In July, Anderson Silva learned that it is much better to give than to receive, which is why he plans on giving Chris Weidman back his knockout at UFC 168.
The world from the eyes of Silva is a much different place now that he is no longer a UFC champi…
In July, Anderson Silva learned that it is much better to give than to receive, which is why he plans on giving Chris Weidman back his knockout at UFC 168.
The world from the eyes of Silva is a much different place now that he is no longer a UFC champion. After losing to Weidman at UFC 162, the red carpet was immediately pulled from underneath Silva’s feet.
People still respect him as a legend in the sport, but there is a different kind of love and respect that comes along with being a UFC champion. Silva enjoyed it unconditionally for nearly seven years.
For Silva, it isn’t so much about what the media and fans think of him. During an appearance on The MMA Hour, he admitted that the most important titles he can ever wear are that of a husband, father and son: “It’s normal. It’s the game, but my family is normal. This is more important for me—my sons, my wife, my brothers and dad. Other people, whatever.”
“Normal” was a word often used by Silva on The MMA Hour, which is strange considering his career is anything but normal.
Who else can lay claim to even accomplishing half of what Silva has done in his UFC tenure?
Sadly, MMA fans tend to live solely in the present with a short-term memory span. A fighter is only as good as his last fight, and anything that comes beforehand is eradicated from memory. Silva, who has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the UFC, isn’t allowing himself to become a prisoner of the moment.
He remembers vividly everything he’s achieved in MMA and, regardless of the outcome of his rematch with Weidman, he doesn’t feel like he has anything left to prove:
Come on bro, definitely no. I’m working hard for a long time. My big goal is to train the kids and new athletes coming. I’m normal guy. Sometimes I have good day, sometimes I don’t have good day. People will have the new chance to see the real Anderson. It’s normal.
It’s been a long time since Silva has been branded as a contender.
On December 28, Silva travels back in time to the days where he was the hungry contender yearning for an opportunity to prove himself as the best in the world. The rematch being in December almost sounds too good to be true.
Shopping can get a bit tedious around the holidays, which is why Silva decided to get Weidman’s Christmas present early. As Silva spoiled to The MMA Hour, the gift is simply a knockout with a return address to Weidman attached to it: “I [will] give back the knockout. I’m working hard now. Chris is the new champion and is a great fighter, but I’m training hard. The new Anderson is coming.”
There is only one appropriate response to the possibility of seeing a new and improved Anderson Silva: “Gulp.”
If you happened to witness the latest edition of Hard Knocks on HBO that centered around the Cincinnati Bengals and the team they will field in 2013, there was one character that stood out above all the rest—mostly because he was unwilling to dan…
If you happened to witness the latest edition of Hard Knocks on HBO that centered around the Cincinnati Bengals and the team they will field in 2013, there was one character that stood out above all the rest—mostly because he was unwilling to dance for the cameras.
That’s metaphorically speaking, of course, but linebacker James Harrison had little interest in being on camera or doing much else during the taping of the show than to give the Hard Knocks team plenty of disdain for their participation in the training camp.
Time and time again, Harrison blocked cameras, refused interviews and even went as far as pulling in quarterback Andy Dalton to act as a human shield to keep the Hard Knocks crew from getting a clear shot of him during one of their locker room shots.
If there was an equal to Harrison in the sport of MMA, it would be former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Over the past seven years, he’s enjoyed the kind of success rarely tasted in MMA, with the longest reign as champion in company history while also becoming an icon in his home country of Brazil. He’s been on the cover of Rolling Stone and been featured on commercials for Fox.
But when it’s time to promote a fight and answer the litany of questions that reporters have for him, Silva’s responses are akin to shoving a quarterback in front of his shot to avoid dealing with the press.
On Tuesday, Silva and the man who took the title from him in July, Chris Weidman, took part in a press conference in Las Vegas to help begin the promotion for their upcoming title fight on Dec. 28 at UFC 168.
Silva was cordial enough with a smile on his face and his eyes staring back over the crowd behind his black-rimmed glasses. One of the first questions that came to the Brazilian asked how many times he’s watched the first fight with Weidman at this stage.
Silva replied that he’d watched it three times, but his coaches have watched it on several occasions to help him prepare for the upcoming rematch. The next inquiry came about his performance versus Weidman’s performance and whether the result in the fight ultimately came down to his mistake when he was taunting his opponent and got clipped with a huge right hand that put him down and out.
It was here that Silva decided to go back into a reclusive mode and avoided answering many of the questions posed to him.
“Chris is the new champion, you need to respect this guy,” Silva said. “Come on.”
Next up was Silva being asked if life had changed for him at all since losing the belt, and the only answer he could muster was “No,” but he didn’t delve any deeper than the simple, one-word response.
Following the fight with Weidman back in July, Silva said directly after it was over that he wasn’t interested in a rematch and would happily watch the champion defend his new belt while he focused on new goals. A few weeks later, Silva changed his mind and decided he did want a second shot at Weidman with a chance to reclaim the gold he wore around his waist for seven years.
So it was a natural follow up to that string of events to ask Silva why he had a sudden change of heart. Why did he not care after the fight but then do a 180 degree turn and want the immediate rematch?
Silva’s answer was somewhat uninspiring.
“I have the new contract. In my contract, I have nine more fights,” Silva answered.
The mundane answers muddled with a few one-word responses weren’t exactly raising the stakes in what is being billed as the biggest rematch in UFC history. At one point when an interviewer gave chase to Silva, trying to prod the former champion for some kind of explanation that wouldn’t fit on a Twitter response, UFC president Dana White leaned over and passed a message to Silva.
“Give people a little more, they want to hear more,” White whispered.
Silva did up the ante a little bit when he responded to the question about the pressure and intensity being raised for this upcoming rematch.
“I no have more pressure now because Chris is the new champion,” said Silva. “I’m working hard to bring the belt back for me, for Brazil, but I don’t have more pressure.”
“I have nine more fights and my focus is my rematch with Chris,” Silva added. “The new Anderson is coming, trust me.”
The press conference ended without much else in the way of fanfare for the fight outside of the customary staredown where Silva covered his mouth while looking back at Weidman.
These two will go through another slew of press conferences, question-and-answer periods and meetings with fans over the next week as they progress on media tour to promote UFC 168.
There is not a fighter on planet earth that doesn’t hate the monotony of doing a laundry list of interviews where the questions will almost always sound the same, and there may only be so much material to cover prior to a bout taking place. Still, most fighters know that interviews and press conferences are just part of the deal.
In the fight business, part of the business is promotion. It isn’t the NFL, where the action moves fluidly week to week and a big game is touted just five or six days before it takes place.
No, in the UFC world of big fights, there are literally months between the announcement and the actual bout taking place, and that leaves plenty of time to convince the average person to plunk down $50 or $60 of his or her hard-earned money to watch the show the company is promoting.
Not every interview has to sound like something out of Bull Durham, but in the fight game, it’s expected that there may be a little heat or at least a rivalry headed into a big showdown.
Silva wasn’t playing that game before he lost the title to Weidman, and he’s certainly not going to sing for his supper now, either.
If there’s one thing that can be said about Silva, it’s that he’s an enigma in and out of the cage, and figuring him out may be a puzzle no one is able to solve. Weidman managed to do it in July, and it brought about a changing of the guard in the middleweight division.
Whether Silva continues to respond with one-word answers or long, drawn-out, St. Crispin’s Day type speeches for the next few months is unknown. But all that truly matters is that he shows up on Dec. 28 ready to face Weidman for a second time.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
The month of December continues to be stacked with great fights. As first reported on Thursday by MMAweekly.com, Gleison Tibau will be taking on Blackzilian member Michael Johnson at UFC 168.
Runner-up of The Ultimate Fighter 12, Johnson…
The month of December continues to be stacked with great fights. As first reported on Thursday by MMAweekly.com, GleisonTibau will be taking on Blackzilian member Michael Johnson at UFC 168.
Runner-up of The Ultimate Fighter 12, Johnson earned the biggest win of his career in August when he thoroughly dominated popular lightweight Joe Lauzon. It was such a statement that UFC president Dana Whitereferred to it as “one of the most lopsided, one-sided beatings you’ll ever see in the UFC.”
Prior to the victory, Johnson was struggling to find his place inside the Octagon. In consecutive fights, the Mo. native gave up losses to considerable underdogs Myles Jury and RezaMadadi, which dropped his UFC record to 4-4.
Tibau is one of the largest lightweights in MMA, cutting upward of 35 pounds to make weight. Having gotten weight cutting down to a science, Tibau enters the cage well above 180 pounds. In 20 UFC appearances, the Brazilian has never missed weight.
Over the course of his 20 trips to the Octagon, Tibau has defeated like likes of Rafael dos Anjos, Jamie Varner and Jeremy Stephens.
Although he is a respected member of the Zuffa roster, losses to Evan Dunham, Jim Miller and KhabibNurmagomedov have Tibau stuck in somewhat of a gatekeeper role. A loss to an up-and-comer like Johnson would cause irreparable damage to his hopes of one day fighting for UFC gold.
On the other hand, should Johnson be able to upset the human takedown machine, his career would be at a high point and “The Menace” would be knocking on the front door of the lightweight rankings.
UFC 168 takes place on Saturday, Dec. 28, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It is currently headlined by a pair of championship rematches. In the main event, Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva do battle for the middleweight title one more time, while UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey takes on challenger Miesha Tate in the co-main event.
For news on all things UFC, stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA.
After UFC president Dana White completely buried Uriah Hall following his decision loss to John Howard in August, it was unclear if the TUF 17 finalist would be getting another shot in the Octagon. It turns out that he will — against another guy who’s one loss away from getting cut.
The UFC announced today that Hall will return at UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 (December 28th, Las Vegas) against eight-year UFC veteran Chris Leben, who has lost his last three outings, and hasn’t won a fight since his KO of Wanderlei Silva in July 2011. Leben is coming off a dull decision loss against Andrew Craig, which followed his dull decision loss against Derek Brunson. Any other fighter with the same run of failures both inside and outside the cage would have probably been cut by now. But Dana White has an almost inexplicable fondness for Leben, looking upon him like a wayward child.
“I’ve got to figure out what I think will be best for him,” White said following Leben’s loss to Craig. “I want Leben to get up everyday and be part of society and have to do something, whether it’s training or training other people, no matter what is. Chris Leben has the type of personality that can go off the deep very easily in a lot of negative ways. I really care about the kid. I like him a lot. I love him. So I’ve got to figure this thing out.”
And so, the decision has been made — one more fight for the Cat Smasher, who has earned the right to go out on his shield, and should maybe consider retiring directly after the fight if it doesn’t go his way. Any predictions?
In a related story, a featherweight bout between Dustin Poirier and TUF 14 winner Diego Brandao has also been added to UFC 168. Porier recently bounced back to the win column with an entertaining decision win against Erik Koch at UFC 164, while Brandao is riding a three-fight win streak, most recently earning a decision win against Daniel Pineda at UFC Fight Night 26.
After UFC president Dana White completely buried Uriah Hall following his decision loss to John Howard in August, it was unclear if the TUF 17 finalist would be getting another shot in the Octagon. It turns out that he will — against another guy who’s one loss away from getting cut.
The UFC announced today that Hall will return at UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 (December 28th, Las Vegas) against eight-year UFC veteran Chris Leben, who has lost his last three outings, and hasn’t won a fight since his KO of Wanderlei Silva in July 2011. Leben is coming off a dull decision loss against Andrew Craig, which followed his dull decision loss against Derek Brunson. Any other fighter with the same run of failures both inside and outside the cage would have probably been cut by now. But Dana White has an almost inexplicable fondness for Leben, looking upon him like a wayward child.
“I’ve got to figure out what I think will be best for him,” White said following Leben’s loss to Craig. “I want Leben to get up everyday and be part of society and have to do something, whether it’s training or training other people, no matter what is. Chris Leben has the type of personality that can go off the deep very easily in a lot of negative ways. I really care about the kid. I like him a lot. I love him. So I’ve got to figure this thing out.”
And so, the decision has been made — one more fight for the Cat Smasher, who has earned the right to go out on his shield, and should maybe consider retiring directly after the fight if it doesn’t go his way. Any predictions?
In a related story, a featherweight bout between Dustin Poirier and TUF 14 winner Diego Brandao has also been added to UFC 168. Porier recently bounced back to the win column with an entertaining decision win against Erik Koch at UFC 164, while Brandao is riding a three-fight win streak, most recently earning a decision win against Daniel Pineda at UFC Fight Night 26.
The madness continues, ladies and gentlemen, with two more big fights announced for this December. The UFC, via Twitter, have announced two fights for the already-stacked UFC 168 year-end card.
Welcome Thursday with big #UFC168 slugfests: @DustinPoiri…
The madness continues, ladies and gentlemen, with two more big fights announced for this December. The UFC, via Twitter, have announced two fights for the already-stacked UFC 168 year-end card.
That’s right! Diego Brandao vs. Dustin Poirier and Uriah Hall vs. Chris Leben. Both fights, on paper, are almost certainly going to be barn-burning slugfests.
Diego Brandao and Dustin Poirier are two featherweights jockeying for position on the UFC’s rankings.
Brandao, who won The Ultimate Fighter season 14’s featherweight tournament with a shocking first-round armbar, owns a solid 4-1 record thus far, but has been struggling with cardio trouble in his recent fights. Still, he is riding a three-fight winning streak and, in spite of some imperfections, he really does leave it all in the cage.
Poirier, meanwhile, went far in the featherweight division from 2010 through 2012, racking up a five-fight winning streak over some solid competition. However, that streak was ended in spectacular fashion as he was dissected by Chan-Sung Jung, and lost again just months later to Cub Swanson. There is no shame in that, though, and he has bounced back most recently with an exciting back-and-forth decision win over Erik Koch.
This featherweight tilt will either cement Poirier‘s spot in the division’s top-10, or send Diego Brandao rocketing into that group.
While Brandao and Poirier are moving up, Chris Leben and Uriah Hall have been heading in precisely the opposite direction.
Leben, a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter season 1, experienced something of a career renaissance in 2010, but has since gone into a hard free fall, experiencing two lopsided beatdowns at the hands of Brian Stann and Mark Munoz. This was followed by a year-long suspension for painkillers and two ugly, sloppy decision losses.
Hall has also been harshly falling. After achieving overnight stardom on The Ultimate Fighter season 17, he ended up suffering a huge upset loss at the hands of Kelvin Gastellum in the season’s finals. He followed this up with a heavily-marketed, but much-maligned, decision loss to previous welterweight washout John Howard. This left many speculating if he was mentally capable of handling a professional fighting career.
So why is this an exciting bout? Well, both fighters have shown themselves capable of putting on an amazing show, and both have their backs to the wall. That will likely mean fireworks.
UFC 168 is headlined by two huge title rematches in Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 2, and Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate 2. The event takes place December 28.
If you happened to witness the latest edition of Hard Knocks on HBO that centered around the Cincinnati Bengals and the team they will field in 2013, there was one character that stood out above all the rest—mostly because he was unwilling to dance for the cameras.