Weidman Silva

I can't remember being this excited about a fight, at least recently.  I remember being really stoked about BJ Penn-St. Pierre 2, Evans-Machida, and Lesnar-Velasquez.   But Chris Weidman's knockout of Anderson Silva in UFC 162 was one of those moments where you remember exactly where you were when you witnessed it.

I remember watching it from my apartment on a Sunday morning, Korea time.  It was sunny, and the weather was beautiful here.  The broadcast was in Korean, but it still effectively captured the enormity of the moment.

When it happened, I remember wondering whether or not it was real, and I was waiting for Anderson Silva to get up, continue fighting, and knock Weidman out.   But when the reality of the moment was set in my mind, I jumped up, and started yelling in excitement and astonishment.  I must have tweeted, numerous times, "I can't believe that just happened."

It was easily the biggest moment in MMA that I have ever witnessed.  Anderson Silva, at the time, was thought to be invincible, untouchable, and unbeatable.  I saw him toy with Forrest Griffin, Stephen Bonner, and suddenly and powerfully knock out Vitor Belfort.  He previously toyed with fighters, and easily finished them.  Anderson Silva was, and still is larger than life.

Contrary to popular thought, the "showboating," and the theatrics that Anderson Silva did in the first fight were not unique to the Weidman fight.  After the fight, I remember hearing so much criticism of Silva from people who seemed to never see him fight before.  He does that to most of his opponents in order to gain a mental edge, and to intimidate them.  And it worked, as all of them, except Weidman, would freeze, and play right into his hands.

Anderson wasn't "showboating."  And even if he was being "unsportsmanlike," who cares?  This is fighting.  It's a sport where the object of the game is to physically injure your opponent.  The object of the game isn't to be "sportsmanlike."  The object is to win by any means necessary, and if "showboating," and being "unsportsmanlike" gives a fighter an edge, then so be it.

It just so happened that Chris Weidman, became more determined to hit Anderson Silva in the face, instead of freezing in fear.  It just so happened that Weidman wasn't intimidated by Anderson before stepping into the octagon.  Weidman won the fight mentally, and that is why he won the fight physically.

Make no mistake about it, that win was no fluke.  Weidman was just as quick as Silva in the first fight.  He dodged numerous Silva strikes, which can't be understated.  Silva usually has a significant quickness advantage on his opponents, and that wasn't that case with Weidman.

Weidman took Anderson Silva down rather easily in the beginning, landed punches while on top, and nearly landed a submission.  Throughout the fight, he landed significantly more strikes.  He was the one moving forward most of the time.  Make no mistake about it, Weidman won every phase of the previous fight.

I expect to see a more confident Weidman tonight, but a similar version of him, as that of the previous fight.  Anderson will not have the mental edge, and the previous fight proved that he will not have the edge in quickness either.  Weidman seems to be rather predictable, but still extremely tough, quick,  intelligent, and difficult to defeat.

It will be extremely interesting to see how Anderson Silva carries himself tonight.  Will he "showboat" and taunt Weidman again?  Or will he find another way to gain a mental edge.  The one thing that the world, and especially Chris Weidman knows is that he is no longer invincible.

Much like Mike Tyson, after his loss to Buster Douglas, Anderson will no longer carry that aura with him.  His aura was based on the fact that he was undefeated in the UFC.  And now we will see a previously defeated, and previously knocked out Anderson Silva step into the octagon.  How will he react?

It's ridiculous how fired up about this fight I am.