Of the myriad ways you could have forecasted the UFC 168 championship main event between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva ending, having the bout stopped because the greatest fighter in the history of the sport suffered a gruesome broken leg on a checked kick was not one of them.
Early in the second round, Silva threw an inside leg kick and instantly fell to the ground writhing in pain, the fight – and mostly likely his career – coming to a screeching halt in sudden, shocking fashion.
In a year filled with outstanding action and a night that saw the previous four main card contests end in stoppages, the final bout of the 2013 UFC fight calendar will stand as a grim reminder of risks these athletes take every time they step into the cage. This was a cold dose of reality that sucked the air out of the building, changed the narrative of what was looking like Weidman solidifying his place atop the division, and left everyone watching at a loss for words.
The King is Dead
Given his age and the severity of this injury, Saturday night was probably the last time we’ll see Silva compete, and it’s unconscionable that this is the way it ends.
The 38-year-old Brazilian is the best fighter to ever compete in this sport and deserved a grand send off. Instead, he was carried out of the Octagon strapped to a stretcher, his agonizing screams echoing through the hallways at the venue.
After so many memorable moments and transcendent performances, the fact that Silva’s career will end with consecutive defeats and a horrific, freak injury is depressing. This conclusion does nothing to diminish Silva’s legacy or remove him from the MMA Mt. Rushmore, but it denies him the opportunity to leave on his own terms.
While there will likely be a time in the near future where fight fans will get the chance to give Silva a standing ovation in thanks for his years of Matrix-like moves and unmatched dominance, there’s just something unsettling about his magnificent career ending this way.
Long Live the (new) King
There are no more questions: Weidman is the best middleweight on the planet and one of the very best fighters in the sport today.
Though it was an injury that brought the fight to an abrupt halt, the undefeated New Yorker once again was dominating the action right up until the point where the bout was waved off. He took Silva down immediately, nearly knocked him out with a short right hand to the temple, and controlled the fight from start to finish. No matter how it ended, the bottom line is that Weidman retained his title, and has now done twice what 14 other fighters could not do in 16 consecutive contests – beat Anderson Silva.
And here’s the scary thing: he’s only going to keep getting better.
The reigning champ is only 29-years-old and just five years into his professional career. He’s only had 11 fights, and he’s won them all, including some brilliant finishes. He’s already slick on the ground and he showed again on Saturday night that he’s got some pop in his punches, so don’t expect Weidman to go anywhere any time soon.
Ronda Rousey at Another Level
There is no one in the UFC right now that is going to beat Ronda Rousey.
At UFC 168, the women’s bantamweight champion was pushed beyond the first round for the first time in her career, as challenger Miesha Tate fended off submission attempts and forced Rousey into more striking exchanges than she had encountered in her previous seven bouts.
While the result was ultimately a familiar one – Rousey by submission (armbar) ¬– Saturday’s contest gave us another glimpse at the heart and persistence of the much-maligned titleholder, and showed that even though others are stepping up their games, the female face of the UFC is still in a class of her own.
Rousey’s judo is insane, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given that she medaled in the Olympics for the event, but seeing her toss Tate to the ground repeatedly and land in dominant positions was a treat to watch. Her attacking style and ability to find Tate’s arm to finish no matter what the setup is akin to the brilliance of the best jiu-jitsu fighters in the world. Everytime Tate defended Rousey was there with the next move, the next transition, the next opportunity to attack.
She is a world-class athlete with an unblemished record and a pair of dominant wins over her chief rival already under her belt. That being said…
Olympian vs. Olympian at UFC 170
During Saturday’s post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White hung a new fight poster on the face of the podium, announcing that Rousey will make a quick turnaround to take on fellow Olympian Sara McMann in the main event of UFC 170 on February 22 in Las Vegas.
McMann earned a first-round TKO win over Sheila Gaff in her lone UFC appearance to date, and collected a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 summer Games in Athens.
When the women’s bantamweight division was first introduced into the UFC, the unbeaten McMann was immediately viewed as one of the few potential threats to Rousey and now we’ll get the chance to see these two talented women square off.
It is an intriguing match-up, as the unbeaten silver medalist may be the only fighter in the division capable of hanging with the champion in the clinch and on the ground. For Rousey, McMann is one of the two remaining unbeaten competitors beside herself left in the division, and another decisive victory will only further solidify her place among the very best in this sport.
What Now for Miesha Tate?
Make no mistake about it – having Tate coach opposite Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter was a tremendous stroke of luck for the UFC (and bad luck for Cat Zingano), and she was the perfect opponent to help elevate Saturday’s co-main event to greater standing.
But she’s now lost two straight and sports an 0-2 record against Rousey, so you would have to assume that Tate – like flyweight challenger Joseph Benavidez – is stuck in an indefinite state of purgatory at this point in her career.
Are there still quality opportunities in the cage for her? Absolutely, but getting another shot at the title is mostly likely out of the question as long as Rousey has the belt around her waist.
This is a tough position for Tate right now, as she’s ascended to being the clear No. 2 behind Rousey in terms of popularity and recognition with fans — perhaps even surpassing Rousey in the first category. She was clearly (and understandably) dejected at the post-fight press conference, so it will be interesting to see what comes next for the former Strikeforce champion.
One Nasty Hawaiian
Travis Browne is developing into the dangerous force many observers believed he could be and showcased his continued progression Saturday night by laying out Josh Barnett in exactly 60 seconds.
After shrugging off an early takedown attempt, the massive Hawaiian heavyweight rocked Barnett with a knee to the face as “The Warmaster” came in for a takedown. On his knees and desperate to get the fight to the ground, Browne unloaded the same barrage of elbows to the side of the head that stopped Gabriel Gonzaga two fights back against the veteran Barnett. His body went limp, referee Yves Lavigne stepped in, and a new contender emerged.
Browne is an impressive specimen that looks better and better with each appearance. He’s now earned three straight first-round finishes, with a 16-1-1 record and his lone loss coming – at least in part – as a result of popping a hamstring against Antonio Silva. He is the most intriguing fighter in the pool of challengers jockeying to face injured champion Cain Velasquez, and should find himself fighting for a title shot at some point in 2014.
“The Diamond” Shines Again
Dustin Poirier delivered the best performance of his career on Saturday night, earning a late first-round stoppage over Diego Brandao in the pay-per-view opener.
From the outset, the 24-year-old Louisiana native countered well and worked from the outside, showing an improved defensive approach and greater patience than he has in the past. It was clear early on that the extra weight Brandao was carrying ¬– he missed the 146-pound limit by several pounds at Friday’s weigh-in – was hampering him inside the cage, and Poirier capitalized at every chance he could, catching Brandao with stiff counters and digging body shots.
Late in the frame, the American Top Team rep connected with a stiff left hand as Brandao was trapped along the cage, the shot serving as the beginning of the end. Poirier has looked increasingly impressive since deciding to uproot from his native Lafayette and move to Florida to train at ATT full-time, and puts himself back in the thick of the title chase with this win.
Much Respect to Chris Leben
Late in the first round of his preliminary card pairing with Uriah Hall, Leben got tagged with a straight right hand, and only the sounding of the horn signifying the end of the round prevented him from being finished.
When he retreated to his corner, Leben asked if he was knocked out, and upon sitting down on his stool, told his coaches, “I’m done,” instructing them to stop the fight.
There are not enough words to express how much I respect Leben for making that call right there, on the spot, and “The Crippler” deserves credit for doing something that very few fighters or corners would ever fathom doing.
He could have very easily taken his breather, gotten back up, and continued plodding forward after Hall until the finalist from Season 17 of the long-running reality TV competition connected again and turned out his lights. Instead, he knew there was no point in continuing, opting to throw in the towel.
We don’t know yet whether this will mark the end of Leben’s time in the UFC or the sport, but if it does, his willingness to walk away in the middle of this fight is a great final note in his storied career.
Menacing
When Michael Johnson fights with confidence, he’s a legitimate threat in the lightweight division.
After pulling off a dominant upset win over Joe Lauzon in Boston over the summer, “The Menace” followed up with a second-round TKO win over veteran Gleison Tibau on Saturday night, becoming the first man to stop the hulking Brazilian grappler since 2008, and the first to finish him with strikes since Nick Diaz accomplished the feat at UFC 65.
This was undoubtedly a rewarding way to close out 2013 for Johnson, as Myles Jury halted his climb up the lightweight rankings at last year’s final event. A quality prospect coming off Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, the 27-year-old “Blackzilian” appears to finally be putting it all together, and finds himself on the fringes of contention with consecutive wins over top-25 opponents leading off his resumé.