Silva vs. Weidman

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

@Justyn

Please, you think that last minute choke in round 5 was luck?

He played sonnen till the last round. Why would a fighter as mediocre as chael do that to Silva? Every punch landed on Silva was ineffective, if you examine it closely You can see Silva throwing himself backwards. I don't see how this is SO ******* HARD to believe, he ****S with his opponents all the time.

People thinking Silva will lose are just hoping and convincing themself that Weidman will be the one. He doesnt seem to be "the one" yet , too green.

Silva's fighting is at an "art" level. He's no slugger, he thinks every move he makes and does everything so precise and well is like a painter doing his work.

Some fighters fight like they would mine a rock, some fight like they would move furniture, yet some fight to make art, and I'm sorry to say, but that kind of fighting has only one weakness. A better artist or  a more inspired one at the moment.

Furthermore fighting is about adapting to your opponent. You don't really see even top guys doing it, fighting by adapting his style to counter his opponents strong points and forcing on the weakenesses. They usually come with a gameplan already made from home, and if they are surprised with smth they didnt oversee, then they have a problem.

We've all seen battles where top guys wouldfind a weakness in someones armour, pound that spot, but his victim would not adapt and change his game in order to counter his opponents tactic, letting go of the gameplan and adapt, improvise, do the unexpected.

In the Colton Smith vs Whitaker fight, look at Colton. He saw Robert was ready for his every takedown because of the changed stance, but he didnt adapt his game to take on Whitaker. He just shot in for takedowns over and over and landing the ocassional punch.

this is the first and most recent example i could think off. This post is long and i'll stop it here, but more examples come to mind, and i'm sure you all know .

Bottom line: i dont see Weidman being able to adapt to everything Silva has to offer, but Silva addapts to anything his opponents ofered him.

@Justyn : chael is a better wrestler than weidman, and look what Silva did to him in their second bout. I remember seeing Silva stuffin takedowns. 
Don't you think he'll expect Weidman to want to take him down, because I bet Weidman doesnt wanna trade punches with Silva

Chael and Weidman have different wrestling styles, so I think this fight will be completely different than the 2 with Chael. Chael is more of a power wrestler, Weidman has a bit for finesse and uses his striking to set up the takedowns. Also, I think we can all agree that Weidman's striking is much better than Chael's. His size alone should make Silva choose a completely different gameplan.

Oh come on, that gif adds to my argument. Not a scratch nor broken bone or any injury on Silva after the fight. Please all he needs is a few minutes to beat chael. Doing it in the last round wouldnt have mattered.

@delrose dude don't be stupid. I never said anything about the choke. Not it was not luck. That however by no means changes the fact that Chael used his wrestling to dominate SIlva for 4 and a half rounds. You ignorantly said Silva has no weaknesses but Chael Sonnen showed that one of his weaknesses is someone who will bring the pressure with their wrestling.

"Chael Sonnen showed that one of his weaknesses is someone who will bring the pressure with their wrestling."


I wish it were so simple little JB, I wish it were just that. Pressure Silva with wrestling and he will falter, 'cause the only one who tried that and was successful to an extent was Chael Sonnen.


No, the reason why Chael Sonnen repeatedly took Silva down was because he was a southpaw who exclusively resorts to the double leg takedown, whether it be to bring the fight to the ground or to initiate the clinch. Chris Weidman isn't that.

I see this starting a lot like Silva/Sonnen 1 with Weidman scoring early takedowns and imposing his will only problem is i dont think Weidman has the gas tank that Chael does and will start to fade in the 3rd and end up eating a knee/elbow/jab/frontkick/whatever highlight real craziness Silva want to pull off on that night im just excited to see it

Get at meh

I would take Weidman if he was a huge underdog, but he's not, only a moderate, so I cannot in good conscience pick against the SpiderGOAT (look up TTTHS on Youtube if you don't get the reference). 

Accurate. 

The way I see it is, Weidman is a harder hitter than Sonnen, Weidman has BJJ skills which Sonnen lacked, and they both are around the same level in wrestling talent. Also don't forget the fact that Weidman has never been taken down. Therefore I see a repeat of Silva vs. Sonnen 1 except Weidman has the power to finish. This is all assuming Weidman can take Silva down. If he can't.......Silva will totally outclass him and stop it early.

Weidman: 

Collegiate wrestling[edit]

• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I 197 lb - 6th place out of Hofstra University (2006)[25]
  • NCAA Division I 197 lb - 3rd place out of Hofstra University (2007)[25]
  • NCAA All-American Team (2006, 2007)
• National Junior College Athletic Association
• NJCAA All-American Team (Two times)

Sonnen: 

Amateur wrestling

• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I All-American out of University of Oregon (1998)[67][75]
  • NCAA Division I 190 lb – 8th place out of University of Oregon (1998)[76]
  • Pac-10 Conference 197 lb – 2nd place out of University of Oregon (1999)[77]
  • Pac-10 Conference 197 lb – 2nd place out of University of Oregon (2001)[78]
• University National Greco-Roman Championships
  • 187.25 1b -3rd place out of University of Oregon (1997)[79]
  • 187.25 lb -2nd place out of University of Oregon (1998)[80]
  • 187.25 lb -1st place out of University of Oregon (1999)[81]
  • 187.25 lb -1st place out of University of Oregon (2000)[82]

Awarded "Most Outstanding Wrestler" of 2000 tournament

• World University Greco-Roman Championships
  • 187.25 lb – 2nd place (2000)[83]
• Senior National Greco-Roman Championships
  • 187.25 lb -4th place (2000)[84]
  • 185 lb -4th place (2002)[85]
• 2000 US Greco-Roman Olympic Team Trials
  • 187.25 lb West Regional Champion [86]
  • 187.25 lb -3rd place [87]
• US Greco-Roman World Team Trials
  • 211.75 lb -4th place (2002) [88]
• Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman
  • 187.25 lbs -1st place (2000)[89]
  • 213.75 lbs -1st place (2001)[90][91]
• University National Freestyle Championships
  • 187.25 lb -5th place out of University of Oregon (1998)[92]
  • 187.25 lb -3rd place out of University of Oregon (1999)[93]
  • 187.25 lb -2nd place out of University of Oregon (2000)[94]
• Championship Belt Series Winner, University Level

(2000)[95]

In what world is that the same level when it comes to wrestling? 

Chaels credentials really are in a much higher regard than Weidman. And about the first fight between Silva sonnen Anderson  clearly wanted to be taken down. he couldnt even throw punches. or effective kicks.  He wasn't himself. And we all know why. And the second fight both guys completely healthy Silva literally defended every takedow. except one. ONE. and chapel shot on him at least 20 times. If silva is healthy Weidman will not be able to do what happened in the first sonnen fight. No one outside of Brock lesnar can repeat the chael fight when Silva is healthy.

* Edited at 06.18.2013, 1:29 PM ET *

Silva didn't defend the first takedown and was down for that entire round. Weidman doesn't have Sonnen's wrestling credentials, but he does have much more of a submission game. 

That being said I am going with a gut feeling on this one and wouldn't be a bit surprised if Silva handled him.

@mybbygotsauz you Silva fans with your excuses. Anderson didn't get taken down because he wanted to he got taken down because that's what Chael wanted. You can make all the excuses you want about him having broken ribs or whatever but the bottom line is Chael Sonnen went in there and dominated him thoroughly. Also are we all just going to pretend Anderson didn't try to blatantly cheat in the second fight? Even if you want to say the knee was legal he still held Sonnen's shorts more than any other fighter I have ever seen. Which I remind you is illegal. Anderson had to cheat to stop Chael's takedowns in the second fight.

Now I get it. . . not a troll; just an idiot