Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva rematch official for UFC 168

I stick to my theory. Anderson takes the immediate rematch.

 

On what basis was he getting picked? What else did he do besides KO Munoz?

At least with Sonnen - the last guy dubbed 'Anderson's biggest threat yet!" - his was a name that had been around for a while, long mixing with top competition and faring decently overall and remaining visible in two of the major promotions off and on for several years before he got the shot at Silva.

How is Weidman able to emerge from relative obscurity with a fraction the experience and leapfrog Sonnen in terms of credibility as challenger? Does he just look that much of a beast h2h in the cage?

 

Yes. Save for the Maia fight (which he took on super short notice and cut an unhealthy amount in a short time), Weidman has made other fighters take notice. If you're looking for just highlight reel finishes and a decade of experience, then you won't see what makes Weidman special. But clearly the other fighters, and familiar fans, can see what he does in the ring and see that the kid is special. What he did to Munos just doesn't get done. Save for his headkick KO loss to Hammil, Munos is not a guy that gets dominated and KO'd. Look at what he did to Boetsch. Munos is a beast...and he looked like a total noob against Weidman.


I have Silva winning the rematch. But still, to discount Weidman's ability is silly.

 

Allow me to use this analogy...

Weidman-Silva was the rough equivalent of Tarver-Jones II in terms of significance; and in terms of dynamic to a lesser extant. Tarver was considered to be a legit challenger even before their first fight (he was tall, skilled, with solid power and confidence to burn); and after the first go-round everyone knew he could give Jones a good fight. Still, the sight of RJJ crashing to the mat in the second fight was a massive shock and no one really expected to see anything like that at that point in Jones' career.

Along the same lines A lot of observers felt that Weidman could trouble Silva at any rate, in part due to what had happened in the Sonnen fight. This was due to CW being a standout grappler and having enough striking ability to keep Spider from overwhelming in the stand-up portion of the fight. Still, no one really expected to see Silva crash and burn in the manner that he did.

All that being said, Weidman won the first round pretty clearly. He took Silva down, nearly submitted him with a kneebar, and then kept his cool and landed a couple of glancing blows while Silva tried to goad him into making a mistake. Silva did control the second, and was stuffing the takedown attempts; but he was hardly beating him up or even really landing a whole lot beyond a few leg kicks. Even though Silva did a great impression of Nate Campbell in the first fight with Robbie Peden, he wasn't dominating in the same way that the Galaxxy Warrior did at that point.

And, I'll say this again...

Peden won the rematch with Campbell pretty decisively. Tarver beat RJJ clearly in the rubber match. Sometimes, a fighter just has another guy's number, and I think Weidman-Silva is another one of those cases.

 

Good rematch.

I don't like immediate rematches but in the case of a long reigning champion it can be fair depending on how the fight goes.

For example the Cain/JDS thing is ****ed up. All they have to do is drop and beat one borderline top ten and they're right back fighting for the title it's absurd. Werdum should be getting that title shot. Would be a fascinating fight assuming Cain goes for the TD, although he'd probably stand with him.

 

I think Weidman has a 38 year old Silva's number. I called it before Weidman that even during the Bonnar fight when Silva was doing his usual ****y hands down stand against the cage stuff, he was getting tagged by slow ass Bonnar. I noticed right from then that his reflexes aren't what they used to be and he's slowing down. He's 38 with a style that is heavily dependent on his reflexes, I don't think Weidman has his number I just think Silva can't pull off what he used to.

What I'm wondering is how Silva will adapt to his slowing reflexes. He could end up like Jones and never figure out how to fight without them or he could be like Ali and adapt and still be a great fighter. Even slowed down Anderson is still faster than most.

 

Say whatever you want, I told everyone a while back and all you dumb ducks laughed. Ill be back day after weidman wins again with another 30 gs.

 

Hey moron, the pros that have trained with him all knew he was gonna beat silva.

 

Soennan is **** compared to weidman. If weidman and soennan fought it would be a one round massacre.

 

Sonnen > Weidman

 

Good ass post bro. You make solid points.

I may be seeing through biased lenses, but I believe that if Anderson didn't clown around, he could've finished the 2nd round. All he needed was one solid counterpunch which he is more than capable of landing. Problem is he was having too much fun putting on a show.

With Weidman getting so good so fast, it's hard to bet against him. But I think Anderson has one great performance in him before he retires. If we see any similarities in the rematch, Anderson wins in round 2 or 3. He was defending the TD. All he had to do was strike and he could've won.

If there is a rubber match before Anderson retires, I pick Weidman to win.

Agreed. Weidman is better at everything.

 

Hey ****, I already said right off the bat I don't follow MMA and know absolutely nothing about Weidman. It was a perfectly legitimate (for an outsider) innocent question. So **** you, and lzdie

 

You'd lose all your money if u bet that.

 

Creepy ass cracka!!

 

Goodnight Weidman