Tag: UFC 168

Dana White: Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva II Set for December 28 in Las Vegas

A rematch between newly crowned middleweight champion Chris Weidman and previous division kingpin Anderson Silva will take place December 28 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, according to UFC president Dana White. 
White made the announce…

A rematch between newly crowned middleweight champion Chris Weidman and previous division kingpin Anderson Silva will take place December 28 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, according to UFC president Dana White. 

White made the announcement on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Saturday, unveiling the main event for UFC 168. He also said the card will be co-headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. 

“I back, trust me. I back,” Silva said in a clip provided to SportsCenter. 

Silva initially stated he didn’t want a rematch immediately after losing to Weidman, but it looks like it only took a week for him to change his mind.

While White didn’t predict what he thinks will happen this time around, he did mention that he does not expect a replica of their first fight at all. 

“I completely expect a totally different fight this time. I don’t think he (Silva) will come out and taunt him (Weidman)…and do the things that he did. He went out and he played, and this isn’t the first time he’s done this, it’s not like this has never happened. He’s done it before and he got away with it. Chris Weidman didn’t allow it. Chris Weidman kept his composure when he was messing around with him. Weidman went right after him and ended up knocking him out…This will be the biggest fight in UFC history,” White said after being asked if Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre or Jon Jones was still a possibility.

On Friday, MMA Fighting reported that the UFC’s head honcho had narrowed down four possible locations for Weidman vs. Silva II: Dallas, New Jersey, Las Vegas and Brazil. 

Silva had a 17-fight win streak broken with his loss to “The All-American.” He had been the UFC’s 185-pound titleholder since October 2006 when he knocked out then-champ Rich Franklin with ease. 

Weidman is the only fighter to knock out Silva during the Brazilian’s 38-fight career, but his victory is tainted in the eyes of some fans, given how much taunting and showboating “The Spider” did during their UFC 162 encounter. 

The victory boosted Weidman‘s professional MMA record to a perfect 10-0, including seven stoppage wins.

GQ Brazil initially reported that Weidman vs. Silva II was set for December 28 on Saturday, but Yahoo! Sports quickly debunked the story. 

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

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Two More Miesha Tate Photos from ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue Revealed

Some fans will be rejoicing that it’s Christmas in July after seeing two new pictures of upcoming UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Miesha Tate.The pictures aren’t from just any old photo shoot—they come from the annual release of ESPN Th…

Some fans will be rejoicing that it’s Christmas in July after seeing two new pictures of upcoming UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Miesha Tate.

The pictures aren’t from just any old photo shoot—they come from the annual release of ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, which come courtesy of the fine folks at MiddleEasy.

Ben Watts of ESPN The Magazine gets the credit for the artistically nude photos. 

After posting a 6-2 record in Strikeforce, “Cupcake” lost her UFC debut to undefeated prospect Cat Zingano at The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 Finale in April. 

The loss was an extremely disappointing one for Tate, as she convincingly won the first two rounds. After the match, she voiced her strong disapproval with the third-round stoppage by referee Kim Winslow.

However, Lady Luck would not elude the Washington native for very long, as Zingano had to withdraw from her coaching spot on season 18 of TUF, opposite women’s champ Ronda Rousey, due to a knee injury sustained in May, via Yahoo! Sports. 

Tate was quickly brought in as a last-minute replacement on the show and will also receive the next crack at Rousey at UFC 168 in December, despite being just 1-2 in her past three fights. 

The decision has also drawn criticism, since the former Olympic bronze medalist has already beaten her archrival in convincing fashion. 

Tate was a game opponent in March 2012, being the first fighter to put Rousey in compromising positions inside the cage, “Rowdy” captured the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title after locking up her signature armbar. 

While the submission hold looked particularly gruesome, since Tate’s elbow was bending in all kinds of ways it wasn’t supposed to, somehow she managed to walk away with just a dislocated elbow. She was surprisingly able to beat Julie Kedzie just five months later. 

Rousey was the cover girl of the ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue last year, while UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former Strikeforce competitor Gina Carano have also graced the pages of the yearly publication in the past. 

The latest ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, featuring Tate and many other athletes from various sports, hits newsstands on Friday.

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 168 Would Be Biggest Card in UFC History with Silva vs. Weidman 2 Main Event

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Tim…

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. 

According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Dana White not only believes that a rematch between the two will happen, but he wants to schedule it for UFC 168 on Dec. 28, 2013:

Puigmire later reported that White has cooled on the idea of moving Ronda Rousey and Miesha off of its scheduled Dec. 28 date, leaving Silva and Weidman’s title fight without a date.

 

However, moving the Women’s bantamweight title championship match to co-main event status with the Weidman vs. Silva 2 is a move that White should consider for the year-end pay-per-view—a two championship card would give the event even more buzz. 

Doing an interview for UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, White claimed that the rematch would be the biggest fight in UFC history. 

He’s not wrong. 

Finding legitimate pay-per-view numbers for the company is a difficult task. The company doesn’t have to release the information and the reported numbers, however MMA Payout Blue Book reports that the most successful card in the history of the organization was UFC 100. 

The historic card featured a grudge match between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar as the main event. 

While Lesnar is still one of the UFC’s top pay-per-view draws in the history of the organization, White said in 2012 that Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are among the biggest draws in the organization, per MMA Weekly.

Looking at that list, none of those names are actually surprising. However, it’s worth noting that Silva essentially created two of those five pay-per-view all-stars.

He became a huge draw himself by defending his title 10 consecutive times and consistently provided highlight knockouts. He also provided the perfect target for Sonnen to launch his run as a pay-per-view champion.

Sonnen‘s ability to trash talk and put The Spider in trouble set up one of the most successful cards recently, UFC 148.

After Sonnen won four rounds against Silva before getting submitted in Round 5 at UFC 117, the 2012 Fourth of July weekend card racked up an impressive reported 925,000 buys, per MMA Payout Blue Book’s report.

While some of those impressive numbers can be chalked up to Sonnen‘s mastery at hyping fights, it was Sonnen‘s ability to put Silva in danger that drove up the buy rate. 

If Sonnen became an immediate draw simply by putting Silva in serious danger, it stands to reason that Weidman should see a huge boost in popularity going forward after actually beating the champion. And the intrigue around a rematch would be intense. 

In Silva vs. Weidman 2, Dana White has a serious cash cow in the making. The only thing that could keep it from approaching the numbers that some of the best cards in history have accomplished is the surrounding card. 

UFC 100 featured a Georges St-Pierre title defense against Thiago Alves as the co-main event. It will be up to White to make sure that the card supporting the main event is also worthy of setting records, but the potential is there for the best card in the organization’s history. 

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UFC 168 Would Be Biggest Card in UFC History with Silva vs. Weidman 2 Main Event

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Tim…

If the most recent rumors are true about a potential UFC 168 rematch between new middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, it could very well be the biggest card in promotion history. 

According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Dana White not only believes that a rematch between the two will happen, but he wants to schedule it for UFC 168 on Dec. 28, 2013:

Doing an interview for UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, White claimed that the rematch would be the biggest fight in UFC history. 

He’s not wrong. 

Finding legitimate pay-per-view numbers for the company is a difficult task. The company doesn’t have to release the information and the reported numbers, however MMA Payout Blue Book reports that the most successful card in the history of the organization was UFC 100. 

The historic card featured a grudge match between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar as the main event. 

While Lesnar is still one of the UFC’s top pay-per-view draws in the history of the organization, White said in 2012 that Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are among the biggest draws in the organization, per MMA Weekly.

Looking at that list, none of those names are actually surprising. However, it’s worth noting that Silva essentially created two of those five pay-per-view all-stars.

He became a huge draw himself by defending his title 10 consecutive times and consistently provided highlight knockouts. He also provided the perfect target for Sonnen to launch his run as a pay-per-view champion.

Sonnen‘s ability to trash talk and put The Spider in trouble set up one of the most successful cards recently, UFC 148.

After Sonnen won four rounds against Silva before getting submitted in Round 5 at UFC 117, the 2012 Fourth of July weekend card racked up an impressive reported 925,000 buys, per MMA Payout Blue Book’s report.

While some of those impressive numbers can be chalked up to Sonnen‘s mastery at hyping fights, it was Sonnen‘s ability to put Silva in danger that drove up the buy rate. 

If Sonnen became an immediate draw simply by putting Silva in serious danger, it stands to reason that Weidman should see a huge boost in popularity going forward after actually beating the champion. And the intrigue around a rematch would be intense. 

In Silva vs. Weidman 2, Dana White has a serious cash cow in the making. The only thing that could keep it from approaching the numbers that some of the best cards in history have accomplished is the surrounding card. 

UFC 100 featured a Georges St-Pierre title defense against Thiago Alves as the co-main event. It will be up to White to make sure that the card supporting the main event is also worthy of setting records, but the potential is there for the best card in the organization’s history. 

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Bold Statement of the Day: Miesha Tate Will Shoot Herself in the Face if Ronda Rousey Armbars Her Again


(What a tragedy. And she was such a pretty girl, too. / Miesha Tate ‘Body Issue’ photo by Ben Watts for ESPN The Magazine)

To say that Miesha Tate is still haunted by her gnarly armbar loss to Ronda Rousey last year would be an understatement. In a recent interview with MMAFightCorner (via BleacherReport), Tate explains that suffering a second armbar loss to Ronda at their rematch at UFC 168 in December would be a suicide-worthy scenario. Figuratively speaking. Maybe.

“It’s never too early to train and practice that gameplan over and over and over, I’m going to beat it into my skull if I have to,” Tate said. “Swear to God, she’s not going to armbar me if it’s the last thing I do. I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It can’t happen.”

Two things…

1) I wasn’t aware that fighters were allowed to bring guns into the Octagon, following the Diaz-Cerrone Peace Accords of 2011.

2) I have no problem with this.

Tate went on to give her own explanation of why she fell prey to Rousey’s signature move, and described the Rondabar in terms that make it even more mysterious and scary:


(What a tragedy. And she was such a pretty girl, too. / Miesha Tate ‘Body Issue’ photo by Ben Watts for ESPN The Magazine)

To say that Miesha Tate is still haunted by her gnarly armbar loss to Ronda Rousey last year would be an understatement. In a recent interview with MMAFightCorner (via BleacherReport), Tate explains that suffering a second armbar loss to Ronda at their rematch at UFC 168 in December would be a suicide-worthy scenario. Figuratively speaking. Maybe.

“It’s never too early to train and practice that gameplan over and over and over, I’m going to beat it into my skull if I have to,” Tate said. “Swear to God, she’s not going to armbar me if it’s the last thing I do. I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It can’t happen.”

Two things…

1) I wasn’t aware that fighters were allowed to bring guns into the Octagon, following the Diaz-Cerrone Peace Accords of 2011.

2) I have no problem with this.

Tate went on to give her own explanation of why she fell prey to Rousey’s signature move, and described the Rondabar in terms that make it even more mysterious and scary:

“For one, not being too emotional. I think that was the biggest problem last time was she got inside my head and she made me really, really angry,” Tate said. “I just don’t think I feed well off of negative energy. I’d rather just be positive about it and just be happy. I love the sport, I love fighting and that to me is definitely the key to victory. Other than that I think I possess all the skills to beat her, I think I just need to calm down a little bit and not go grabbing a hold of her and letting her just launch me into an armbar again. It was just really stupid.”

As far as the gameplan, Miesha explained that Rousey’s judo and trademark move that’s stopped all seven women that she’s faced requires special training. That’s something she’s planning on focusing in on right away.

“Everyone thinks it’s an armbar, it’s not. It’s like a move of it’s own,” said Tate.

“I also need to stop the judo. I mean that’s another part of it. If she goes out there and throws me and she can’t armbar me, that’s a big part of the fight too,” said Tate. “That’s what I’m going to do from now until December 28, it’s going to be an anti-judo camp.”

Stop the judo? Dang, why hasn’t anyone ever thought of that before!

Tate is clearly fired up for revenge, but there’s a reason why Rousey is nearly a 10-1 favorite in this rematch, which was only booked out of convenience. Are you guys seeing another first-round armbar victory for the champ?

Miesha Tate Says She Will Shoot Herself in the Face if Ronda Rousey Armbars Her

Ronda Rousey is 7-0 in her professional MMA career. All seven of those wins have come in the first round, and all seven have come via armbar submission. Rousey’s next opponent promises that she will not be the eighth victim of Rousey’s sign…

Ronda Rousey is 7-0 in her professional MMA career. All seven of those wins have come in the first round, and all seven have come via armbar submission. Rousey’s next opponent promises that she will not be the eighth victim of Rousey’s signature move.

Former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate will that next opponent, meeting the UFC champion in the main event of UFC 168 on December 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is not the first time the two have been inside the cage.

Tate was the Strikeforce champion when she faced the 4-0 Rousey in March 2012. Tate was able to take the fight past the first minute, something that Rousey’s four previous opponents had failed to do, but she was not able to avoid the armbar submission. Tate lost her title to Rousey that night at the 4:27 mark of the first stanza.

Tate, speaking to MMAFightCorner.com, recently vowed that she will not become a two-time victim, “I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It can’t happen.”

Since defeating Tate, Rousey has armbarred her way to first round wins over Sarah Kaufman and Liz Carmouche.  Tate is 1-1 since losing her title to Rousey.

The two recently finished filming the 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter where they served as opposing team coaches. Rousey had been set to coach opposite Cat Zingano, who defeated Tate in April of this year, but an injury knocked Zingano off the show.  Tate was quickly signed to replace the injured Zingano.

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