Last night was, in my opinion, the greatest UFC card in the company’s history. I have been following the UFC since 1997, and at this point it might be my favorite brand of sport (apologies, NBA, NFL, but it’s true). More on that in a moment. There’s so much to touch upon that I thought I’d do one of my “things” posts (50 Things About Inception being my other most recent) and just offer up rapid-fire musings about last night’s epic event, starting and ending with the most two important points (No. 16 is also very important for all of you who are unnecessarily throwing around the L words — lazy and lucky) . But before we get started, who says white boys aren’t athletic?
1. Before last night, Anderson Silva had never really been tested inside the Octagon. He had grown complacent and put forth a trio of lackluster title defenses. Pair that with the fact he doesn’t speak English, or much anyway, and it seemed many fans had grown tired of the pound-for-pound champ. Sure, piss-poor previous matchmaking is partially to be blamed, but part of being a true champion is putting on great fights and finishing all comers, regardless of their particular skillset. Both Dana White and UFC fans demanded a result worthy of a fighter who’s been labeled the P4P best. Enter Chael Sonnen, a tailor-made opponent.
With broken ribs (video here, in English), the weight of the world on his shoulders and the weight of Sonnen suffocating him for just shy of five rounds, the champion was facing something he had never encountered in the UFC before — adversity. The 211 shots he ate in the first three rounds were more than he had absorbed in his entire UFC career. He had probably lost one round as a UFC fighter in his 11 previous fights and here he dropped the first four rounds. In MMA, all champions eventually have off nights, get caught and lose. It happened to GSP against Matt Serra. It happened to Fedor Emelianenko this summer. It happened to B.J. Penn last spring. This was Anderson Silva’s time to get caught and lose.
Except Silva’s no normal champion — he’s the greatest MMA fighter who’s ever lived. We already knew he had Roy Jones Jr.’s boxing skills. We already knew that he had the feet, knees and movement of one Bruce Lee. We already knew that he had a granite chin. We already knew that he had great conditioning. We already knew that we was a world-class athlete. We already knew that his Nogueira BJJ black belt definitely didn’t come out of a Happy Meal. But what we learned last night was that Silva also has the heart of a champion. No champion has ever taken a beating like that in a title fight and been able to find a path to victory.
Silva’s record-setting eighth straight title defense told us more about him than his previous seven. There’s a lot of soul beneath all of that style. It might take Patrick Bateman, a tarp and an axe to take that belt away from him.
2. The UFC won big last night. I honestly think there is a positive narrative for every fighter on the main card except for Ricardo Almeida. Dana White has to have a sh**-eating grin on his face, especially when rumor has it that the PPV buys annihilated expectations. The winners…
3. Some people might disagree, but Silva was the big winner. He looked human and humble, the Abu Dhabi nightmare a distant nightmare. This was a legend-building win that endured him to fans. For a guy who usually plays Apollo Creed (and fought a Rocky type fighter), he pulled off one of the all-time Rocky moments in sports. Greatest comeback in MMA title fight history? Absolutely. And one of the best in combat sports history.
4. Sonnen, despite the loss, was still a huge winner. I’m not sure how great he is, but he’s a great wrestler. Probably the best in MMA. He’s also at worst the second best middleweight and I know he could do some serious, serious damage at 205. Maybe last night was a bit fluky, and in the end we’ll see it like when Chuck Wepner went the distance with Ali, but with that performance paired with his unparalleled gift of gab he’s hear to stay. I’m not sure there’s another fighter who will ever bring that level of fearlessness to a fight with Silva.
5. Junio dos Santos. Cigano learned a lot about himself and the sport, and got toughened up in the process. Does he have the all-around skills and size to become to the Heavyweight champ? Probably not, but it looks like we’re going to find out anyway.
6. Big Country. I agree with Joe Rogan; dude needs to drop 30 pounds. You could see that it was just heart and grit that were carrying him through that fight. The good news for Country is that if he drops the weight I think this loss might get chalked up to conditioning, even though he was clearly overmatched. I think Dos Santos just started hitting him in the gut after a while because that “region” was so much softer than his cast iron skull. The Mullet can take a punch.
7. Matt Hughes. I can honestly see him getting another title shot down the line. I can tell you this right now; Jake Shields and Jon Fitch are both ahead of him on the contenders list, but he’s more entertaining and a better draw than either. He’s also still got it, and this is coming from someone who is not a fan at all. But take the damn Gracie Killer moniker already, c’mon.
8. Jon Fitch. Can his honeymoon last like eight years, because nobody wants to see this guy fight for a title again? He beat an anemic, gaunt Thiago Alves in super safe fashion. GSP is not impressed. That being said, he’s won 22 of 23 fights and certainly can make the claim that he’s the rightful No. 1 contender once again. Plus, there’s no way he can beat GSP, so he wouldn’t threaten a GSP-Silva superfight.
9. Speaking of Alves, you can totally spin his loss and basically his whole time at 170. He’s been dropping too much weight. Maybe he can be at 185 what Wanderlei Silva once was at 205? They are similar fighters with similar builds.
10. Clay Guida was a big winner last night as well. Rafael dos Anjos had him in some trouble in the first round, but the Carpenter kept pushing at a frenetic pace, broke the Brazillian’s jaw and force him to quit due to the injury. You know how the villain in The Incredibles is the grown-up version of that kid who tried to be a mini-Mr. Incredible? I think Guida did that with the Ultimate Warrior as a kid.
11. If Rafael dos Anjos doesn’t break his jaw, he’s in that fight. He still has a very promising career ahead of him. After all, he’s only 25.
12. Stefan Struve must like getting lit up and then coming from behind. Man, he’s a fun guy to watch fight, though. I think his 6-foot-11 frame just ensures that fights are going to be wild and unconventional. What was up with his celebration after the fight? That had to be the goofiest thing I have ever seen. It looked like Leo running around in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Regardless, thoroughly enjoyed his Ray Liotta pistol-whip beatdown. You also have to check out his NuttyProfessoresque swollen lip…
13. Even Christian Morecraft — who looked like Struve’s shorter, fatter neo-Nazi brother — likely impressed Dana White and Co. with the beating he handed Struve in the first round. He got coldcocked in the second round, but I expect we’ll see him again.
14. Silva walked out with none other than Steven Seagal last night, who has been helping him train apparently. Fedor eat your heart out.
15. Silva also came out wearing a traditional BJJ gi, something we had never seen him do in the Octagon, after Chael insulted the Nogueira’s instruction. When you factor in the fact that he subbed Sonnen using BJJ, the whole night must’ve really been special for the Black House team. You can tell Sonnen’s comments about his instructors and team really bothered Silva, because he held that sub for a long time (partially because Sonnen was trying to weasel his way out of that tap, too). The message was sent: Nog BJJ is no joke.
16. When I rewatched the fight, I noticed something nobody else has: with 2:12 left in the fifth round, Silva hurt Sonnen just enough with a punch from his back to set up the triangle sub. Bloggers, columnists and fans alike have contended that Sonnen got careless or lazy, and Silva got lucky, but let’s give Silva his proper due. It is clear that he hit the challenger so hard that Sonnen was at least a tad bit off. He started covering up, flinching, and looked dizzy and desperate not to get hit with another one of those shots. With his focus turned elsewhere, the Spider had finally found the sliver of time needed to submit his prey. It took about 23 minutes and the champ being on the receiving end of about 300 blows, but sat back like Kasparov, eventually figured his opponent out, and before his opponent even knew he was in trouble — BOOM! — checkmate.
Silva also hurt Sonnen more than people realize in the fourth with a standing elbow that dropped him. In fact, if A.S. hadn’t of gone for a mount and stood back up instead, I thought he had an excellent chance to try and finish the challenger. He also hurt Sonnen again with a short elbow from beneath that opened up a nasty gash later in the fourth round. After finally getting a taste of the Spider’s power, it appears Sonnen was both impaired and tentative enough to allow the Middleweight king to pull off the miracle triangle. Sonnen even described the moment as a “blur” in the post-fight press conference. Again, let’s give credit where credit is deserved. Chael Sonnen might be the toughest, most motivated title challenger this sport has ever seen, and Silva took a god damn beatdown from him, but…Silva won that fight. Sonnen fought off submissions all night long, but eventually the champ’s will and skill proved to be too much.
17. Speaking of Sonnen’s toughness, did he ever think that out of all the possible things Silva could prove to be that he’d prove to be as tough as him? On the flip side, did Silva ever think that Sonnen would be able to win the stand-up war? That Sonnen’s punches would actually sting? Stuff like this is why this is the most amazing sport in the world. Just when you think you have the whole MMA landscape pegged, it flips you on your head.
18. What happened to Silva in the first has me confused. I have a number of theories, and none are that he suddenly got old. He was dancing around like Flash Gordon just this April and made Forrest Griffin look silly with his headwork and footwork a year ago. My first theory is that Silva just didn’t respect Sonnen’s power and got caught. He might have even been taunting the challenger to test his chin, which he’s done in the past. Luckily, he has a good chin, because I think Sonnen’s hands have come further along then we give him credit for. Guys named Franklin, Griffin and Henderson couldn’t stand with Silva like that. My second theory is that the combination of him worrying about his ribs, which were broken, and the takedowns caused him to have his hands down. My third theory is that everybody respects Silva so much that they let him have that “feeling out” period instead of coming right at him, but Sonnen went kamikaze and disrupted the Spider’s whole method. It was a brilliant game plan that took balls, courage and phenomenal wrestling, and MMA’s “Most Interesting Man” executed the strategy beautifully. I think a fourth theory, a combination of the above three, is what makes the most sense.
19. Usually I think fight shirts are douchey. But Clay Guida’s are always super cool. Last fight, he wore a headbanger-inspired raglan. This time around, he came out wearing a Grateful Dead-inspired fighter shirt (pictured below). How can you not love that guy?
20. I also think we’ve uncovered the secret behind Guida’s energy. After the first round he had to rip a massive burp because of, rumor has it, too much Red Bull. I don’t think that is the kind of guy who really needs any caffeine before a fight. Or ever, actually.
21. Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida. Dana, Joe Silva, sign that fight. The fans will absolutely go apesh** if you do. It would be an absolute war.
22. Joe Rogan needs to calm down a little bit, have more poise and stop being such a cheerleader during this big, shocking main events. Just like how he oversold the trouble Lyoto Machida was in the first fight against Shogun Rua, he really did Anderson Silva a disservice last night. There was one time he even had to correct himself. The fight was never close to being stopped on Silva’s behalf. Both Silva and referee Josh Rosenthal were in complete control at all times. Was Silva getting his ass absolutely handed to him for much of the fight? Yes, but I think those punches caught him off guard more than they really hurt him (although that first one could have left him fuzzy, but I doubt it). Also, to suggest that Silva would lose his confidence during that first round was asinine. This is the best fighter in the world, dude! To suggest that he was frustrated made sense, but he never even showed frustration (or that he was seriously hurt or even badly winded). He came out at the start of every round like an assassin, trying to take Sonnen out on his feet. Once things went to the mat, he stayed calm, protected himself, and once he couldn’t force a stand-up he looked for elbows, punches and submission openings. It took him a while to get this going because, honestly, it took him about 2-3 rounds to start figuring Sonnen out, but figure him out he did.
The only time Silva indicated that he was ever badly hurt was when he was holding his ribs after round one. The fight was never close to being stopped on his behalf. I know both Joe and Mike Goldberg were as shocked as the rest of us that Silva is indeed not invincible, but it is their job to be more poised than anybody else watching the fight. To let us know what is really happening. Hell, I could go to a local sports bar and recruit a half-dozen guys who could get on TV and scream and get excited like that. Try watching the fight again with the sound off and even though things still look very bad for the Spider, you’ll never feel like he is completely out of the fight or as if it is about to be stopped.
23. The U-S-A, U-S-A chant is retarded. This is not the Olympics. Anderson Silva is not Drago or the Iron Shiek or, better yet, a terrorist. I’m all for having love and respect for our country, but solely rooting for a guy just because of the country he is from in such a global sport is retarded. Also, why do we never here this chant during GSP’s or Fedor’s fights? I’ve honestly always felt that chant was racially motivated, so I’m not a fan of it at all.
24. I loved that James Toney was in the crowd so he could see first hand why MMA is the greatest combat sport in the world. Boxing could never put together a card like that. I grew up loving boxing, but the sport is dead. Don King should be serving multiple life terms for mass genocide. Another thing about Toney, his interview was pretty much incomprehensible. Mush. Mouth. I think the “lights” are starting to go “out” in his brain. I can guarantee that Couture vs. Toney won’t be another Mercer vs. Sylvia.
25. Silva vs. Sonnen II: The Rematch. Money talks, and because that I don’t think Dana will walk. There was that joke viral video campaign heading into UFC 117 about Sonnen being the World’s most interesting man. Well, this rematch would be the MMA world’ most interesting fight. Word is that this PPV did around a million buys. That absolutely annihilated other Silva PPVs and approaches good GSP-Lesnar numbers. I’m a Silva fan, but he doesn’t sell fights. With Sonnen, he doesn’t need to. Dana just found his Rumble in the Jungle, except Silva has Ali’s skills and a young Foreman’s mute button, while Sonnen talks like Cassius and has the tools to punish the champ like George did. Hell, even though it wasn’t intentional Silva rope-a-doped Sonnen last night.
This is the UFC’s shot to put on an epic fight that’ll be hyped up on Sports Center like nothing the MMA world has ever seen. Have it in Brazil. The Riot in Rio. The Spider versus the arch nemesis who’s been hunting him down for years — Chael “The Exterminator” Sonnen. Sonnen will want his title shot, the money and an opportunity to stretch his 15 minutes of fame into something permanent. Silva will want redemption and to prove that he is without a doubt the better man. The card would probably shatter all UFC PPV buy records. Most importantly, if Silva let’s those ribs heal, works on his takedown defense and gets less cocky about his striking, I don’t think there is anyway he loses. Silva defeating Sonnen for a second time would set up a GSP superfight nicely.
Forget Vitor Belfort. Who knows what he has left in the tank, or if he can even fight at 185. What the fans want is Silva vs. Sonnen II: The Riot in Rio. The Spider vs. The Exterminator. If Sonnen repeats last night’s formula and actually manages to finish Silva (easier said than done, but obviously possible), you get a rubber match. If Silva takes him out once again, he cements his legacy as the greatest middleweight who ever lived and the fans get what they really want — a GSP vs. Silva superfight.
Original Story:
http://fansided.com/2010/08/08/25-thi...
