UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is young, undefeated, and the only fighter in MMA history with two TKO wins over MMA great Anderson Silva.
The general consensus was that the first win over Silva was a fluke as Silva taunted and toyed with Weidman throughout the fight until Weidman finally connected with a left hook that put Silva down. The second win was via TKO (injury) as Silva thew a leg kick that Weidman checked, which reportedly snapped Silva’s tibia and fibula and ended the fight.
How do you view Chris Weidman’s two career wins over Anderson Silva?
Do you put an asterick beside one or both wins? Can Weidman move forward and be considered the legitimate middleweight champion under these circumstances?
Weidman appears to have the tools to be an elite fighter. He has good power in his strikes, wrestling, and is versed in submissions. However, the way both fights with Anderson Silva ended still leave a bit to be desired in determining how good Weidman really is at this point. We didn’t really learn anything from either fight between Silva and Weidman.
Weidman knocked Silva out in the first fight. Well, anyone can knockout another fighter if they leave they hands down and you connect with a solid punch.
The second fight one could say that Weidman won the first round relatively easily as he took Silva down and landed some decent ground and pound. Silva was pretty active from his back and did some damage from the bottom. However, we’ve seen other fighters take Silva down and do similar things only to be destroyed just minutes later. Silva seemed to be getting into a rhythm in the second round, and was becoming more offensive as the fight wore on. There was just not a definitive ending to the second fight.
What if Weidman threw the kick, Silva checked it, and Weidman’s leg snapped like that? Would you say that was a definitive win for Silva?
I wouldn’t. I’d like to hear your thoughts on Weidmans’ two wins over Silva.
Articles like this are proof that you don’t have to be intelligent to have a voice on the internet. Maybe you should go watch some Checkers or Tiddley Winks, something a little closer to your IQ. Silva is the greatest pound for pound fighter ever, and Weidman beat him twice. Enough said.
Opinions vary….thanks for sharing yours.
Weidman is obviously a superior fighter. Anyone could deduce that he was going to win this fight regardless of the Silvainjury.
The evasive techniques that Silva used in the first fight leave defensive holes to opponents who double up on techniques instead of swinging standard 1-2’s. Weidman doubled up on a strike and caught Silva out of position. Could have been a fluke. Haven’t re-watched to see if he was doubling up elsewhere (and if he had been doubling up elsewhere, that definitely show that there was an intention to do that).
But 2nd fight, Weidman knocked Silva down again (arguably with strikes that a younger Silva could have eaten, but not 38 year old Silva). So the first fight looks less flukey. Weidman has decent striking. Weidman also manages to take Silva down again and lands some nice ground and pound. Since it happened in the first and 2nd fight, doesn’t look flukey to me.
And 2nd fight, Weidman counters Silva’s kick with a strong check (on the stronger part of the shin, near the knee), and Silva doesn’t turn his hips over (probably to get more speed, less telegraphing on his kicks) so that the flat of his shin bone meets the point just below Weidman’s knee. Result: broken shin. (I don’t have any way to re-watch the fight, but others have mentioned that wasn’t the first Silva kick Weidman checked. There could have been accumulating bone damage so the leg was already weakened and then splintered spectacularly on that last kick). There is nothing flukey about repeatedly checking leg kicks.
Mad props to Weidman, and I wish Silva a speedy and uncomplicated recovery.
You could say the same in both Sonnen/Silva fights after the first round…didn’t pan out that way though….
It’s not surprising that the person finally able to beat Silva beats him by a nose each time and many UFC victories are ‘flukish” in this sense — one punch knockouts, armbars out of nowhere. Only where opponents are unevenly matched do you get clear beat downs. At the top end, you have to take away the safety net to do what you need to do. Silva wasn’t clowning in the first fight, for example — he was tempting Weidman into standup by raising his chances, in order to avoid take downs. He said as much. So he rolled the dice and paid for it. In the second fight, people forget the check is an mma move. It’s designed to turn the striker’s force against the kicker. Weidman trained it and it worked. Again, top end fighting — this is what you should expect. In mma it isn’t what you can do that counts, it’s what you can do against a particular opponent. Weidman’s wrestling was the unsung hero of both these fights — it forced Silva into positions he would not otherwise have gotten into. Standup alone, Silva is better WHEN HE ISN’T WORRIED ABOUT BEING MAULED ON THE GROUND.
nice
Vanessa C sums up all of my thoughts and more – I wish Silva a speedy and trouble free recovery, a true HoF’er.
Weidman has done all he could do, he was well prepared and showed up both times with a plan and stuck to it, well done CW! He deserves the belt he’s a true champ.