Chris Weidman has the chance to make history this weekend at UFC 162.
The middleweight contender takes on UFC middleweight champion and pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva in the main of event of UFC 162, and with a victory over “The Spider,”
Weidman would become the first man other than Silva to hold the UFC’s 185-pound strap since 2006, when Rich Franklin was still the champion.
Weidman no doubt has an uphill climb, but this is a fight that he can win.
The 29-year-old was a two-time All-American at Hofstra University and he’s transferred his wrestling skills well over into MMA. He’s steamrolled nine straight opponents — including five in the UFC (Mark Munoz, Demian Maia, Tom Lawlor, Jesse Bongfeldt, and Alessio Sakara, all with ease) — en route to his title fight against Silva, by far the biggest test of the young Weidman’s career.
The 38-year-old Silva is generally regarded as the best fighter to ever fight in the eight-sided cage, as he’s won a UFC record 16 straight fights and has made 10 defences of his title since first winning it seven years ago, which is amazing considering the level of opposition he’s been facing. Never before has a fighter in the Octagon ever made a run like Silva has. And unlike the other man in contention for the “GOAT” award, Fedor Emelianenko, Silva hasn’t shown his age at all, as he’s still never been knocked out despite having fought the best of the best at 185 pounds, and even some good fighters at 205 pounds in the UFC.
But even despite Silva’s impressive resume, there are still a lot of smart people picking Weidman to win the title this Saturday night.
They are saying that Weidman has the wrestling chops that can give Silva fits, as Chael Sonnen showed in two great fights against Silva that the blueprint to defeating “The Spider” is to take him down to the ground and beat him up there. This is because if you stand with Anderson Silva – even for a split second, as Vitor Belfort can attest to – you’re going to get knocked out.
Silva is best striker in mixed martial arts today, and in the history of the sport. He has a ridiculous 17 knockdowns in the UFC, which is three more than the next guy on the list, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, and he also holds the highest striking accuracy percentage in UFC history, as he connects with opponents at an amazing 67.8% rate. This rate, by the way, is 10% higher than his teammate Lyoto Machida, who is often regarded as the best striker at light heavyweight.
If Weidman stands with Silva for any extended period of time, he will get knocked out. But if he does get the fight to the mat, he will certainly make things interesting, and he’ll likely put Silva in some very bad spots on the ground, possibly being able to even threaten with a few deep submission attempts in the fight’s early goings.
But the championship rounds are where Silva shines, and Weidman has never fought past the third round in his entire career. So if the fight makes it to the fourth and fifth rounds, Silva is definitely going to have a considerable edge. And don’t forget, Silva was on his way to losing to Sonnen when he submitted him with less than two minutes left in the fifth round, so you can never count this man out. He isn’t a champion for nothing, after all.
I believe that Weidman is going to dominate the fight’s early goings with his heavy top game, but he won’t submit Silva and he’ll likely tire out after a few rounds trying to do so. And then, when Silva gets the chance to stand and move around the ring, he’ll hit Weidman harder than he ever has been hit in his whole life and retain his UFC middleweight championship in devastating, triumphant fashion, in one of the best fights of the year.
And then, hopefully, he’ll move on to a super fight with Jon Jones.
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UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman is due to take place on July 6, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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