UFC 168: Silva has legacy on mind vs. Weidman
The way Anderson Silva plays it off, you wouldn't know Saturday night's UFC 168 in Las Vegas is one of the biggest events in mixed martial arts' two-decade history.
The former longtime UFC middleweight champion tops a double bill of title fight rematches -- Silva meets the man who took his title in a memorable upset, Chris Weidman, and women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defends against nemesis Miesha Tate. But Silva, the Palos Verdes, Calif. resident by way of Brazil, is trying to play it off as just another night at the matches.
"It's just a fight," said Silva (33-5). "It's normal."
Or is it? The undefeated Weidman (10-0) stunned the combat sports world with his July 6 knockout victory over Silva. Weidman cold-cocked a preening Silva with a brutal left hand to the jaw in the second round of their bout, just seconds after Silva had openly mocked the power of his punches.
That ended the longest title reign in UFC history (six years, nine months) and the longest UFC win streak (16).
Weidman, a former NCAA wrestling standout at Hofstra, has been asked whether he expects Silva, the most lethal and inventive striker MMA has ever seen, to drop the taunting and get down to business this time. But the level-headed Weidman said that's not his problem.
"I'm not really worried about it," the Long Islander said. "I'm expecting anything. I'm expecting him to pull guard, do handstands, I don't know, I don't really care what he's doing. ... Whether he has his hands down, hands up, that's a question for him. Either way, it doesn't really matter to me."
Nor is Silva, who remains the favorite on the betting lines over his conqueror, offering any clues. But the cryptic former champion at least conceded the fight means something to him.
"This is very important for me," Silva said. "For my family, my coach, for my legacy, this is very important."
But Weidman-Silva isn't the only reason a closed-circuit viewing area has already been set up to handle the overflow crowd and anticipated $6 million gate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The undefeated Rousey (7-0), who made a splash which transcended the sport in February by defeating Liz Carmouche in the first-ever UFC women's title fight, meets Tate in a co-headliner with plenty of buzz.
Rousey defeated Tate in March, 2012, to claim what was then called the Strikeforce title. As in all seven of her pro bouts, and all three of her amateur fights, Rousey won via first-round armbar, though the fight was competitive until the finishing sequence.
Then, in one of those chains of events that only seem to happen in MMA, the Strikeforce brand, which was owned by the UFC's parent company, was absorbed into the UFC; the UFC decided to stage its first co-ed season of the flagship reality series The Ultimate Fighter; undefeated Cat Zingano defeated Tate in June to claim both a TUF coaching slot and the next shot at Rousey's belt; but Zingano suffered a major knee injury and Tate took her place on the show.
The latter development did not sit well with Rousey, who was not informed of the switch until shooting started. Exacerbating matters, the show was edited in a manner that made Rousey look petulant, while casting Tate in a strong light.
"The experience sucked," the Glendale, Calif.-based Rousey said. "It wasn't the perception. Yeah, they needed a villain and they made me fit the role and that's fine. In hindsight it was a (expletive) experience and it came out terrible for me."
Tate (13-4), meanwhile, says that she doesn't buy into Rousey's invincible aura.
"There's a lot of weaknesses in her game," Tate said. "I think a lot of people build Ronda up to be this invincible person and there's no way she can be beaten, but I don't see it that way at all. I see a lot of holes in her game."
Which induced a roll of the eyes from Rousey.
"She goes on her interviews and says she's going to finish me in the first round, 'she has so many holes in her game, blah blah blah,' she tries to talk me down all the time," Rousey said. "She has to convince herself."
