UFC 162: Anderson Silva Needed to Lose to Regain Motivation

Mind…blown.

That was the common response surrounding Chris Weidman’s stunning knockout of former champion Anderson Silva on Saturday night at UFC 162 in Las Vegas.

The loss signified an end to the longest defense of any UFC belt (10 title defenses) as well as Silva’s UFC record for most consecutive wins (16). As far as losses in UFC history go, this one was in the top three of most surprising. I still give the number one slot to Matt Serra’s knockout of Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69 back in 2007.

People aren’t talking about what Weidman did in the fight, they are talking about how Silva lost it—and there is a big difference. When I say Silva lost it, I mean the guy really lost it. We’ve seen him act careless and arrogant inside the Octagon, but he was flat out dangerously stupid against Weidman and it backfired.

Taunting is part of the fight game. We’ve seen the Diaz brothers (Nate and Nick) use their taunting antics time and time again, but they don’t get reckless in the same way Silva does. For a fighter who respects martial arts as much as Silva does, it’s surprising he shows disrespect for his opponents inside the Octagon the way he has over the last few years.

There is a reason for this though: he’s bored.

Leading up to the Weidman fight Silva spent most of his time fielding questions about a potential “super fight” between him and St. Pierre or perhaps Jon Jones. The media, in general, was looking past Weidman and so was Silva.

Silva has always been able to flip a switch and win a fight at any given time. It looked like he was getting ready to flip that switch again after showboating for nearly six-and-a-half minutes, but Weidman knocked his lights out instead.

Interestingly enough I don’t think Silva’s loss did much to detour thoughts about his greatness. I’m inclined to think that most believe when he fights Weidman in their rematch (which will undoubtedly take place immediately), he will once again be a heavy favorite. This loss is going to be exactly what Silva needed at this stage of his career.

Jon Jones is clearly the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC now, but imagine what a mad and determined Silva is going to look like we he comes back for revenge against Weidman. Silva hasn’t had a legitimate loss in nearly a decade when he got heel hooked against Ryo Chonan at a Pride event. Sure, Silva technically lost a fight to Yushin Okami in 2006 but it was due to an illegal upkick.

I’m somebody who absolutely hates it when a fighter pulls the antics that Silva portrayed on Saturday night. It’s something that gets me fired up and turns me against them. Seeing Weidman knockout Silva was very satisfying, but it left me with more questions than answers even as I write this today.

What if Silva came into the fight determined? Does the knockout prove anything for Weidman? Why are people saying the fight was fixed?

Perhaps the last question there is the most perplexing of them all. Why the heck are there fans saying the fight was fixed? If Silva wanted to pass off his belt to somebody else and get out of the fight game, wouldn’t he (and the UFC) figure out a better way to do it than risking brain damage? How about staging a submission loss to somebody who’s known for his wrestling?

Conspiracy theorists are really grasping at straws nowadays.

Now we await Silva’s decision on what to do next. Dana White and Weidman are on board for Silva vs. Weidman II, but Silva is going to take a couple of months off before announcing his next move. My guess is that we’ll see the rematch headlining the first UFC pay-per-view of 2014.

Joe Chacon is a MMA contributor for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.