UFC President Dana White has stated that Anderson Silva will be granted an immediate rematch against Chris Weidman. He said it on Saturday night after the upset loss, and said it even prior to the event on some foreshadowing stuff.
However, Silva seemed unwilling to accept the immediate rematch and even remained noncommittal on fighting again when talking with Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview. I don’t know, maybe his brain was still scrambled from the punishment he had taken just minutes earlier.
However, if Silva remains unwilling to accept the immediate rematch it would hurt his legacy more than the actual loss to Weidman.
I give credit to Weidman for taking advantage of Silva toying with him. That’s exactly what he was doing, and it was evident that there was a clear gap in skills between the two competitors as Silva taunted Weidman and landed strikes whenever he wanted.
I don’t think many people can clearly say with conviction that Weidman is the best middleweight in the world. So yes, Silva lost to Weidman but it was more so him beating himself than Weidman flat out beating him.
Nevertheless, Silva not accepting the immediate rematch(and he very well may do so in the future) just strikes a nerve with me. I don’t see how any fighter would not want to avenge a loss like that, especially when he hasn’t suffered a legitimate loss in nearly a decade. There is no other fight out there for him to take. There are no superfights against Jon Jones or GSP that he can take at the moment. The crazy thing is that the immediate rematch would probably do superfight PPV numbers! Nobody wants to see Anderson Silva fight some run of the mill fighter in his next fight. If anyone deserves the immediate rematch it’s Anderson Silva after being such a dominant champion for so long. Chris Weidman deserves the immediate rematch to truly validate himself as the champion by defeating Silva without the perception that Silva wasn’t fighting at 100%.
If Silva never fights again I think many will still consider him the greatest MMA fighter of all time. However, if he isn’t interested in avenging the loss to Weidman, I think that narrative will always put a little asterisk beside his career for me. I’d rather him fight Weidman and lose again instead of not taking the fight at all.
How do you feel about the immediate rematch should Silva not take it?
Getting beat hurts his legacy period, not avenging the loss AND not retiring would most likely do permanent damage to his legend. Maybe he just wants to retire from having to face the top of the division by fighting the Bonnars, Bispings, and Cung Les of the world, or maybe he wants to work his way back with such fights before taking a high stakes rematch. Most most likely of all is what he said at the post fight presser.: He dosn’t know what he wants to do yet.
I disagree that the gap in skill sets was so obvious (although the gap in judgement might’ve been) I remember several times when Weidman evaded jabs with head movement, and I don’t think Anderon was able to connect when ever he wanted.
“I disagree that the gap in skill sets was so obvious (although the gap in judgement might’ve been) I remember several times when Weidman evaded jabs with head movement, and I don’t think Anderon was able to connect when ever he wanted.”
In the second round…Anderson shut his takedowns down like he was a little kid…just shrugged him off…and landed 5 of the 6 strikes he through in the second rd…he also landed well over 50% of the strikes he thew in the 1st round while Weidman landed 41%(1st rd) and 31%(2nd rd)
Weidman did say some of his takedown attempts were “fakes” — if you believe him, which he seems pretty honest. Anyway, I think Silva is just posturing about not wanting the rematch. It was just the “gut reaction” of trying to pretend it’s really not that important to him. He might even really believed it at the time but I think once it all soaks in, he’s going to want that title back.
He has to…I mean…the rematch would probably outsell a fight with Jon Jones if they promote it right….odds are we’ll see the rematch…
It seemed more like he was just trying to not take anything away from Weidman’s victory than posturing.
Silva knew that the way he got taken out would lead to many people saying if Silva had been trying, Weidman wouldn’t have stood a chance of beating him. Immediately demanding a rematch would have just added more fuel to that kind of thing. That wouldn’t make the UFC very happy and it would make it harder to hype a rematch should it occur.
Silva’s legacy is solid as he dominated his weight class for 6 and a half years against the best in the business. No loss is going to erase that.
The only person whose ‘legacy” is in jeopardy is Weidman’s as he’ll have to win his first title defense against a top notch opponent or become MMA’s Buster Douglas. But should he do that and legitimize his title reign (or not), you can bet if Silva doesn’t decide to hang it up, that’s when he’ll ask for a shot at regaining the title.
Anderson’s legacy was cemented years ago. He is the GOAT & nothing can change that, regardless of what you idiotic pathetic Silva haters think. Ali lost. Tyson lost. Leonard lost. Louis lost. Jack Johnson lost. Jordan was dunked on. Tiger lost. LeBron lost. The negatives cannot erase the positives & nothing will change the FACT that Anderson is the GOAT. Period.
STOP taking credit from Weidman!!!!! Silva lost fair and square doing what he ALWAYS does…Also, it’s only fair to let things settle for a week or so before making any STUPID judgments about this or that…SILVA IS A STUD!!! Silva is no less a stud now than before the Weidman fight…IF YOU ARE WORTH THE SH*T ON YOUR SHOES, stop making stuff up to finish your articles…DOUCHE
Wow the author of this article is a moron.
Opinions Vary….
you said silva landed strikes whenever he wanted to? are you stupid if that was the case he would have won he was doing everything he does on all his other fights he just couldnt land his tricky kicks and punches on weidman.
Fixed…..
Fight #1…throw it but make it looked like you beat yourself b/c your ego would not allow you to lose a close match ($3.1 million)…..you knew you threw fight #1 so make sure you don’t look like you never
wanted the even bigger payday of fight #2….so say you are tired and
want to retire.
Fight #2…. rematch……win rematch then reciprocate the Weidman rematch offer from match #1….nobody will think you had three fights planned, they will buy that you are so magnanimous as to reciprocate Weidmans immediate rematch offer from match #1 ($5-6 million)
Fight #3….ohhh the hype of the rubber match ….TO DECIDE ONCE AND FOR ALL….maybe invite Rockey and Apollo Creed ringside and Mohammed Ali, so when you write your autobiography you can explain how you got the idea to be “the MMA’s Greatest” alla M. Ali, and of coarse how Silva recognized the value in losing and redemption and bigger purses from those Rocky movies ( $8-15 million)….Also remember no matter how many times Ali lost he is still considered one of the greatest boxers although he never had the physical power over his competitors that most people use to equate greatness in such a physical sport, so Silva knows that by throwing the first match so badly MMA fanboys will still call him the “greatest”.
So Silva can lose, retain his greatness, avoid Jones, and get bigger total payday than if he fought the maximum 10 fights (about 5 years)that he signed for in his last contract.
Yes MMA, should be called MME b/c it turn MME upside down and you have WWE, but with the fixed pairings and ranking system used in boxing, a mixture of wrestling entertainment and boxing entertainment
I’d say landing well over half of your strikes=landing whenever you want to…the problem was he only threw six strikes(landing five)…whereas he’s normally way more offensive than that….which is what I said in the piece :)
Threw … not ‘through,’ … Kelvin.
Come on … edit … spell.
He should fight him again! Prove you’re better!
If I remember correctly Weidman only attempted one takedown in the second round which was stuffed so it wasnt like he was stuffing takedown after takedown like he was “a little kid” I know you clearly don’t want to give Weidman credit but he was clearly winning the fight and wasn’t scared of Silva’s disrespectful clowning. Also I dont know what fight you were watching or if your just trolling but where did you see the ” it was evident that there was a clear gap in skills between the two competitors as Silva taunted Weidman and landed strikes whenever he wanted.” Silva didnt land many solid punches and never came close to having Weidman in trouble. Also Weidman dodged alot of Silva’s punches and kicks. Sorry but your description is way off and judging by the comments I am not the only one that feels this way.
[…] debated on Sunday whether Silva’s unwillingness to take the immediate rematch would hurt his legacy more than […]
If you have seen Silva fight before when he cared to fight, you would know he was not fighting 100%. Silva steels the fight away from Sonnen in the last minute of the last round when he was clearly going to lose, and you think Weidman who has beat a couple of nobody’s, Maia (who is a whatever) and Munoz (the only creditable fighter) is going to stay champ then you’re a dumb a**. If he does not fight Silva there are enough creditable fighters that will put him in his place. Just like Many other one hit wonders. Lets see if Weidman will hold the belt through the next fight whoever it is. But if he would fight Silva again my money just like many other peoples will go on Silva. For the record Silva is not my favorite fighter, but he has definitely showed that the middleweight class gives little challenge.
I’d say that landing anything but all the punches you throw is by definition not landing whenever you want unless you through a punch or more with the intention of missing.
You do know that fighter’s do that right? It’s called a setup.