So Anderson Silva has lost for the first time ever in the UFC since joining in 2006 and that means he is no longer the UFC Middleweight Champion. He got knocked out by Chris Weidman in the 2nd round by a seemingly simple, practice-like combo. It was probably the light left hook that caught Silva first, which Joe Rogan felt he was pretending to be hurt. When Weidman saw Silva's knees soften a little, he knew it was an opportunity to strike and so he went in with a combo. Silva managed to evade the left hook, right cross and a backhand swing-back (from the cross) but the one more left hook that came right after landed clean on his chin and that dropped him.
Many criticised and accused the former champ for not taking Weidman seriously, being overconfident and cocky, that his arrogance kept his guards down, showboating and didn't respect Weidman's standup, etc etc. It really did seem like that but after watching the post-fight press conference, I understand that it may be tactical and the "style", if you will, of Anderson Silva. He got taken down easily early in the first round and Weidman landed pretty good shots on top so it's possible that Silva kept his hands lower after that to defend against Weidman's takedown attempts 'cause he knew that his opponent's dangerous on the ground. But of course, he couldn't be too overt with that so he improvised by pretending to be very confident that he wouldn't be hurt and taunting Weidman to hit him and all. This worked for his previous opponents, they probably freaked out and made an error which allowed Silva the opportunity to do his deadly counter. It's just unfortunate for Silva that this fighter was too composed to fall for this trick and should've just fought normally instead.
With all that being said, I personally think Chris Weidman totally deserved the credits for his win. You can see the finish in GIF format here.
Was the Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight fixed by the UFC?
Please, why in the world would they fix the fight for him to lose? To sell the most likely inevitable rematch? Fedor Emelianenko is still considered by many as the best MMA fighter in history, and he was unbeaten for nearly a decade. If I was Dana White and wanted to rig this fight, I would have had Silva winning instead and let his arrogance continue to dominate because it gets people watching. And if Dana could fix it, why did he choose now and not before or a bit later? For money? People should be questioning Silva as well if that's the case. He said he doesn't want a rematch and he's tired of fighting for the title so if anything, it's Silva who refused to defend the belt on this night properly. I certainly don't believe this fight was rigged but I do feel that if Silva had a more orthodox game plan, I don't think Weidman would've won so easily.
Due to extremely slow internet connection today, I haven't got to see the other fights on the card yet so I'll just update this post if I have anything I wanted to say about any of them.
UFC162 Official Results
Knockout of The Night: Chris Weidman
Submission of the night: No submissions on the night
Fight of The Night: Frankie Edgar vs. Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson vs. Dennis Siver
Main Card
Middleweight: Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva (c) via KO (punches) - R2 1:18
Featherweight: Frankie Edgar def. Charles Oliveira via Decision (unanimous)
Middleweight: Tim Kennedy def. Roger Gracie via Decision (unanimous)
Middleweight: Mark Muñoz def. Tim Boetsch via Decision (unanimous)
Featherweight: Cub Swanson def. Dennis Siver via TKO (punches) - R3 2:24
Preliminary Card (FX)
Middleweight: Andrew Craig def. Chris Leben via Decision (split: 29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Lightweight: Norman Parke def. Kazuki Tokudome via Decision (unanimous)
Heavyweight: Gabriel Gonzaga def. Dave Herman via TKO (punches) - R1 0:17
Lightweight: Edson Barboza def. Rafaello Oliveira via TKO (leg kicks) - R2 1:44
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Welterweight: Brian Melancon def. Seth Baczynski via KO (punches) - R1 4:59
Welterweight: Mike Pierce def. David Mitchell via TKO (punches) - R2 2:55
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Photo on top credits to UFC's Facebook Page.