UFC 162 – Silva Defeated Himself or Was Weidman Simply Brilliant?
By Christopher Jester
Just when it seemed impossible, Chris Weidman did the unthinkable on Saturday night and defeated the longtime UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. In an historic upset, Weidman caught Silva with a punch and dropped him and then followed up with punches that sealed the deal and Weidman became the new UFC Middleweight Champion.
Wait, what? Anderson Silva was beaten by Chris Weidman? That is the puzzling question many MMA fans around the world are asking themselves right now. Even hours and days after the fight had concluded, the social network universe is still running this story through the ground. Some praying for the inevitable rematch, and others bombastically dropping words drenched in venom towards Anderson Silva.
After years of such a prolific UFC career, the fans seem to be split on this. Some say it was just not Silva’s night and he will destroy Weidman in the rematch. Others are pitiless, stating that his years of toying around with his opponents in the Octagon is karma and the Weidman punch that knocked him unconscious was deserved. Regardless of how you may feel, the question remains: did Chris Weidman beat Anderson Silva?
From a certain point-of-view, clearly yes. Silva did not knock himself out. Weidman capitalized on an opportunity that Silva kept giving him in round two when he kept dropping his hands and showboating. After the initial takedown from Weidman in the first round, very little was done on the mat. Despite the obvious that this is where Weidman wanted the fight, he achieved nothing here. But once they were back on the feet, Silva did what Silva does. He clowns his opponent with his dropped hands and head movement. In that moment, Weidman looked just like any of Silva’s other opponents who he eventually defeated. The same went on into the second, until the end came quickly and abruptly. So, Weidman deserves credit for that much.
But can anyone really argue against the fact if Silva really showed up to fight at UFC 162 things could have gone drastically different? Silva is known for his playing around, but this was oddly more bizarre than anything else he has done. Silva could have performed a lot better throughout the whole fight. While he performed well in scrambling from the bottom in the first round, most thanks has to be given to Weidman who went for a kneebar that helped Silva escape. Regardless, Silva did very little with his striking. He relied too much on his head movement or more so on his disdain for his opponent.
The point is: the Anderson Silva who dominated the UFC middleweight division for years did not show up on Saturday. This was some foolish doppelganger who is simply “tired” as he admitted in the post-fight in the Octagon. In some ways, this hurts Weidman’s victory more so than helped it. He did not beat the Anderson Silva who showed up for most of the fights in his UFC career. He knocked out a fool in the Octagon on Saturday who put himself in a world of trouble. It would have been one thing if he had pulled off a rear-naked choke submission or had a war-in-the-trenches battle that went the distance in a bloody affair. No, he beat a silly man who needed to learn a lesson about playing with his prey. Congratulations to Chris Weidman for beating that Anderson Silva.
History is history now. Weidman beat Anderson Silva to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion. There is no erasing that. There is nothing to devalue about that statement. But there will always be some who question how it would have went if Silva had been the killer we all know Silva to be. Just as much as we think about that, we have to remind ourselves that Weidman is to be celebrated for his accomplishment. He dethroned the champ. Something many thought impossible.
The truth is, Anderson Silva was so dominate for so long that nearly everyone will have their own opinion of the what, how, why of UFC 162. He outclassed nearly everyone who was the opposite side of the cage. But Weidman also studied Silva enough to know what was coming. Was this simply the gameplan of a brilliant new champion? It is not without reason to think that very well could be the case. Only a rematch and time will tell if Silva defeated himself, or if this was the heralding of a new dominate champion named Chris Weidman.
*Photos courtesy of UFC.com
Follow Christopher “sLapDatSuCKa” Jester on Twitter @sLapDatSuCka
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