Down Goes Anderson Silva

Chris Weidman celebrates arguably
the biggest upset in UFC history. 

Every so often sports fans are treated to a great moment.  Sports are always entertaining, but there are some of those epic moments that only come so often that leave you wondering, "What the hell did I just see!"  That happened to me and many others on July 6th.  Anderson Silva was not just defeated, but laying on the canvas completely unconscious.  He was goading Weidman to hit him to set up his counter striking and was tagged on the chin.  The longest title reign in UFC history has come to an end.  Is it the end of an era?  Or is it just one gigantic bump in a legendary fighter's career?  Below is my take on the entire main event of UFC 162 and what I see happening going forward.

Just to reiterate, the man that most people consider to be the pound for pound best fighter of all time is Anderson Silva.  For the first time in his UFC career, Silva has lost a fight.  It is not the mere fact that he lost that is causing such a stir in the MMA world, but the way it happened.  People knew Chris Weidman was good.  People thought Weidman might win the fight.  But to knock out such a crazy good striker like Silva in his own game was something else entirely.

The entire main event was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster for me.  Obviously I am someone who is very passionate about mixed martial arts.  For UFC 162, I was at a bar with a friend who does not share the same passion for the sport that I have.  However, whenever Anderson Silva enters the Octagon that you are in for a treat, MMA fan or not.  He is the best fighter of all time and moreover, a great entertainer.  He put on a spectacle for us all on July 6th.

So it is time for the main event to start.  The commercial that shows all these fighters like GSP, Moraga, and kind of Rashad picking Weidman played for the 50th time.  Then enters Weidman with an American flag on 4th of July weekend.  Love it!  He enters to the tune of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."  Love this!  That is one of those walkout songs that epitomizes the moment the fighter is going through.  Weidman said again and again that he is not going to be the fighter that is beaten before the fight begins.  That walkout song was perfect for the situation.  On a side note: Ronda Rousey's walkout song of "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett was another walkout song that epitomized a moment and brought a tear to my eye.  Props to both for doing so in the biggest fights of their lives.

So after the American made his fearless entrance I started to believe he could win the fight.  Cue DMX, enter Silva.  "Ain't No Sunshine" begins to play as it always does when Silva walks into the Octagon.  I do have to say that waiting in the cage for him to enter while this song is playing has to be the most terrifying experience in sports.  Knowing this monster of a human being is about to knock you senseless has to be the only thought in your head. I again thought Weidman was done for, but he seemed poised.  Anderson Silva does not touch Weidman's glove when Herb Dean instructed them to do so, fight time begins.

Quickly Weidman secured a takedown and went to work with nasty ground and pound.  He landed hard shots and controlled Anderson on the ground.  He rolled into a heal hook that was not too far from being finished, but lost the position in doing so.  Anderson then went on to clown Chris on the feet like he did to Demian Maia.  He put his back on the cage and his hands on his hips.  Silva laughed when he was punched by Weidman.  It was bizarre that Silva would do such a thing against a quality opponent like Chris.  At this point I figured that Anderson felt Weidman's hands and felt no danger.  When Silva lowers his hands, the fight usually ends in spectacular fashion shortly after.  I thought Weidman's consciousness in this fight was on the brink of ending at this point.  Nevertheless both men were standing and in good shape.  Silva went on to kiss Weidman as they went back to their corners at the end of the round.

Round 2:  Silva was yelling violently at Weidman.  I could make out the words, "listen, stand up, and come on" coming off Silva's lips.  He was telling Chris that the fans wanted to see a stand up fight and wanted Chris to bring it.  To be honest, this strategy worked for Silva.  Chris Weidman did not look for a single takedown in round 2.  However, he would not need it.  Silva was hit and pretended to go jelly legged.  Then he was hit again and went limp.  Weidman had done it!  Weidman had knocked out Anderson Silva.  I was sitting there, jaw on the floor.  I could not believe what I had just seen.  It was not that Chris had won, it was the way he did so.  Silva played a risky game with Chris and lost.  I loved Weidman's celebration and I felt a sense of joy and terror at the same time.  The bar I was at erupted into cheers at the expense of Silva's cockiness.  Bruce Buffer announced the NEW UFC Middleweight Champion of the world and I was so rattled by what had just taken place.

Out came the conspiracies.  UFC fixed the fight.  Silva purposely lost.  The post fight interview of Silva where he said he was "tired" and did not want to be champion anymore made it seem this way.  Silva did not look like he was trying to win.  I can tell you that there was no fix and no fight was thrown.  I too was temporarily one of the conspiracy believers that Silva did not want to win.  But I thought back to his fights with Maia, Griffin, and Bonnar and realized that it is just the way he fights.  He goads people into getting wreckless so he can counter strike.  And as I said earlier, his strategy worked.  Weidman stopped taking him down!  His risky game just cost him because Weidman has punching power that Silva had not felt before.  Silva went down and that is that.  Silva deserves no scorn for his loss and Weidman truly deserves all the praise in the world.  Welcome to the top 5 pound for pound list Chris Weidman, you have arrived.

The questions now focus on the rematch.  UFC 168 has only announced 2 bouts, but it has all the potential to best UFC 100 and UFC 129 as one of the greatest cards in UFC history.  Both the aforementioned cards had 2 title fights, as with 168.  100 had GSP and Lesnar while 129 had Aldo and GSP.  168 will feature Weidman/Silva 2 as well as Rousey/Tate 2.  To better UFC 100, they have to put another huge fight on that card too.  The fight before the co-main events in UFC 100 and UFC 129 feature 2 of the greatest KOs in UFC history.  100 featured Dan Henderson destroying Bisping and 129 had the jumping front kick of Machida ending the career of Randy Couture.  The UFC has all of the potential to put together another historic event like the two I keep referencing.

So second time around will Silva win?  I think he will be more serious and will keep his hands up at least a little bit more.  He probably will still clown a little bit, and put his hands on his hips and put his face forward.  But he has to be  more cautious.  So a more serious Silva means an easy knockout win for the former champ?  No.  I am predicting it now.  Weidman will take Silva down early in every round and will get a TKO finish of Silva with ground and pound.  A Rousey armbar might be in order that night too, but expect Tate to put up a tough fight as she did the first time.

Ok so Weidman wins the rematch: What does Silva do?  He can fight Vitor again.  He can take on Nick Diaz, Cung Le, or Michael Bisping.  Maybe experiment at light heavyweight?  A boxing match with Roy Jones Jr could be in the mix.  He has fun fight options for sure.  Meanwhile, Weidman has a bunch of contenders like Vitor, Bisping, Souza, and others to take on.  Maybe even Chael or better yet Rich Franklin can get back into a title fight now that Silva is gone from his thrown.  If Silva is beaten twice by Weidman, he can always get back into a title fight if someone were to beat Weidman.  For example: Weidman could lose his second title defense to Vitor Belfort and Silva can step in as the challenger in that fight to get his belt back.  But after losing twice it would take some work before Silva could fight Weidman a third time.  There are options if this is the case.  It might actually be the best situation for the UFC if Weidman wins due to ease of scheduling and the birth of a new star.

So Silva wins the rematch?  Silva goes back to defending the belt like nothing even happened.  Chris Weidman would definitely get the trilogy fight eventually.  But an immediate threematch would be too ridiculous.  Weidman is good enough to win a pair of fights to merit his trilogy.  This would actually complicate things for the UFC scheduling title fights at middleweight.  But the money of a trilogy would be a best case situation for the UFC financially.

No matter what happens with the rematch or potential trilogy, the UFC won big with UFC 162.  Silva's legacy is not tarnished despite the loss to Weidman.  One of the craziest fights in UFC history has just taken place and all it did is lead to a super hyped and super crazy rematch.  Weidman is a great guy and a true American boy.  I would love to see Chris become the next greatest of all time.  He is undefeated and has handled Maia, Munoz, and Anderson with ease.  Maybe even he could be interested in a super fight with Jon Jones in the future.  Stay tuned for UFC 168 and other crazy exciting fights to finish out 2013.  Don't forget that GSP has his toughest fight to date against Hendricks at UFC 167 a month prior to this much anticipated fight card.  2013 might be the year of the dethrone, as I mentioned it could be earlier this year.