three to Six Months

Anderson Silva’s legendary career was set to add another chapter at UFC 168, but unfortunately for the former champion, this installment was of the unfortunate and brutal variety.
The fighter heralded as the “greatest of all time” suffered a devastatin…

Anderson Silva‘s legendary career was set to add another chapter at UFC 168, but unfortunately for the former champion, this installment was of the unfortunate and brutal variety.

The fighter heralded as the “greatest of all time” suffered a devastating injury during his highly anticipated rematch with Chris Weidman on Saturday as a checked leg kick resulted in the 38-year-old snapping both major bones in his lower leg. The MMA world let out a collective gasp when the pound-for-pound great’s leg went limp upon impact of the strike and he fell to the ground writhing in agony. Referee Herb Dean rushed to bring a stop to the fight and Weidman was awarded the victory via TKO due to injury.

Immediately following the fight, Silva was stretchered out of the Octagon and rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery. Per an update released by the Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company, it appears the operation was a success, as the orthopedic surgeon inserted an intramedullary into the tibia in Silva’s left leg. While the fibula was broken as well, no corrective surgery was necessary and no additional surgeries are scheduled at this time.

The statement released by the organization details Silva’s situation in detail and also suggests the former middleweight king will be out anywhere from three to six months. 

Following Saturday evening’s UFC 168 main event, former champion Anderson Silva was taken to a local Las Vegas hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken left leg. The successful surgery, performed by Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC’s orthopedic surgeon, inserted an intramedullary rod into Anderson’s left tibia. The broken fibula was stabilized and does not require a separate surgery. Anderson will remain in the hospital for a short while, but no additional surgery is scheduled at this time. Recovery time for such injuries may vary between three and six months.

 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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Anderson Silva Breaks Leg vs. Chris Weidman, Is This the End for ‘The Spider?’

I won’t yank you around or beat around the bush here.
Yes. 
This is the end of Anderson Silva’s career.
The rumbles that “The Spider” was likely to retire following this fight, win or lose, were there beforehand. Chad Dundas summarized this perfec…

I won’t yank you around or beat around the bush here.

Yes. 

This is the end of Anderson Silva‘s career.

The rumbles that “The Spider” was likely to retire following this fight, win or lose, were there beforehand. Chad Dundas summarized this perfectly not long ago:

The impression has been either that he’s very focused for this fight or that he’s completely over it…I’m going with the latter.

His loss to Weidman at UFC 162 was a call to action, a signal that it was time to redouble his efforts and get back to being the man who toyed with the middleweight division for all those years.

Maybe he did. Maybe he even did enough to dispatch young Weidman this weekend and reclaim his title, but you know what? I bet he discovered he didn’t like it as much anymore.

Really, why shouldn’t he want to retire? He has climbed the highest mountains in MMA, and established himself as, almost indisputably, the greatest of all time in mixed martial arts. He literally had nothing left to prove except that he was better than Chris Weidman. Even that, though, is a small bullet on his list of accomplishments.

If he was likely to retire, after a win, he was far more likely to retire following a loss. Silva, though, didn‘t just lose. His leg snapped.

Let’s say, hypothetically Silva chooses to return for some reason. 

Following the precedent of Corey Hill, who broke his leg in similar fashion at UFC: Fight for the Troops 1. Hill, at the time 30 years old, was out of commission for over a year. For an undermotivated, 38-year-old Anderson Silva, coming back in a year would require something just short of a miracle…assuming he even wants to.

Optimistically, Silva would be returning shortly after his 40th birthday. And what would likely be an 18-month recovery, he would almost certainly be looking at a completely different division and would find himself at least a fight away from a chance at the belt.

For a guy like Hill, who was relatively young, reliant on fighting for income and had a future ahead of him, the recovery was worth the effort. For a guy like Silva, though? Somebody who has been there, done that, and taken a few pictures?

Why bother building yourself back up to be torn back down by the rigors of this brutal sport?

So no, Anderson Silva is not returning to MMA. 

He leaves behind an almost unparalleled legacy and I think we can all agree that it would’ve been best if that legacy was just one fight shorter.

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Weidman vs. Silva 2: The Pivotal Moment in the Title Rematch at UFC 168

It signified a flaw that Anderson Silva exposed in their first meeting, and for Chris Weidman and his coaching staff, it seemed like a defensive technique in obvious need of tweaking before the rematch at UFC 168. 
Because Silva tagged him repeate…

It signified a flaw that Anderson Silva exposed in their first meeting, and for Chris Weidman and his coaching staff, it seemed like a defensive technique in obvious need of tweaking before the rematch at UFC 168. 

Because Silva tagged him repeatedly in their first bout at UFC 162 with low kicks, the 29-year-old New York native made defensive changes in his latest training camp, a small adjustment that obviously paid major dividends in the rematch.

Weidman absorbed a few low kicks in Round 1 and then took a few more early in Round 2 before truly defending the technique.

“The All-American” then picked up his knee to check a Silva low kick roughly 1:15 into Round 2, a defensive maneuver he timed perfectly. Silva continued with his kicking motion, only to watch the wrong portion of his shin collide with Weidman‘s knee, a scenario that snapped his lower leg and caused him to crumble to the ground in agony.

Silva’s chance at redemption ended abruptly with a freak accident, and the career of the UFC’s greatest fighter certainly seemed in limbo in the minutes after the mishap. 

After looking like the most dominant force in the UFC in his first 16 fights, it appeared that the 38-year-old Silva had sadly met his match in his last two.

For a still humble Weidman, however, the win seemed to solidify his status as the middleweight division’s bona fide future linchpin.

Still, Weidman acknowledged the greatness of Silva, the man who had gone undefeated between 2006 and 2013, by saying the following to Joe Rogan in the bout’s post-fight interview: 

“In the last fight, the one thing he really capitalized on was the leg kicks,” Weidman said at the post-fight press conference. “So probably the most important thing we focused on in this fight camp was stopping his leg kicks. Ray Longo, he actually broke a guy’s leg in training using what he calls ‘The Destruction,’ which is knee on shin. When he goes to kick you put your knee on his shin. I’ve done it a couple times in sparring and guys take some time, about a minute off, and then they’re OK. At least it stops them from kicking you, but to break someone’s leg, I’ve never done that before.”

Silva didn’t turn his right hip fully in his attempt to kick Weidman on the inside of his left knee. As a result, “The Spider” presumably thrust a softer spot of his shin into a solid spot on The All-American’s inner knee, a gruesome interaction that caused a clean break to his left leg.

Weidman obviously didn’t injure Silva on purpose or defend his belt with malicious intent. Truth be told, The Spider fell victim to another unusual and unfortunate miscalculation, this one much more damaging than the first.

Weidman certainly felt confident he would finish Silva again in some fashion, although it seems unlikely the champ envisioned it would unfold via broken leg.

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