Silva vs. Weidman

This is the official discussion thread for Silva vs. Weidman. Let's see what you've got.

"Everywhere I look today 'hype train derailed'." 



This is the first I'm hearing of this. Remember, it's never good to search for a reason to be angry.

* Edited at 07.07.2013, 1:30 PM ET *

Silva is still the best, all the way up to the one punch that caught him, Silva was picking Weidman apart. On the ground he took some shots, but that was the same with Lutter and Sonnen (but Silva shrugged off a couple of takedown attempts, which many experts said he wouldn't do.) I think it was on par with Serra upsetting St. Pierre. Silva's head games are second to none, and he definitely was messing Weidman up. He just went slightly too far trying to make things entertaining. I suspect you'll see the Silva that fought Franklin the first time (or Okami in ROTR) if they do a rematch. He'll be aggressive and put him to sleep early.

From Mike Chiapetta from MMAfighting.com this article perfectly sums up my feelings towards all the excuse makers.

highlights:

"That was always a favorite. It was a tactic, the same as firing out the lead jab to a rushing opponent or securing wrist control from bottom position to hunt a triangle. Silva could look in his opponent's eyes and see doubt, and then rip open that wound until his foe began folding in front of him, all this simply by bobbing, weaving and smiling."


"If you go in the cage with insecurities, he’s going to feed on it, he's going to mess with you," he said a few days before he stepped into the cage at UFC 162. "He's going to make that insecurity grow and make you feel, 'Wow, I really don’t belong in the cage with this guy. He can knock me out any time he wants.' You see guys melt down, almost give up because they’re so mentally beaten. Well, he’s going to have to go through hell to do that to me."


Think about those words now, in the aftermath of what happened. Silva dancing on the outside, trying to make him miss -- trying to make that insecurity grow -- and Weidman seeing only a green light for his own aggression. 


So when he pulled a similar tactic against Weidman, most people figured we were watching yet another episode of Silva masterpiece theater. But Silva's tactic assumes that all of his opponents will react the same way. Weidman didn't. He wasn't a deer in headlights. He wasn't a rookie fighting a master. He stayed aggressive, and he landed something, and he finished. 

How was Silva messing Weidman up at anytime in the second round?  I'll give you that his "game" was having some limited success late in the first, but come on . . . give Weidman some credit for walking through Silva and using his disrespectful moves against him.

Back to back tweets from my timeline:

1. Ryron Gracie ‏@RyronGracie46m

   I do not defeat my opponents they defeat themselves. -Helio Gracie / example #ufc162

    Retweeted by Rener GracieExpand
2. John Rutter ‏@JohnPRutter16m

   @DaMarques_UFC to quote the great and wise poet Smokey..he "got knocked THE **** out!"

    Retweeted by DaMarques Johnson

Weidman deserves more credit than he's given for this win. That ****y behavior is what Anderson does to mentally break people. It worked on Okami, it worked on Maia, it worked on Bonnar, it worked on tons of other people. Weidman, on the other hand, did not even act intimidated for a second, and he kept pressing forward and attacking until finally he landed. Weidman's mental toughness is what derailed Silva. He kept saying that he was not going to let Anderson break him mentally, and during the fight he proved that it was not just talk.

My hat is all the ****** way off for Weidman. All the credit in the world. He did what no one else could do for all these years. People making excuses are ********, everyone b

Agree with Mule and P4P.  Anderson talks respect and says all the right words.  In his heart, I do believe he is humble and kind.  

But his behavior in the cage is often inexplicable.  Meaning without explanation.  To talk the respect line outside the cage, and then to stick his disrespect in their face so flagrantly shows a certain measure of emotional confusion.

Anderson is as great as they come.  His striking skills amaze.  He is the very last person to need such bush league tactics.  The rules prohibit talking in the Octagon.  But Anderson talks in pantomime, and gets around the rules.

When Weidman lost his composure and decided to stand and exchange with Silva, Silva could have put him away however he pleased,  Massive error in judgment on Weidman's part, and if he does it again in the rematch, he'll get destroyed by a serial killer.  He can lose everything as fast as he gained them.  

Silva lost by mistakes in judgment, and so can Weidman.  You can't keep making mistakes and never expect them to catch up with you.  Not anymore.

A possible theory is that Silva is not being disrespectful at all.  His tactics might be interpreted as a form of psychological warfare, to upset his opponents, get in their heads, and throw them off their game.

Maybe he thinks his striking is not enough and he needs more tools to win.  So, in that light, he is giving his opponents more respect, not less.  Weird but who knows what goes on in someone's head?

He definitely uses that clowning as a tactic. Silva is a big counter puncher. He uses that to get his opponents to attack and than knock them out when they come in. 

to win for as a safe guard (mostly for points) on here... but was rooting for Weidman. 

This is one of those one in a million cards that people buy into the hype and it actually happens. Weidman is very talented and he's got guys in his camp (i.e. - Matt Serra) that have been there, done it before. True champ and I hope he holds on to the belt for a long time.

For Silva, hopefully he comes back and stops dancing around and actually fights to his full potential. I'll be very interested in watching the rematch. 

* Edited at 07.07.2013, 7:29 PM ET *

Damn, Usher got it bad.

It's pretty sublime what happened. Silva utilizes a tactic which appears to give his opponent an advantage (his lowered defense) but actually plays into his own strength of counter-punching. Because everyone knows what Silva is up to when he plays this game, fighters usually do one of two things:

1. Fighters attempt a direct assault from the angles which Silva invites them to attack, but are unsuccessful because Silva knows what they are doing. Their lack of immediate success leaves them vulnerable for a counter attack. Think Griffin, Bonnar.

2. Fighters freak out when they cannot connect and become internally convinced that they cannot succeed. Think Okami, Maia.

In Weidman's case he just kept playing the odds that if he threw punches he might tag Silva, and he did. He didn't care that he had missed several times, nor did he over reach with blind aggression. He kept a steady course and threw punches believing in the raw kinesthetic reality of what he was doing.

 

* Edited at 07.07.2013, 8:29 PM ET *

What is with all this ******** about Anderson's showboating being typical for him as a fighter? I don't remember Silva EVER doing **** like this before say, around March 2008 (Henderson fight).

The most he used (pre-2009ish) to do was this little hand shuffle from a neutral stance, to confuse his opponents about which hand and/or step he was going to lead in with.

So if I was king of the internet I would make two things disappear.

1. All these Weidman fan boys (don't remember anyone having a Weidman av before the fight) claiming it was Weidman's superior skill set which beat Anderson Silva last night.

2. This idea that without the showboating, Anderson's offense would not be nearly as effective. Why don't you put a little effort into your **** talk? Watch his first 28 fights, and point out how Anderson's "showboating" is the thing winning him fights. God knows I've seen most of Weidman's and I still say even Bisping could beat this guy.

What beat Anderson Silva was his own ego. He believed in his untouchablitiy, his legend more than Weidman did last night, all the way down to the canvas.

Weidman came to fight, Silva well...yup. </discussion>

* Edited at 07.07.2013, 9:12 PM ET *

Those g****s taste sour!  I personally believe Weidman beats Silva nine times out of ten.

* Edited at 07.07.2013, 9:18 PM ET *

lol