UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva II

[Guest John Hancock]

http://media.ufc.tv/167/168graphic.jpg

 

December 28th

MGM Grand Garden Arena

Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Chris Weidman © vs. Anderson Silva

Ronda Rousey © vs. Meisha Tate

Josh Barnett vs. Travis Browne

Jim Miller vs. Fabricio Camoes

Dustin Poirier vs. Diego Brandao

-

Chris Leben vs. Uriah Hall

Gleison Tibau vs. Michael Johnson

Dennis Siver vs. Manvel Gamburyan

John Howard vs. Siyar Bahadurzada

-

Shane del Rosario vs. Guto Inocente

William Macario vs. Bobby Voelker

Robbie Peralta vs. Estevan Payan

 

[video=youtube;B1rZAxQPzSk]

[DC 536]

I'm going with the following to win -:

 

Anderson Silva

Ronda Rousey

Travis Browne

Jim Miller

Dustin Poirier

 

I think Silva will just go to town on Weidman this time out; no messing around, no showboating and just going in for the kill as he did with Belfort, Bonnar and Sonnen the second time around.

[Chris2K 176]

Pfft, what a boring card. None of these fights interest me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:celb8: :celb8: :celb8:

[Guest John Hancock]

I wonder if Barnett gets a cut of the pay-per-view buys. If he does, well done sir, well done.

[Chris2K 176]

[video=youtube;fWuB08VGtds]

[Guest The Beltster]

Only 1 week until Anderson gets his property back and if you doubt this I've got six words for you:

 

"I back, trust me...I back!"

[Guest John Hancock]

I hope Meisha wins, but she won't, plus, Marina Shafir > Bryan Caraway.

[Guest John Hancock]

Anderson Silva has said there's a "big chance" he'll retire after this fight. No Silva, no GSP, no Velasquez, no Pettis... fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

[ViciousPrism 177]

Good. Well, good for me (and I don't even watch MMA religiously). Definitely not good for business.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Anderson Silva has said there's a "big chance" he'll retire after this fight. No Silva, no GSP, no Velasquez, no Pettis... fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

 

So much for the tagline "I'm back... Seriously, I'm back"

 

To be fair to Silva he is at an age were any fighter starts to think about retiring and if doesn't and he wins the belt back then who is his next challenger? Who have they got at middleweight who he hasn't fought before to fight him?

 

He knows Jones will beat him at 205 just down to sheer reach, grappling skill and size so he won't go up and risk a further tarnish on his legacy and there is reason to go down and catchweight or cut all the way to 170 because there ain't no GSP anymore.

 

I think Anderson may have retired after the last fight if had won anyhow, now he just wants to avenge his defeat, cement his record and legacy and retire on top. As crappy as it will be for Dana and the UFC the question is though, if you were in Silva's position, wouldn't you do the same?

[Guest John Hancock]

I think there's more fight for Silva than there were for GSP, or than there are for a guy like Cain Velasquez. Bisping, Belfort, Machida, that would see him through the year at least. I don't blame anyone for retiring when they both can and want, especially something as personal and emotional as combat sports, and if Silva wants to retire, he absolutely should, but I don't think there's a lack of fights for him anymore than there's a lack of fights with any relatively long term champion. Velasquez has only really got Werdum, maybe Barnett, MAYBE Overeem, but not for at least another year, Rousey has literally no one, Aldo has no one, Jones has Glover, a rematch with Gus and not too much else, GSP had a rematch with Hendricks and Robbie Lawler, none of the established champions have more than a year of fights worth planning.

[Guest The Beltster]

Anderson isn't going anywhere. He says stuff to mess with the media all the time. He's going to smash Weeeedman into oblivion and then he's going to dismantle Vitor again, then whoever else wants some is going to get f*cked up too and that includes Jon Jones, who Anderson would destroy.

 

ok I just watched the interview with Helwani, he didn't say there was a great chance he would retire he said theres a great chance he would stop the fight, not stop fighting.

Edited December 27, 2013 by The Beltster

[Evil Gringo 279]

See I don't see him fighting Machida as they are friends and team mates and the Bisping fight would be dependent on him getting medically cleared fully and winning a number one contenders match which has been Bisping's achilles heel really - every time he gets a match or a situation were is the number one contender he chokes and it slips away.

 

Also on what planet would Anderson destroy Jones? For once Anderson would be the one fighting on the outside and with reach used against him for a start which negates his counter striking style a great deal. Plus Jones is a better wrestler then Chael Sonnen and much better on the ground when he gets there. Jones was too preoccupied in trying to get the knock out and staying on his feet in his last fight - next time he'll seize the opportunity to take it down to the mat and get the win there.

[Guest The Beltster]

Also on what planet would Anderson destroy Jones? For once Anderson would be the one fighting on the outside and with reach used against him for a start which negates his counter striking style a great deal. Plus Jones is a better wrestler then Chael Sonnen and much better on the ground when he gets there. Jones was too preoccupied in trying to get the knock out and staying on his feet in his last fight - next time he'll seize the opportunity to take it down to the mat and get the win there.

This planet, you know, the one where Anderson is the greatest fighter to ever live? He was beating Weidman in their last fight, messed around and got fluke KO'd, big deal, not all of a sudden people seem to have forgotten he was almost untouchable for near a decade of UFC dominance, finishing almost everybody too, not just going to lame ass decisions like GSP. Anderson is on a different level than everybody, the only guy I can see beating Anderson not by fluke is possibly Velasquez and thats because he's a heavyweight with unlimited cardio who just never stops and is generally a beast. Jones almost lost to Vitor Belfort, who Anderson decimated. He did lose to Gus, regardless of the judges decision. He is a great fighter but Anderson would kick his ass, I've not a single doubt in my mind. He'd clown him, get him all worked up and then finish him.

[Evil Gringo 279]

I haven't forgotten about Anderson's skill, if it stays standing it would be a mistake by Jones because when Anderson figures out his range that's it, he gets you.

 

I believe that if Jones uses his range early whilst Anderson is getting his bearings and takes it to the ground and doesn't let him settle then he'd win. I believed this before the fight were Anderson lost his title because we all know he lost it because he beat himself trying to show off. But the fact is if Chael Sonnen had been better at ground and pound and positioning then he would have finished Silva in their first fight - I believe seen as Jones has insane ground and pound he would use that to win.

 

On his feet Anderson is the best fighter in the world, the key is to take him off them early. Its easier said then done but with Jones strength and ability he could.

[Guest The Beltster]

Anderson was injured in his first fight with Chael, he has cracked or broken ribs. Anybody who has had a cracked rib knows you can barely move or breathe at times, the fact he couldn't stop the takedowns knowing this wasn't a huge surprise. Also, Sonnen was roided in that first fight too. Anderson still finished him, plus look at Andersons face at the end of the fight and Sonnens, Anderson was unmarked and Sonnen was a mangled mess and thats with him dominating! Compare injured Anderson in his first fight to healthy Anderson in his second and without Sonnens vitamin diet and we can see the reality, he got taken down in the first after a wild swing, settled in the second, blocked every take down Sonnen attempted and them beat him up. I think the 1st fight doesn't give a realistic view of Andersons take down defence, even though thats definitely his weakest point.

 

I think Anderson would beat Jones on the feet and his clowning would get Jones out of his game, Jones seems pretty weak minded and lets things annoy him, if Anderson got in his head and controlled where the fight went, he'd pick Jones apart.

[Evil Gringo 279]

I can agree with you on that, the key is the ground. Jones is still young and filled with more hype then he needs and Anderson could get into his head and get him out of his game. He seems as well to want to fight his foe at their best strength as if he wants to prove something to himself but the fact is that gets you caught and gets you beaten.

 

But if Anderson does clown it is still dangerous because of Jones reach - we all know what happens and Anderson more then anybody if you clown too much against a guy with decent striking.

 

As for the Sonnen fight - yeah he was roided, like most UFC fighters to be fair, Anderson also claimed after the fight he was injured hence the poor performance and yes he was not cut or bruised really but that was also part of my point in the previous post - Sonnen is a points fighter by and large, he swarms and lands point scoring blows, not ones that hurt and his positioning, power and stamina suffer as a result. If Jones were to fight, in this hypothetical scenario, to his strengths and gets the fight to the floor then he is everything that Sonnen is not in that position. He was better power, better technique and better positioning.

 

Of course he could then get over confident and leave an arm in there like he did against Belfort and Anderson could take advantage but I'd still fancy Jones chances on the matt.

 

Like I've said Anderson is one of the all time, if not the all time great fighter and if it stays standing he will beat Jones in that scenario - but if Jones stopping believing his own hype and listened to his coaches and his skill set and took it to the matt then game over. But he'd have to do it early to stop Silva getting his range.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Evil Gringo

[Guest John Hancock]

ok I just watched the interview with Helwani, he didn't say there was a great chance he would retire he said theres a great chance he would stop the fight, not stop fighting.

 

There's a big contention about what he meant here. Helwani is insisting that Silva meant "stop the fight" as in "stop fighting". He was reacting to a question about retirement, so to say he was going to finish Weidman, as an answer to that question, wouldn't make sense, so some people are saying he didn't understand what he was being asked about. To use Helwani's own words;

 

"Anderson Silva says there's a "big chance" he retires after UFC 168... Some of you saying Anderson didn't understand my question about retirement crack me up. He understood the first two just fine. C'mon now. "Stop the fight" = "stop fighting." We weren't even talking about the actual fight then. Two secs earlier he said "maybe" about retirement. Watch Anderson during pressers. He understands English quite well. He reacts to all the questions before they are translated. And he was once on #themmahour for 45 minutes years ago and did the entire interview in English. Stop instigating. He said what he said."

 

It seems to come down to whether you think Silva understood the question, but worded his answer badly, or didn't understand the question, and worded his answer correctly.

 

Other, hopefully less controversial news coming out of the pre-fight stuff;

 

- Whoever wins the main event will fight Vitor Belfort next.

- Fabricio Werdum won't be allowed to wait until Cain Velasquez comes back. He'll have to defend his number one contender-ship before then.

- There will be announcements about some of the things coming in 2014 after the show tomorrow.

- The gate for UFC 168 is at about $6.3 million. There's a couple of single seats left, that will probably go for free, but it's virtually sold out.

- Antonio Silva passed the drug test before his fight with Mark Hunt, meaning he took a shot between the test and the fight. He was stripped of his win bonus, that he was paid despite the result as a reward for a good fight, and the entire Fight of the Night bonus went to Mark Hunt alone.

- Brock Lesnar will be in the audience. Dana's being coy.

Edited December 27, 2013 by John Hancock

[Chris2K 176]

I really hope Weidman does win. I have nothing against Anderson at all now he's not fightng like he did against Leites, Coté, Maia etc., but I just want a new start to come through and be a big deal. Plus it must be very annoying for Weidman to be constantly called a fluke champion, and hopefully if he does win again there will be no doubt left in people's minds.

 

That said I'm still favouring Silva.

[Evil Gringo 279]

UFC 168 Pre-Fight Press and such...

 

[video=youtube_share;86_ncAdlcjY]http://youtu.be/86_ncAdlcjY

 

Or you can just skip the parts you wanna see - the staredowns!

 

[video=youtube_share;4rqad-6OjJI]http://youtu.be/4rqad-6OjJI

 

Oh how I'd love to be in the middle of that Rousey and Tate sandwich. Until they break my arms...