Bleacher Report - UFC 162

UFC 162 Chris Weidman: Rushed Potential and the Importance of Experience

Jack Slack — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:07:15 -0400

Chris Weidman is as good a prospect as we have ever seen in MMA and has shown numerous traits which are not commonplace in fighters with three or four times as many fights on their record.

The problem with Weidman's upcoming title fight with Anderson Silva is that while Weidman is an interesting matchup for the great middleweight champion on paper, this bout at this particular time requires us to suspend our knowledge of his record of just nine fights.

Make no mistake, Weidman's potential is very real, but with so few fights his development has been rushed in order to give Anderson Silva a new opponent.

My intention today is not to perform a technical analysis but rather to talk about the factors which cannot be explained in terms of science. Chris Weidman is technically great but it is the experience of a fighter, his emotional maturity, ability to remain stoic or even excel under fire and discipline against high-level opponents of all skill sets which dictate how well that fighter can use his technique.

The Cain Velasquez Comparison

There are plenty of examples of fighters in boxing, kickboxing and MMA picking up titles with just as few fights and undefeated records, but lack of experience truly is an enormous disadvantage to fighters at the highest level. Cain Velasquez, for instance, had less than 10 bouts on his record when he defeated Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Title. It seems a good comparison too because Cain was a wrestler who learned to strike as well as the majority of heavyweights just as Weidman is a wrestler/grappler with a better than average striking game.

There are, however, significant differences between Velasquez's feat and what Chris Weidman is being tasked with. Firstly, Velasquez was a heavyweight and clearly a world-class talent from early on—there isn't a lot of that out there over 230 pounds. Even the UFC heavyweight roster is padded with professional fighters who would look very pedestrian at any other weight class.

The middleweight division is nowhere near as short on talent as heavyweight, but at this point the need for a new opponent for Anderson Silva is desperate. Many of the young prospects have failed to get past fighters who have already had their shot at Silva and pretty much been relegated to journeyman status.

All the exciting prospects—Alan Belcher, Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, Hector Lombard and Rousimar Palhares—have either beaten each other or fallen to men who have already been destroyed by Silva. Weidman's lay-off due to injury seems to have raised his ranking the same way that Floyd Mayweather's inactivity worked to.

Equally, Cain Velasquez's lack of experience did catch up with him when he met Junior dos Santos for the first time. Dos Santos may have had only a few more fights than Velasquez, but they were against stiffer, better-rounded competition. Velasquez, considering himself to be a well-rounded fighter—a trait he seems to share with Weidman—was far too keen to strike with Dos Santos and abandoned his takedown attempts after just one failed single-leg.

In the rematch you will notice that Velasquez felt no obligation to start on the feet then work for the takedown after striking with Dos Santos for a while. He felt no scruples about looking silly as he dived on a few missed single legs. Soon Dos Santos tired and was easy to both grab a hold of and hit as he tried to defend his hips and legs.

This isn't a deep technical analysis, and the strategy which Cain employed against Junior is not the ideal one for Anderson Silva, so I shall leave it there, but the Velasquez who was flustered into trying to go even with Cigano on the feet and attempted to jab across himself to catch Dos Santos—giving Dos Santos his cross counter—and the Velasquez who came out and mauled Antonio Silva and Dos Santos in his next two fights were very different people.

Anderson Silva: A Case Study in Fight Experience

Fighting rounded opponents, getting beaten up and being made to look silly will do a great deal for a fighter by removing the great fear of experiencing these things and the panic that they produce. There is a world of difference between sparring with elite training partners and fighting experienced, elite fighters in front of enormous crowds on event night.

Chris Weidman, just like Velasquez, has impressed myself and others with his striking on the way to his title shot. This could ultimately come back to hurt him just as Velasquez's did. Weidman and Velasquez are intelligent and competent—when you consider them as wrestlers—for them to stand with men like Dos Santos and Anderson Silva without constantly threatening the takedown is just silly.

A final point to note on why Cain Velasquez's inexperience didn't prevent him from winning a title is that he was fighting Brock Lesnar. Lesnar was scary and great at what he did, but he was even less experienced under fire than Velasquez and had been deliberately steered clear of dangerous strikers for much of his career—barely scraping by the largely unproven Shane Carwin.

Anderson Silva, on the other hand, is a man who has been pressed against the fence, thrown to the floor, hit with hard punches and submitted. Silva is the best fighter around right now but he wasn't always so. Silva's resurgence after a hit-and-miss early career and serious consideration of retirement is one of the reasons that he is such an amazing character, but also one of the reasons why he can fight with confidence even when facing adversity and the reason that he so rarely shows complacency. He has defended a title more times in the UFC than anyone, and he isn't unaccustomed to crowds or any particular skill set in his opponents.

More importantly, Silva is not scared to make mistakes or fight boring. Against Demian Maia and Patrick Cote, Silva was more than happy to hang back rather than rush either man as they attempted to draw him in. Think how many fighters would have run in and could have been caught by Cote (a few) or dragged to the ground and submitted by Maia (almost anyone). That is the major difference experience makes—the ability to stick to a game plan and to do so absolutely ruthlessly even if it isn't entertaining and the ability to recognize one's weaknesses.

Silva could have run in and might have knocked out either man, but he recognizes that brawling isn't his strong suit, neither is chasing. Silva's A game is countering and everything he does is built around making his opponent lunge at him. Silva at his best is about making an opponent run onto his punch, not chasing an opponent as he did in his early career—often running into takedowns.

The Real Questions

Weidman at his best is about grappling—what makes him a great prospect for the future is that he can do everything else with enough confidence to force the fight to where he wants it or pick up easy points on the feet while he tries. His work to stand Mark Munoz up with high kicks before shooting in low was simply sublime. As was his knockout of Uriah Hall as he herded his opponent into a hard left hook as Hall kept his hands low for fear of being taken down again.

What will Weidman do against Silva's antics? Does he have the maturity to ignore the dancing and to move Silva towards the fence with pressure? Will he realize that feints and level changes are the nemesis of the counter striker who fights on a hair trigger? Or will he simply lose confidence and swing wild? Most importantly, does he care about looking stupid when he inevitably fails with a takedown attempt, or will he go right back to grinding on Silva—going for legs and coming in behind punches when Silva starts to sprawl?

Anderson Silva is beatable, and Chris Weidman has every skill—on paper—necessary to do it. But if Silva turns up in fighting shape (and he always does) Weidman is not going to have success on every shot or strike. He is probably going to get hit hard and have some attempts stuffed and stifled.

How Weidman reacts to this when so many of his nine opponents have simply laid down under his tenacious assault will be crucial to his chances of wrestling the title away from the Brazilian. Demian Maia and Mark Munoz are a far cry from Anderson Silva in the areas in which the champion will test Weidman.

I will watch this fight with great interest as I believe that Weidman can be a force in his division, but I cannot help but feel that his development is being sacrificed in favour of finding an opponent who people will actually get excited about seeing Silva fight. Weidman should be made to at least beat Yushin Okami or Vitor Belfort before meeting Silva—at least a step up in relevance from Maia and Munoz. Ideally this fight would happen in a year when Weidman has beaten some solid contenders, but it seems that, at middleweight, every fight involving a prospect ends in the death of an exciting potential title match.

Later this week I will be showing you why I am so looking forward to Chris Weidman's development after this bout, win or lose. We will be taking a look at the striking, grappling and hybrid game of Weidman and I will also, of course, be looking at some of Anderson Silva's finest techniques and quirks.

Pick up Jack's ebooks Advanced Striking and Elementary Striking at his blog, Fights Gone By.

Jack can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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UFC 162: Cub Swanson Looking to Keep Momentum Rolling Against Dennis Siver

Duane Finley — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:39:25 -0400

Cub Swanson is a man on a mission.

After running the table in 2012 and picking up three consecutive victories, the resurgent featherweight entered 2013 looking to shift his drive to a title shot into high gear. Swanson was successful on the first step of his quest to become a contender in the new year when he defeated Dustin Poirier in the co-main event of UFC on Fuel TV 7 in London, England.

The 29-year-old Palm Springs native was originally slated to face Dennis Siver in the bout, but the German-born striker was forced to withdraw due to injury. With Siver on the sidelines, the talented young American Top Team product stepped up to the plate, and after a three-round back-and-forth, Swanson emerged victorious on the judge's score cards.

The victory in England pushed Swanson further into the crowded pack of contenders in the 145-pound division, and he will be looking to take another step toward title contention when he steps back into action at UFC 162.

In a fitting turn of fate, the Jackson's MMA-trained fighter will get the fight he was preparing for back in February as "Killer Cub" will square off with Siver on July 3.

With the divisional race heating up, Swanson understands how much is on the line at UFC 162, and he intends to bring the fight directly to Siver.

"I always love this point," Swanson told Bleacher Report. "I'm in shape and all my coaches agree on the game plan and my motivation for the fight. I'm very comfortable. I know he's tough as hell but I'm going to try to knock his teeth in."

"I know he's going to be strong. He's a muscular guy and I know he's going to try to take me down. He's going to try to mix it up and he has some fancy stuff, but I've been working everywhere. I'm trying to fall back in love with my jiu-jitsu. I've been getting the gi back on and really getting back into that aspect of my game. My takedown defense is rock-solid right now. My striking is always evolving and I'm trying to always be better. I'm never satisfied with where I'm at and I work hard to keep my skills moving forward."

The bout between Swanson and Siver comes at a crucial and chaotic time for the featherweight division. While champion Jose Aldo was originally slated to face surging lightweight contender-turned-145-pound-title challenger Anthony Pettis, an injury to "Showtime" forced the Duke Roufus-trained fighter out of the bout.

With Pettis out, the UFC tapped Chan Sung Jung to step in against the Brazilian phenom. The "Korean Zombie" was slated to face Ricardo Lamas at UFC 162, but the shake-up ultimately forced him off the card entirely and further clouded the title picture in the 145-pound division.

"With Pettis' last win and beating Cowboy—that's impressive," Swanson answered when asked about the divisional shake-up. "Cowboy is my teammate, and I believe he had an off night, but that win was still impressive. He's fought top guys and I really can't say anything about him. Yeah, it sucks that he drops down and gets a title shot right away, but I can see how it happened. But the Korean Zombie I just don't see it. I don't think the level of competition he's faced has been on the level of what [Ricardo] Lamas or I have faced. It's kind of baffling. I just don't think he deserves it."

"The division is definitely crazy right now and I'm ready to take whatever fight is going to get me to the top. I'm confident and whatever fight they are going to give me I'm ready for. Right now, that fight is against Siver. He's a tough dude and we are both right there in the rankings at No. 5 and No. 6. That's the fight I'm concentrating on right now and I'm ready to go."

While his days competing in the WEC brought mixed results, Swanson has been a wrecking ball under the UFC banner. The proud Southern Californian has racked up four consecutive victories with three coming via devastating finish. His performances inside the Octagon have lead to an elevated profile in the sport, and because of his rise to contention, his inspiring backstory has come to light.

Before Swanson was handling business inside the cage, he battled through a rough period in his life. A series of bad decisions landed the heavy-handed featherweight in the juvenile detention program, and it was a negative experience he's turned into a positive by mentoring local youths at the same facility he was incarcerated in.

From Bleacher Report's own The Fighting Life to Fuel TV's The Ultimate Insider, Swanson's story has now been shared with a large audience. And while the sudden attention has created some friction in his life, Swanson can see the inspiration his story has brought to those who need it the most.

"I've always thought everything about me was kind of normal," Swanson said. "I know everybody goes through hard things in their lives, and I can't say I've had things super-hard because I know there are a lot of people who have gone through much worse. But I've definitely had an interesting life. The only reason I'm really enjoying my story getting out there is because I've seen how inspiring it has been for kids in my area that are getting into trouble and don't really feel like they can become something.

"It's been hard for my family as well because these stories have shed light on some things that have never really been talked about. It's been a little hard for me sometimes but I think it's worth it. For kids who come from where I come from or are in similar situations like I had growing up, it is proof that you can overcome things. You play the cards you are dealt. You can't choose who your family is going to be or the situation you are born into, but you can choose who you are going to be and what you turn out to be."

"It's just like a loss in a fight. You hit a rough patch and it doesn't define who you are. You make a mistake in life and that doesn't mean you are a bad person. You just learn from it and try to do better. If you don't, that shows who you are. If you are not prepared to always be better, that not something to be proud of. If you learn and always try to be better, then you can't be mad about that."

With past struggles behind him, Swanson now focuses on the next obstacle on his path to a title shot. He knows the dangers Siver brings to the cage, but the crafty veteran has a versatile arsenal of his own. Both fighters have the ability to end things in brutal fashion, and Swanson is looking forward to the scrap.

"I have to watch out for him getting comfortable and letting him play his game," Swanson added. "But I'm not going to do that because that is what I do. I play my game. I focus on me. I know what to look out for from him, but I'm going to fight my fight because he's stepping into my cage. That is the bottom line. I'm going to try to knock his teeth in."

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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Frankie Edgar: 7 Title Fights In a Row and He's Hungry For More

Damon Martin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:17:08 -0400

For the first time in more than three years and seven fights, Frankie Edgar will enter the UFC Octagon without a title belt on the line.

He will look to get back into the title race at UFC 162 when he faces Charles Oliveira in the co-main event that night. While Edgar has been fighting for UFC gold for years, Oliveira has never quite reached that same peak.

As dangerous of a fighter as he may be, Oliveira doesn't carry the same kind of top 10 name value that Edgar could have potentially faced. The reality is Edgar has never been a fighter who handpicks his opponents.

"I never picked fights," Edgar said in a recent interview with The Ultimate Show. "I'm never going to start to pick fights. If they ask me to fight someone, I'll say yes."

Edgar hopes that defeating Oliveira at UFC 162 in such a high-profile bout will insert his name into the title race again for a future shot at the featherweight strap. The New Jersey native knows that more goes into getting a crack at the belt than just winning, and he's prepared to do whatever it takes to get the gold around his waist again.

"I think one or two (fights away from a title shot)," Edgar stated. "Let's be real, it's not always the No. 1 contenders who get the title shots. It's who they invest money in, and whose kind of a known name. In the lighter weights just being that I fought seven title fights in a row, I think I'm that guy."

In the interview, Edgar also addressed the reality of fighting for a win after three straight losses, as well as preparing for a three-round bout for the first time in more than three years.

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UFC 162 Video Preview: Dan Henderson Offers His Take on Silva vs. Weidman

Trent Reinsmith — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:04:51 -0400

UFC 161 is becoming more distant by the day. If you look into the not-too-distant future, you’ll see that UFC 162 is just over the horizon and getting closer by the second.

UFC 162 will take place on July 6. The event features a pretty deep card, especially in the featherweight division. Three of the top 10 fighters in that weight class will be competing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on that night.

However, the featherweights will not be the main attraction on that Saturday night. No, that honor goes to the middleweights. There will be four 185-pound contests on the fight card.

On the preliminary portion of the card, Chris Leben and Andrew Craig will look to rebound from losses, while Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch will hope to stay in the top 10 of the division with a win.

Moving on to the main card, Strikeforce imports Tim Kennedy and Roger Gracie will look to show the UFC bosses that they belong with the promotion.

The other middleweight bout on the card is the one most fans, fighters and MMA pundits will be endlessly analyzing from now until the cage door locks behind the combatants. Those combatants will be middleweight champion Anderson Silva and the No. 1 contender in the division, Chris Weidman.

Many believe that Weidman, a strong wrestler with a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has the skills to give the longstanding champion fits.

One person that doesn’t see things that way is the vanquished opponent of Silva, Dan Henderson. Rick J. Lee recently caught up with the former Pride and Strikeforce champion to get his take on the bout.

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Anderson Silva: 'Every Fighter Commits Mistakes,' Even Chris Weidman

Damon Martin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:01:32 -0400

It's hard to imagine the greatest fighter in UFC history entering a fight as an underdog, but that almost seems to be what is happening with Anderson Silva approaching his next bout against Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

For months, Weidman has pounded the drum that he is the fighter best suited to finally snatch Silva's middleweight belt away from him after 10 consecutive title defenses and 16 straight victories inside the Octagon.

Add to that the growing list of fighters, including UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who believe that Weidman is a stylistic nightmare for the long reigning champion and will be the first fighter to hand Silva a loss in over seven years.

Some others who are closest to the champion disagree with that assessment.

"Once the Octagon door closes and you've got Anderson Silva standing across the ring from you, it's not the same game anymore," Silva's manager Ed Soares recently said in a pre-fight interview ahead of UFC 162.

Outside of his fights against Chael Sonnen, Silva has only managed to lose a few minutes (statistically) of any fight he's been involved in since he came to the UFC in 2006. It's the Sonnen fights, however, that have many people convinced that Weidman is the kryptonite to Silva's Superman.

Sonnen wrestled Silva to the mat repeatedly during their first fight, punishing the champion with ground-and-pound strikes for the better part of 20 minutes. Sonnen eventually fell in their first fight to a late triangle choke submission courtesy of the champion.

In their rematch, Sonnen again took Silva down at will during the first round, even mounting the Brazilian in a dominant position before the horn sounded to stop the action. Silva did eventually stop the takedown in the second round before finishing Sonnen with strikes.

Weidman is a two-time Division I All-American wrestler, who trains under famed jiu-jitsu instructors like Renzo Gracie, Matt Serra and John Danaher at his home camp in New York. His style appears to be the anti-Anderson Silva method, taking fights to the ground and finishing his opponents on the mat.

"Weidman got good jiu-jitsu and great wrestling," Silva said in the interview. "But he needs to work with his stand-up. Wrestling is not my best strength, and I need to work on my wrestling."

The old days of matching up a pure striker with a pure grappler in MMA are long gone, but that doesn't mean the roots of those elements still can't play a part in a major fight like the one between Silva and Weidman.

It's hard to ignore, however, that despite Silva's apparent lack in wrestling, he's beaten several top grapplers in his career like Demian Maia and Thales Leites as well as highly regarded wrestlers such as Dan Henderson.

The scariest thing about Silva in the cage is the fact that he doesn't need much of an opening to exploit a fighter's mistake and unleash hell on them immediately. One punch, one kick or one knee is all Silva usually needs to put an opponent away, and rarely do they come back asking for seconds.

"Every fighter commits mistakes," Silva said. "I just have to look for the right opportunity to capitalize on his mistakes."

Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.

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UFC 162: Weidman vs. Silva Trailer, Various Fighters Hype up Weidman

John Heinis — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:47:00 -0400

The UFC is taking a three-week hiatus until their next event, UFC 162, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to start promoting the main event between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman right now.

The new 30-second trailer is about Weidman's rise from hot prospect to top contender, with various UFC fighters talking about how impressed they've been with "The All-American."

The video opens with a caption that reads "THE PERFECT FIGHTER," as former two-time lightweight challenger Gray Maynard gives his opinion on the fellow collegiate All-American wrestler.

"He's hungry, confident ... the kid's a beast," Maynard said.

"THE PERFECT RECORD," the next caption says, before UFC color commentator Joe Rogan makes a bold claim about the 29-year-old Long Island native.

"He is the perfect man to defeat Anderson Silva," Rogan says definitively.

Weidman enters the middleweight title bout with a 9-0 professional mixed martial arts record, with key wins over fellow contender Mark Munoz and former middleweight title challenger Demian Maia.

Next up, friend/occasional training partner, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre gives Weidman the biggest endorsement to date.

"I believe Chris Weidman will be the next middleweight champion," St-Pierre states.

After a few brief highlights for both Weidman and Silva are shown, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans admits that despite the admiration he has for "The Spider," Weidman may have his number.

"You know, Anderson Silva is my favorite fighter to watch ... but I don't know," Evans proclaims with a smile.

Silva enters the match up with about as much momentum as a fighter could ask for, with a perfect 16-0 record inside the Octagon and a UFC middleweight record of 10 successful title defenses in a row.

Nevertheless, it appears that Weidman has given at least a few colleagues the notion that Silva's reign will be coming to an end very soon.

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

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UFC 161 Results: Questions Heading into UFC 162 Silva vs. Weidman Fight Card

Trent Reinsmith — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 00:00:03 -0400

UFC 161 has wrapped up from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Full results for the fight card are below:

Rashad Evans defeats Dan Henderson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Stipe Miocic defeats Roy Nelson (30-27 x 3)

Ryan Jimmo defeats Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Alexis Davis defeats Rosi Sexton via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-28)

Shawn Jordan defeats Pat Barry via TKO at 0:59 of Round 1

Jake Shields defeats Tyron Woodley via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

James Krause defeats Sam Stout via submission at 4:47 of Round 3

Sean Pierson defeats Kenny Robertson via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Roland Delorme defeats Edwin Figueroa via unanimous decision (29-28)

Mitch Clarke defeats John Maguire via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)

Yves Jabouin defeats Dustin Pague via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Following UFC 161 the promotion will take some time off and reconvene in Las Vegas on July 6 for UFC 162, a stacked event that will feature a number of the top featherweights competing as well as a middleweight title bout between champion Anderson Silva and top-ranked Chris Weidman.

What follows are some of the questions we have heading into the event.

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Will Chris Weidman Face Fan Backlash If He Loses to Anderson Silva?

Dale De Souza — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:19:22 -0400

Chris Weidman finally got the opportunity he has worked hard for, and now, he will face UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 162 this July. the undefeated Weidman looks to continue his streak and dethrone Silva in what will serve as the 11th middleweight title defense for Silva.

As usual, the MMA world stands split on this fight. How so? Half of the MMA world sees Silva recording an 11th successful title defense, while the other half sees Weidman's heavy hands, vicious elbows and relentless ground game paying dividends towards the potential upset of the year.

With an understandable amount of pressure on the undefeated Weidman, will he face fan backlash if he should fall to the champ? This remains a hot-button question, and while every title challenger might face criticism for their failed bids at the big one, Weidman should not face any fan backlash if his first pro loss comes against the best middleweight in the world.

First off, Weidman comes off of an injury that halted a UFC 155 bout with Tim Boetsch. Hence, this title bid will mark Weidman's first fight since UFC on Fuel TV 4, when he finished Mark Munoz. While fans of the young prospect will obviously hope Weidman shows no signs of cage rust, none can rule out that possibility before the cage door closes.

Secondly, facing the champion can do strange things to undefeated challengers. Sometimes, they can motivate the challenger, but at other times, the challenger's title shot could prove to be a case of "too much, too soon." Weidman's shot came not only because of how impressively he defeated Munoz, but because the former contenders fell in bouts with potential title-eliminator implications. But is he really ready?

Finally, remember who Weidman faces at UFC 162. Silva stands across the cage from credible contenders, and he always finds a way to make them look like they don't even belong in the upper echelon. If he can do the same to Weidman, that should not serve as a knock on Weidman.

Rather, it should remind us that, like it or not, "The Spider" is still that good, even for a fighter nearing the age when most men call it a career. Give Weidman the chance, however, and he could prove himself as better than the world's best fighter this July.

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