It may sound preposterous to some, but Georges St-Pierre still contends that Anderson Silva belongs atop the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.
The last time St-Pierre, the UFC’s No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter, offered up an opinion on the fut…
It may sound preposterous to some, but Georges St-Pierre still contends that Anderson Silva belongs atop the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.
The last time St-Pierre, the UFC’s No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter, offered up an opinion on the future of Silva, the longtime welterweight champ ultimately came off as downright prophetic.
Despite the fact that one of his training partners, Chris Weidman, had just nine pro fights under his belt, St-Pierre predicted that the 29-year-old New York native would knock off Silva, the former pound-for-pound linchpin, at UFC 162.
Not only did St-Pierre forecast that Weidman would upset Silva, he also suggested that The All-American would finish The Spider. His theory, of course, came to fruition when the former Hofstra University wrestler flattened the 38-year-old Brazilian at the 1:14 mark of the second round at UFC 162.
Less than a month after Weidman became the first man to KO Silva, St-Pierre told MMA Fight Corner’s Heidi Fang that The Spider still represents the sport’s top dog, despite the fact that he dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 on the UFC’s pound-for-pound ranking’s list.
I still believe Anderson Silva is the best in the world pound-for-pound. It’s a mistake he made. He got beat by Chris Weidman. I believe it was a style match-up and he got caught. I believe he’s the best in the world. Even the best can lose sometimes. When I saw that fight, you know, of course Chris Weidman is my friend and training partner, I was cheering for him and I thought he was going to win because the style match-up and he was very well prepared. But it made me realize when I was watching that fight that even the best can lose sometimes.
St-Pierre went on to elaborate on the pitfalls of complacency and on the lessons he learned from Silva’s first setback since January 2006.
It made me realize that what I got, I’m the world champion now, [but] it can go away in the blink of an eye. If I don’t pay attention, one punch, one submission, one mistake, and it can change the whole thing. It made me realize that I need to work very hard to maintain what I have. It gave me that motivation. It kind of woke me up a little bit. As much as I feel happy for Chris because it cannot happen to a better man than Chris Weidman, it woke me up to see Anderson falling like this. As much as I feel happy for Chris, I feel sad for Anderson. It can happen to anybody.
The Spider will get the opportunity to prove St-Pierre right when he locks horns with Weidman for a second time at UFC 168 in December.
According to Bovada.com, an aggregate betting website, Silva is a 1.5-to-1 (-150) favorite to best Weidman (+120) in the rematch.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, the cover athlete of ESPN The Magazine’s 2012 Body Issue, has once again posed for some risque photos that will appear in a major publication.
“Rowdy” graces the cover of the September issue of…
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, the cover athlete of ESPN The Magazine’s 2012 Body Issue, has once again posed for some risque photos that will appear in a major publication.
“Rowdy” graces the cover of the September issue of Maxim wearing a bikini and even less in some topless shots from the pictorial.
The photos come courtesy of Stephan Wurth for Maxim, with Cage Potato providing scans of some of the most enticing poses from the poster girl of women’s MMA.
After a 6-0 run inside the Strikeforce cage, Rousey made her UFC debut at UFC 157 in February, defeating a game challenger in Liz Carmouche with her signature armbar.
The former Olympic-level Judoka, who captured a bronze medal in 2008, recently wrapped up filming for season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, coaching opposite rival Miesha Tate in the first season to feature both male and female competitors.
Tate and Rousey first squared off in March of last year, with Rousey surviving an early barrage before eventually forcing “Cupcake” to tap to a gruesome armbar that dislocated her elbow.
Rousey captured the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship with the victory.
Tate fought Cat Zingano in a title eliminator bout at the TUF Season 17 Finale in April, controlling the first two rounds before getting TKO’ed by a surging Zingano in Round 3. However, according to MMA Fighting, Tate was less than thrilled with the stoppage.
Fate would work in Tate’s favor, though, as Zingano suffered a knee injury, per Yahoo! Sports, shortly before TUF18 filming began, so Tate was more than happy to fill the void.
Rousey vs. Tate II serves as the co-main event of UFC 168, which takes place on December 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
JohnHeinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
It hasn’t been a memorable couple of years for the UFC.
Since the Fox Era started and there’s been a card every other week, pay-per-view numbers have levelled off, quality of shows has often suffered, injuries have been more frequent and fans have grow…
It hasn’t been a memorable couple of years for the UFC.
Since the Fox Era started and there’s been a card every other week, pay-per-view numbers have levelled off, quality of shows has often suffered, injuries have been more frequent and fans have grown frustrated with the product.
Sure, if you bring it up with Dana White you’re going to be the nail to his verbal hammer pretty quick. It’s real talk but not the type he’s interested in hearing when his whole livelihood is trying to sell fight cards.
But the end of 2013 might very well stand as the turning point for the promotion, the end of a dark age that started well over a year ago.
Coming off a Fox main event that many are lauding as a breakthrough for flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and the Chris Weidman upset only a few weeks earlier, the promotion is primed to ride some good vibes through the end of the year.
UFC 163 happens this weekend and pits Jose Aldo against Chan Sung Jung, a fighter tailor made to make Aldo look good with his plodding style and willingness to absorb punishment.
UFC 164 comes less than a month later, headlined by Benson Henderson defending against nemesis Anthony Pettis just up the road from Pettis‘ house. The last time they met was for the WEC lightweight title, and it ended with this little bad boy. Yes, the rematch should be good.
From there, events headlined by Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez and Georges St-Pierre see the promotion roll through a stretch that hasn’t existed for them on paper since 2011.
Those are three big draws defending their title on consecutive cards, something the UFC just cannot offer anymore with its product so severely watered down. Velasquez and St-Pierre in particular could do big numbers, as Velasquez completes his trilogy with Junior dos Santos on a deep card, and GSP’s fight will headline the promotion’s 20th Anniversary show.
After all that, the year will end with Weidman defending his recently poached middleweight title against Anderson Silva in the rematch to end all rematches. Whether or not it truly is the biggest rematch in UFC history (it’snot) is irrelevant, because it’s the biggest one of the year, and it will be supported by the star power of Ronda Rousey in her own rematch with Miesha Tate. If there’s ever going to be a 1,000,000-buy pay-per-view again for the UFC, that one could be it.
And all of this is to say nothing of the Fox influence on things.
The UFC will be on the big network one more time before the calendar changes and will also be on Fox Sports 1 several times. Names like Sonnen, Shogun, Overeem, Condit, Kampmann, Cerrone, Teixeira, and Bader have all been booked for those bi-weekly events already, so it looks like a pretty consistent level of talent will be showcased there.
The bottom line is that the UFC has a chance to get on a run here, a run the likes of which fans haven’t seen in a very long time. People want to see proven names in big fights, and that’s basically all that you’ll see on the UFC calendar for the next five months.
It’s been too long since that’s been the case, and now that it finally is again, it’s clear how big it could be for them.
By pairing the rematch between bitter rivals Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate with one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, UFC 168 is must-see TV regardless of who else makes their way to the card.
Eve…
By pairing the rematch between bitter rivals Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate with one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, UFC 168 is must-see TV regardless of who else makes their way to the card.
Even though those two bouts are the only confirmed fights for the Dec. 28 card, UFC president Dana White went as far as to say that Weidman-Silva II would be the biggest fight in the history of the UFC. And that was before adding the Rousey vs. Tate rematch.
Here’s why it’s the perfect co-main event to set up the highly anticipated rematch between Weidman and Silva.
Main Event Worthy
It’s not often that “co-main event” billing really means co-main event. Especially when it comes to cards with the likes of Anderson Silva anchoring the pay-per-view buys.
A third bout between aging legends Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin co-headlined Silva’s rematch with ChaelSonnen (a card that still netted 925,000 buys according to MMA Payout Blue Book). Other co-main events for Silva fights have included a bout between Dave Herman and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and a featherweight contest between Frankie Edgar and Charles Oliveira.
Take away the presence of Silva on those cards, and none of those fights could have carried the card as the main event.
Tate vs. Rousey, on the other hand, was originally destined to headline the card, per MMA Junkie:
Rousey has already shown that she has enough drawing power to main event a card, too. The MMA Payout Blue Book reported that the card had 450,000 buys. That’s more than Cain Velasquez’s most recent title defense or Anderson Silva’s bout with Stephan Bonnar.
Rematch Factor
Fight fans love a good grudge match.
According to MMA Payout Blue Book, the UFC 117 card featuring the first bout between ChaelSonnen and Anderson Silva did 600,000 buys. Once Sonnen showed that he was a legitimate threat to the reigning champion, the rematch saw a huge increase, going to 925,000 buys.
Even the biggest card in UFC history, UFC 100, featured a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir as the main event.
Fans are leery of spending their money on a card that they are afraid won’t deliver. When they’ve seen the first fight, they know they’ll get a show worth watching. Throw in the added intrigue surrounding the adjustments each fighter will make and it’s clear to see why they draw.
Tate still remains one of two fighters to make it out of the first minute with Rousey. Everyone will want to know if she can be the first to avoid Rousey‘s armbar.
The Ultimate Fighter
There’s no question that Dana White is trying to put together a mega-event to end the year. That means he’s going to pull out all the stops when it comes to promoting the event.
One easy way to do that is to get The Ultimate Fighter involved. While we watch the weekly show to see up-and-coming fighters attempt to pave their own way into the organization, it certainly goes a long way in promoting the upcoming bout between coaches.
That should be no different this time around as both Tate and Rousey are fiery competitors who don’t like one another. Every time they display their disdain for each other on the show, it’s more free press for the card.
While the prospect of Silva and Weidman going toe-to-toe again is more than enough to win over most fans, the idea of watching Rousey and Tate settle their differences in the Octagon should serve as the perfect prelude to that encounter.
In one fell swoop on July 6, Anderson Silva went from seemingly the most singularly dominant force in MMA history to man staring down the barrel of his mortality.
It was on that night, before a packed house at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, that Sil…
In one fell swoop on July 6, Anderson Silva went from seemingly the most singularly dominant force in MMA history to man staring down the barrel of his mortality.
It was on that night, before a packed house at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, that Silva did something he had never done previously—lost in a sanctioned UFC bout.
The man who handed Silva that loss, Chris Weidman, came into the fight expected to share the same fate as every other poor sap who walked into the Octagon versus the Brazilian legend. Everyone from Dan Henderson to Rich Franklin (twice), all the way to the sport’s human troll ChaelSonnen had succumbed to the wills of Siva. Whether by knockout, TKO or by choking the last gasping breath from his opponent, Silva was dominant in each of his 16 wins since joining UFC.
Bolstered by the lengthy run of dominance, Silva looked the part of the legend against Weidman. He openly taunted his opponent in the ring. He stood with his hands at his sides, daring Weidman (9-0 coming into the match, by the way) to come and get some respect. It was the type of display you’ve come to expect from Silva, one he usually follows with an absolute evisceration of his overmatched opponent.
Only that wouldn’t happen this time.
At the start of the second round, Silva and Weidman were exchanging blows, the former in a lackadaisical pose, satisfied to spend his match in an English shin-kicking contest. As Weidman backed away to regroup from the exchange, Silva went into full taunt mode, shimmying his shoulders and giving his opponent an opportunity to attack.
Weidman didn’t miss his opportunity. The 29-year-old, deemed “The All-American,” laid a Revolutionary War-sized whooping on Silva, clipping him with a left, forcing Silva back a step and then landing the knockout blow with another left. He then climbed on top of Silva’s lifeless body, throwing a fusillade of strikes to Silva’s skull before the referee stopped the bout.
With that, Silva’s invincibility complex was gone. He was without strap for the first time since Oct. 14, 2006. The loss ended the longest title reign in UFC history and perhaps the greatest sustained run of overlordship in the sport’s history. The Silva dynasty had fallen.
Like many fighters before him, Silva was quick to work on getting that championship back. Working under the gun of rematch expectations, Silva and Weidman quickly reconciled an agreement and a second fight was on, scheduled for the year-ending UFC 168.
It’s easy to get excited about Weidman-Silva II. They’re two of the finest fighters in the world, and Weidman‘s shocking victory earlier this month should help set up one of the biggest pay-per-view hauls in recent memory.
But the precedent Silva is setting returning to the ring is a little nerve-wracking.
As is standard procedure, Silva underwent post-fight testing after being knocked out. He was handed a 45-day suspension, one that prohibits him from any contact for the first 30 days of that period. It’s standard stuff. His suspension was 15 days greater than the shortest one doled out that evening, and Silva is eligible to return to training Aug. 6.
The fact that the UFC makes fighters undergo this process is commendable and is one of the many things that have helped Dana White‘s sport remain at least somewhat clear of the ire of the concussion police. But allowing Silva to get back into the ring five months after his world was set ablaze might be a situation of putting the hype for a rematch over the fighter’s long-term safety.
We don’t have access to Silva’s medical records, so it’s impossible to know whether or not he was concussed by Weidman‘s shot. But suffice it to say that Silva’s appearance on Brazilian late-night talk show Agora é Tarde (h/t ESPN) didn’t do much to work against a concussion theory.
“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.”
Medical science is still in the beta phase of figuring out when concussions happen and how they can be properly treated. But Silva’s description of the way he felt—or how he didn’t feel, more specifically—reads like a pretty straightforward definition of a concussion. And if Silva was concussed, why is his camp so eager to get the former champion back in the ring?
Even Weidman‘s camp has shown open concern about the decision-making process that went into scheduling a December fight. Ray Longo, Weidman’s striking coach, appeared on Sherdog Radio this week and openly questioned Silva’s decision to push for a rematch so soon:
In boxing, it’s very rare, and these are young guys, like 23-year-old guys [who are] 30-0, if they get knocked out, they’re never the same. This is a 40-year-old man, 39, whatever he is, just got his head bounced off the [canvas]. I mean, even going to the doctor, what doctor is going to recommend, ‘Let’s just jump back in there in a couple of months’?
“I’m actually worried about the guy,” Longo continued. “That’s my gut feeling…That was a pretty bad knockout. That wasn’t like a flash knockdown. He got hurt. He’s not a young kid.”
This could easily be misinterpreted as complete trash talk. But if you hear the context of the interview and take an open-minded approach to what Longo was saying, it’s clear his concern was valid. Longo is always going to take the side of his fighter, yet he sounded more like a concerned figure worrying about the sport’s biggest star.
And it’s an understandable position. Silva is 38. Dominant or not, he’s been taking blows to the head for at least 16 years, dating back to his first professional MMA fight in Brazil. As you get older, things tend to slow down. Your body heals at a slower rate. It’s more common for fighters to take more time off as they get older—even in MMA, where the standard waiting length isn’t as long as in boxing.
There are other fighters within the MMA spectrum to whom we could compare Silva’s knockout. But on an international impact level, none feel quite as apt as Manny Pacquiao.
When Juan Manuel Marquez sent Pacquiao to the canvas in the meme heard ’round the world, the instant reaction was to wonder if (and when) Pac-Man would fight again. The answer was almost instantly yes, and there were rumblings that Pacquiao would fight twice in 2013.
Unlike the Silva situation, though, cooler heads prevailed. Pacquiao’s camp forced their fighter to take a step back from the sport, scheduling his next bout against Brandon Rios for Nov. 23—almost a full year after being knocked out by Marquez.
Drawing a thick Sharpie line down the center with MMA and boxing is understandably flawed. But Pacquiao and Silva are both legends in their respective sports, both coming off of crushing knockout losses and both very firmly on the back end of their careers.
The entire sport wants to see Weidman-Silva II. It will be the most anticipated fight of the year, regardless of venue or timing.
The folks in Las Vegas have Anderson Silva pegged as a slight favorite (-160, per Bovada) to rebound in a big way against Chris Weidman and reclaim his middleweight championship at UFC 168.
Considering the first fight featured a much closer line …
The folks in Las Vegas have Anderson Silva pegged as a slight favorite (-160, per Bovada) to rebound in a big way against Chris Weidman and reclaim his middleweight championship at UFC 168.
Considering the first fight featured a much closer line than usual for a Silva defense, per Jeremy Botter of Bleacher Report, it is a bit surprising that Weidman‘s victory wasn’t enough to swing the odds into his favor.
After all, if Weidman had respect even before entering the Octagon against Silva and ultimately knocked out the reigning champion, shouldn’t that be enough to give him the respect of being the favorite?
Obviously, Silva shouldn’t be a huge underdog. He still boasts the most incredible resume in UFC history as the record holder for most title defenses, most finishes and longest winning streak in the history of the organization.
One fight doesn’t take all of that away.
However, you can’t compare resumes when making the odds for this fight. Weidman has the best resume that he could possibly build with the opportunities that he’s been given. He’s undefeated in his career with seven of his 10 wins coming by way of TKO or submission, including victories over Uriah Hall, Demian Maia and Mark Munoz.
So the only thing we can really use to compare as we handicap the rematch is the first match between the two. That’s a measuring stick that sees Weidman as a slight favorite at the very least. Weidman did exactly what he had to do in the first fight.
The 29-year-old showed off his wrestling ability that made him a strong candidate to dethrone Silva in the opening frame, landing a takedown, landing some ground-and-pound while even attempting two submissions, according to FightMetric.
It was then that Silva employed a familiar tactic we’ve seen from him for years—taunting his opponent into striking exchanges that they can’t win.
Except Weidman remained composed, confident and unrattled in the face of Silva’s mind games, even dropping his own hands and challenging Silva to hit him in response at one point. It paid off, as Weidman waited for just the right time to catch an overextended Silva for the finishing blows.
Now Silva must find a way to recalibrate his game plan and unseat the champion as the challenger for the first time since 2006.
The obvious counterargument to all of this is what Silva’s fans have been saying since the fight ended: “We didn’t see the best Anderson Silva at UFC 162.” While there may be some truth to that, we didn’t see Chris Weidman‘s best either.
With just 10 fights under his belt Weidman has showed incredible progression from fight-to-fight at this point of his career. Just three fights ago, Weidman was taking on his first real middleweight contender in Demian Maia, a fight he won by unanimous decision when he narrowly outstruck Maia 58-51 according to FightMetric‘s numbers.
It was by no means an impressive performance, but it moved him up the ladder. From there he went on to dominate a fight against Mark Munoz to earn his title shot, looking like a different fighter as Munoz failed to land a single significant strike.
Which brings us to the latest fight with Silva nearly a full year later. Weidman once again showed development by standing up with the best striker in the world and coming out victorious.
Without a long layoff and the confidence of a championship behind him, there’s a great chance we see an even better version of Weidman show up in the rematch.
That’s a prospect that should make him the slight favorite.
It may sound preposterous to some, but Georges St-Pierre still contends that Anderson Silva belongs atop the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings. 
