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(Tito is not impressed about being at the back of the line)
Just a friendly reminder that we will be streaming the the UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber II pre-fight press conference starting at 4:00 pm ET.
Will there be any face-to-face drama between Faber and Cruz?
Will anyone recognize Wanderlei Silva?
Will Tito Ortiz put together more than two coherent sentences?
All of these questions and more will be answered after the jump.
(Tito is not impressed about being at the back of the line)
Just a friendly reminder that we will be streaming the the UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber II pre-fight press conference starting at 4:00 pm ET.
Will there be any face-to-face drama between Faber and Cruz?
Will anyone recognize Wanderlei Silva?
Will Tito Ortiz put together more than two coherent sentences?
All of these questions and more will be answered below.
Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — As Chris Leben pointed out this week, his fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 will be his 18th UFC bout. But that doesn’t mean he’s not still a work in progress, learning as he goes.
Take, for instance, his loss to Brian…
Filed under: UFC
LAS VEGAS — As Chris Leben pointed out this week, his fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 will be his 18th UFC bout. But that doesn’t mean he’s not still a work in progress, learning as he goes.
Take, for instance, his loss to Brian Stann at UFC 125. Stann knocked him out in the first round, but Leben didn’t exactly help his own cause before the fight, he told reporters on Wednesday.
“I ate a bunch of candy, dude. I’m not lying,” said Leben, who, of course, also stressed that he didn’t want to take anything away from Stann’s victory.
“I didn’t eat sugar for like two months. Then after I made weight I went and bought gummy bears and chocolate and ice cream, and I ate that. My body hadn’t had sugar, so I was backstage puking, sh—ing and puking when I was on-deck for that fight. That’s not a lie; that’s the truth. And Brian Stann fought an amazing fight, but hindsight’s 20/20. No gummy bears for me this fight.”
That’s right: candy.
Leben, a nine-year veteran of MMA with over 30 pro fights, was undone by the highly questionable decision to feast on sweets right before fighting another human being in a cage for money.
At 30 years old, there aren’t many secrets about Leben’s game. He comes forward, throws one looping bomb after another, and tries to bait every opponent into a street fight. Against Silva, the baiting process ought to be the easiest part, or at least that’s what most people are expecting.
For Leben, the fight with Silva is a chance to take on a personal hero, as well as a bit of an MMA role model.
“When I first starting fighting, I was watching Wanderlei and, in some ways, attempting to emulate some of the stuff that he did,” Leben said. “The guy’s been in dozens of legendary wars. You can’t go into 7-11 without seeing him next to the little Xyience things. He’s everywhere.”
At the same time, even with a win over the aging Silva, Leben isn’t likely to be a title contender any time soon — though UFC president Dana White did say that the winner would likely be “in the mix,” for what that’s worth.
But Leben seems to realize his own limitations, and has instead set his sights on being one of the most exciting fighters rather than winning at all costs. The belt, he said, is just a “superficial object.” Etching your name in people’s minds as a fan favorite isn’t something you can touch, but it does seem like a more attainable goal for Leben.
“There’s somebody that’s not in the UFC that’s better than me that can beat me right now,” Leben said. “I guarantee that. There’s a lot of people in this world. Where I’m at in my career, I just want to have epic fights. I want to have fights that go down in the history books. I want to put on a show. I want people to think, hey, Chris Leben’s on this card, I’m buying that pay-per-view.”
If that’s his goal, he seems to be most of the way there already. Leben has rarely been in a boring UFC fight, and the few he has had were almost universally his opponent’s doing rather than his. If things with Silva even live up to half of the hype, he should have another slugfest to add to his highlight clip very soon.
And later, when it’s over? Now that’s the type to break out the candy and celebrate. At least now he knows.
Wanderlei Silva is the definition of a legend. From the moment Sandstorm hits, through the loosened wrists and stare from hell, right on into an unleashed fury the likes of which few can match in a ring or cage, Silva will be remembered as the embodime…
Wanderlei Silva is the definition of a legend. From the moment Sandstorm hits, through the loosened wrists and stare from hell, right on into an unleashed fury the likes of which few can match in a ring or cage, Silva will be remembered as the embodiment of all that’s right in competition.
He’s also perhaps the nicest lunatic the world has ever seen, referring to his fans as his “friends” and constantly wearing a smile after years of soccer kicking overmatched opposition senseless.
However, after a lifetime of putting on wars to bring fans out of their seats instead of looking to win on points, many fear that Silva’s best days are behind him. And those who don’t fear the possibility are the ones who salivate at using him as a big-name notch in their belts.
Yoshihiro Akiyama called him out.
Brian Stann gave it a shot.
Michael Bisping wants some more one day.
Chael Sonnen won’t let their war of words die.
Chris Leben called him out, and got him.
Basically anyone who thinks Wandy is chinny and on the downside of his career wants to get in there and tee off in hopes of being able to claim one day that they beat the legend. Bank on it that if this was 2006, none of these men would be so eager to get in there with him.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that the 2011 Axe Murderer has a target on his back, and he still has the spirit that made him great. He has no fear of any of these men, or anyone else, and he could care less which ones he gets or what order he gets them in. He just wants to fight all of them.
Unfortunately, in order to run down that list, Silva needs to focus more on a gameplan and controlled aggression—as he did successfully against Bisping—than on being the man who tore up Pride with flailing limbs and explosive Muay Thai.
Should he ever get Akiyama, it’s a winnable fight, but not by knockout. He needs to fight smart and play the game a little bit, because Akiyama is as durable as anyone and can make you pay for being reckless.
Stann has likely moved out of Silva’s current range after beating Leben, and could be looking at a top ten guy in his next outing. A decisive win over The Crippler might get Wandy that fight, but again, if he doesn’t control his aggression Stann will hurt him. That’s why he called for him in the first place.
The Bisping/Silva feud is done, get over it Mike. It wasn’t that close, and you ended the fight almost unconscious. That’s not rematch material.
Sonnen is a terrible matchup for Silva, someone who can talk enough to get under his skin a little, and an accomplished wrestler with limitless cardio. That fight ends up with Sonnen in Wandy’s guard, Wandy eating elbows and punches tirelessly for 15 minutes, and Sonnen proving he can at least beat someone named Silva.
This weekend against Leben, recklessness will lead to Wandy looking up at the lights. He can’t take shots like he used to, and Leben has dynamite in his hands. Pedal-to-the-metal forward pressure won’t scare Leben, who can take a punch as well as any middleweight in the world, and the risk of a counter left hand can’t be ignored. Fight smart or suffer a debilitating loss as far as upward mobility in the division is concerned.
In the twilight of his career, Wanderlei Silva needs to realize that he’s done enough for his “friends” that they don’t need—or want—to see him going out on his shield every time he fights. Most would prefer he fight slightly more conservatively, control his aggression, be a little evasive, and explode when necessary. There isn’t any need to throw caution to the wind against middle-of-the-road middleweights if getting back into contention is the goal, because he’s earned the right to put winning ahead of entertaining.
Saturday night will be the first test of whether or not Silva has realized that fully. He did a solid job against Bisping, but the margin for error is smaller against the violent Leben. But either way, he’ll leave it all in the cage as he has his entire career, and no one can ask any less of a mixed martial artist.
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The UFC takes its talent from Pittsburgh at UFC Live 4 to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 132 this Saturday, July 2nd.The feature matchup of the evening is current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz defending his title against the prev…
The UFC takes its talent from Pittsburgh at UFC Live 4 to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 132 this Saturday, July 2nd.
The feature matchup of the evening is current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz defending his title against the previous WEC Featherweight Champion, Urijah Faber.
Additional bouts include a middleweight slug-fest between the ultra aggressive and extremely exciting Wanderlei Silva and the heavy-hitting Chris Leben.
Tito Ortiz makes his return to the famed Octagon to challenge the right hand and wrestling prowess of Ryan Bader.
An extremely talented and dynamic welterweight, Carlos Condit, will face off against Dong Hyun Kim and rounding out the night’s main card action will be a lightweight duel matching the German kick-boxer Denis Siver against Matt Wiman.
Please follow along as I dissect all the night’s fights including the preliminary matchups on Facebook and the exciting main card action.
Enjoy the fights.
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Todd Seyler
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Chael Sonnen, who is finally done serving his suspension from the California State Athletic Commission, has torn into fellow middleweight Wanderlei Silva recently. “The Axe Murderer,” who is set to fight Chris Leben in what promises to be a…
Chael Sonnen, who is finally done serving his suspension from the California State Athletic Commission, has torn into fellow middleweight Wanderlei Silva recently.
“The Axe Murderer,” who is set to fight Chris Leben in what promises to be a slugfest at UFC 132, has responded back to Uncle Chael.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Silva told Ariel Helwani:
“Sonnen… I kill him. I kill him fast. This guy talks a lot of bull—-, he talks s— about a lot of fighters,” Silva remarked.
The former Pride stand out continued with: “Don’t talk it about me because that’s dangerous, one day we’ll see each other again. I’m gonna want to know why you just hide behind a computer.”
Sonnen has went off on Wanderlei via his Twitter account, insinuating that Pride was a fake fight league where wins were insignificant, comparing it to the World Wrestling Entertainment.
Silva, who has also been called out by Vitor Belfort during his 16 month absence from the cage, made it clear that he has no problem fighting either Sonnen or Belfort in the future.
In response to whether or not he’d accept a fight with Sonnen, Belfort responded:
“Of course, I’ll have him and I’ll have Belfort. Two good names. I’ll fight both. I’d fight Brian Stann but not right now. I don’t like Sonnen or Belfort—it’s better for me.”
Belfort is currently set to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133, after suffering an embarrassing knockout defeat to middleweight champion Anderson Silva in February.
Meanwhile, Sonnen, despite almost a full year of inactivity, is still considered by many the No. 2 fighter in the world at 185 pounds.
While the beef between Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva has been brewing for several years now, a fight between the two never really made much sense.
However, if Silva were to take out Chris “The Crippler” Leben at UFC 132 and Sonnen is able to resume his fight career as planned, a fight between Silva and Sonnen all of a sudden becomes a very real possibility.
Whose interested in seeing Sonnen square off with Wanderlei before the end of the year?
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Wanderlei Silva’s Storied MMA Career Appears To Be Drawing To A Close Heading Into UFC 132When Wanderlei Silva was competing in PRIDE, he was one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. He compiled a 19-fight unbeaten streak in the defunct mixe…
Wanderlei Silva‘s Storied MMA Career Appears To Be Drawing To A Close Heading Into UFC 132
When Wanderlei Silva was competing in PRIDE, he was one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. He compiled a 19-fight unbeaten streak in the defunct mixed martial arts organization. But that was from 1999-2004.
Silva has looked like a shell of his once great self over his last seven fights. He has compiled a record of 2-5 since September 2006. The losses have been to some of the best fighters in the history of the sport (Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Mirko Cro Cop and Quinton Jackson) with the fifth loss coming against Rich Franklin.
He hasn’t fought since February 2010 when he defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 110 because of a knee injury that required surgery. That was his first fight at 185 pounds and the weight cut seemed to serve him well.
Silva’s heart doesn’t really seem to be in the sport anymore. He is 34 years old and seems to only want to take fights that he knows he will win. He doesn’t want to challenge himself as a fighter anymore for whatever reason.
In fact, he talked his way out of fighting Brian Stann at UFC 130 because his ego is so fragile that he assumed Stann, a former U.S. Marine, would be the fan favorite on Memorial Day weekend.
Chris Leben is an interesting challenge for Silva at UFC 132, but it’s a fight that Silva knows he at least has a shot to win because of Leben’s inconsistencies in the octagon. Both guys have knockout power, but neither is in the prime of their respective career.
When you look at what Silva has become since the end of PRIDE, it’s sad. He stays away from fights against guys who will be cheered more than he is, which seriously limits his opponent pool.
He isn’t the knockout artist that he once was, and the writing seems to be on the wall.
I know that he was a big part of what made PRIDE so great back in its day, but this is 2011, and you can’t run a business based on what happened in the past.
The end is coming for Silva very, very soon. With a loss at UFC 132, it will arrive sooner than he may want it to.
But if you are going to pick and choose who you fight based on how much people like them and want to cheer them, you are doing a disservice to the product.
Couple that with the fact that he isn’t winning much anymore and we are witnessing the last precious moments for “The Axe Murderer” in mixed martial arts.
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