Weidman-Silva 2 will take place on December 28th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as the main event for UFC 168. The card is co-headlined by Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, who will also be rematching after coaching against one another on the historic co-ed edition of The Ultimate Fighter.
Chris Weidman shocked the world at UFC 162 on July 6th by knocking out Anderson Silva in the second round. The rematch is expected to be one of the biggest pay-per-view draws in quite some time. The rematch will be very interesting because Weidman has the better ground game and wrestling takedowns, but now also has a knockout to his credit against Anderson Silva. It will be very interesting how Anderson fights in this rematch. Will he take a completely serious approach or go back to trying to clown his opponents and use a variety of head games to break their confidence and play his game. Silva has become legendary in mixed martial arts after his 16 fight unbeaten streak in the UFC which has included a record-setting 10 title defenses; but we have never seen him come back from losing a fight in the UFC. It will be one of his greatest challenges to date, as well as for Weidman, who actually predicted this whole scenario leading up to the first fight: he said he would defeat Anderson and then rematch him again later in the year.
"My style of fighting is very free. I like to fight happy and loose...I like to use Muhammad Ali as a reference. He fought as if he was dancing and that's what I try to do."
It's a wonderful thing as a practitioner of traditional martial arts to see a classical technique come back into vogue and be used to great effect in full contact combative sports. John Smith reintroduced the low single leg take-down which appears in dozens of Eastern martial arts forms to the world of amateur wrestling, Jon Jones is bringing back the savate style push kick or "Chassee" to the knee, and between them Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva have brought the front snap kick back into vogue. Following their use of it so masterfully we have seen a proliferation of it's use in mixed martial arts particularly. Even one dimensional grappler Rousimar Palhares landed it out of nowhere, stunning Dan Miller in the UFC. Just the other night Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim, known somewhat for having turned into a "decision fighter" since his move state side, managed to land a Lyoto Machida style jumping kick or "Tobi-Geri". The only thing that made Stun Gun's attempt less impressive was the fact that he had already attempted to land the crane kick over ten times before in the same fight.
The main difference between the front kick that Machida and Anderson threw and the Muay Thai style front kick which is much more common place in combat sports today is in the chambering of the leg. Notice how Machida and Anderson both bring their heel almost to their buttock and then use the bucking forward of their hips to throw the foot out, as opposed to the driving push kick or "teep" of traditional Muay Thai and kickboxing. That is not to say that teeps have not been used to score knockouts before. Witness the kick Kohiruimaki drives into the face of Nitta at 4:44 in this 2005 K-1 Max match. The key difference is that where the Mae-Geri Keage or Front Snap Kick whips up and under the opponent's chin like an uppercut, often cutting through the blind angle, the Muay Thai teep drives straight through the target. The teep is traditionally used to push an opponent back in hopes of him becoming more determined to push forward - walking into strikes as he does, or to push him into the ropes or corner. The snap kick is intended to cause a knockout or punish the body. Though the teep is used more routinely, it is also hard to find fighters who use the kick to it's full potential - Buakaw Por Pramuk being the most notable push kicker in common knowledge.
The front snap kick existed before Anderson and Lyoto (or Steven Seagal if you're feeling particularly gullible) stormed our living rooms with it in 2011, and had been used on the big stages of kickboxing and mma before, but never as effectively to the jaw. Semmy Schilt - the towering Dutch kickboxer - came to the 2009 K-1 Grand Prix with a front kick that he never before or since demonstrated. In three fights with three top kickboxers Schilt brutalised their bodies with snap kicks to the floating ribs and beat each fighter in under 3 minutes, making the total time he spent in the ring that night under ten minutes. In this fight with Badr Hari - the consensus best in the world at the time of the tournament final, having already KO'd Schilt earlier that year, Semmy brutalises the mid-section of Hari which had never previously been thought to be a weakness. After avoiding Hari's initial charge Schilt connects his first good front kick at 3:08, falling into the clinch. He lands it against the ropes at 3:13 and again at 3:42. Though Hari does not appear wounded, his hands drop in an attempt to defend further uses of his foe's unfamiliar weapon - this allows Schilt to land a huge left straight (I would scarcely call it a jab) that drops Hari. Hari has been down before in fights, his chin being the biggest challenge his career has faced, but it is the wince of pain and the gasps that he is seen to give while sitting up after the knockdown that show the effect of Schilt's front kick. Schilt peppers Hari with jabs, delivers another front kick, some more jabs and then a high kick - Hari's usually high guard is absent though, further indicating the efficacy of Schilt's body work with the front kick. The final kick comes in shortly after - again a front kick to the floating rib, and Hari falls swinging, and writhes in agony once he hits the deck.
The best example of the front kick in MMA that I can offer is not Anderson or Lyoto, but a Japanese lightweight named Katsunori Kikuno. For those of you unfamiliar with Kikuno's work - he is a solidly entertaining fighter and has fought some top names. Suffering a robbery loss to JZ Calvan and outstriking Eddie Alvarez - the consensus best boxer and at the time best all around fighter at lightweight in the world - for almost 10 whole minutes, forcing Alvarez to take the fight to the ground, something he is rarely seen to do. Is Kikuno a great boxer or kickboxer? Hell no. Kikuno fights (or used to fight) from what fans referred to as "Zombie stance", with his hands open, palm facing the opponent in front of him. Kikuno's entire game was the front kick for the first part of his career - and it worked against top fighters. He winded kickboxing ace Andre Dida with one before throwing him to the floor and pounding him out. he brutalised Alvarez and kept him at range with it for the almost ten minutes in their match, and he used it almost exclusively to win his DEEP lightweight title. In recent fights he has abandoned his best weapon and fought almost exclusively with his hands down by his thighs, relying on his chin and punching power, but having seen him at his best it is clear he is wasting his talent in this way. Though it's a losing effort, this is a brilliant example of how the front snap kick can throw even the best strikers off:
Kikuno throws and lands the front kick at 2:32, 2:35, 2:52, 3:16, 3:28, 3:47, 4:55, 5:00, 5:05, and 7:06. Eddie eventually catches Kikuno and changes strategy by wearing him down on the ground, but this is a career defining performance by Kikuno. Few have made Alvarez suffer so much for a win in recent years, and it was almost entirely Kikuno's front snap kick that did it. One more front kick to finish; 5:02 for the money shot.
Sometimes it's not victories that so much define champions, but how they emerge front eh ashes after a loss. How will Anderson Silva respond to his loss to Chris Weidman and do in the rematch at UFC 168? Well, it's hard to say because he hardly ever loses. He has done just fine after losses in Pride FC to Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan, but we have never seen Anderson Silva lose inside the UFC Octagon until he was knocked out by Chris Weidman.
Well, fighters definitely reveal who they are inside the cage. The cage or ring is a truth-telling instrument which reveals who a fighter is and what they're made of. For Anderson Silva, I feel it's not so much his incredible wins that showcased his character, but actually the fight where he had the toughest time in his career: against Chael Sonnen in their first fight. Anderson was down four rounds and was looking like it was over as he was getting pounded in the fifth against Sonnen. But despite the three hundred plus punches which rained on him and the adversity he was facing, Anderson Silva came back and found a way to win. That fight showed that not only does Anderson Silva have the championship skill, but the championship will and heart to take a beating but claw his way back and find a way to win.
UFC Middlewieght Champion, Anderson Silva is considered by most to be the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world. This weekend at UFC 134 in Rio, he defends his UFC title against Yushin Okami. Silva is best known for his unorthodox but still incredibly accurate and powerful striking, with highlight reel knockouts of former champions, Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin, and Forrest Griffin, to name a few.
Before Silva competed in the UFC, he fought in a smaller organization called Cage Rage. One of his opponents during that period, Tony Frykland, had the misfortune of fighting him shortly after he saw Midnight Madness 2003 selection, Ong-Bak for the first time. The UFC champion tells the story of how Tony Jaa inspired him for that fight:
Not long before my Cage Rage fight with Tony Frykland, I saw the movie Ong Bak (sic). Tony Jaa, the martial arts hero in the movie is a master at Muay Boran, an art I have always been interested in. There was one move in particular he did that blew me away. Instead of attacking with a side elbow or an over-the-top elbow, both of which are common in Muay Thai, Jaa stepped toward one of the villains and threw a lead reverse back elbow. I was so enamored with the move I went to my trainers and told them that I was going to use the strike in my next fight to knock out my opponent. Immediately they shut the idea down. 'That won’t work,' they said. 'Just forget about that elbow.' I wasn’t convinced but every time I tried to practice the move during training, the could come run over and tell me to focus on techniques that would actually work.
I still wasn’t convinced, so one night I went home and asked my wife to stand on the couch and hold out her hand. I executed a lead reverse back elbow into her palm, and she told me what I already knew — it was a very painful strike. To get in the practice I needed, I had her stand on the couch every evening after my official training — this time holding a pillow — and I would do one hundred reverse back elbows. By the time the Frykland fight came around, I felt very confident. Unfortunately, backstage I couldn’t sneak off with my wife to warm up on a pillow, so I had one of my training partners hold out a mitt so I could squeeze in a few more lead reverse back elbows. Again my trainers told me to forget that move. I figured I had no other choice but to prove them wrong, so two minutes into my fight with Frykland, I stepped toward him, threw a lead reverse back elbow at his chin, and knocked him out.
We don't see Anderson Silva lose much, but when he does, he does it with the class of a champion. His antics in the cage are one thing, but he definitely shows a tremendous amount of class, grace, and respect towards his opponent Chris Weidman, after Weidman knocked him out at UFC 162 and took the UFC middleweight belt from Silva. Look eight minutes into this clip of Anderson Silva on Brazilian TV and he shows a large amount of respect to Weidman:
I respect him so much, he has a nice background. He started training MMA and fighting professional because he had seen me fighting. His goals was to train in order to be able to fight me someday. So he did. He was very focused, his goal was to defeat me, and he finally made it.
Anderson Silva is not someone who has experienced loss much in his illustrious mixed martial arts career. But he does have a very positive attitude with regards to how he has approached his loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162. While many criticized Anderson's antics inside the cage during the fight, Silva was extremely gracious, humble, and respectful after the fight and gave Chris Weidman an immense amount of credit for his knockout victory.
The loss is something Anderson Silva has reflected upon and is confident it will be a powerful learning tool for him in the rematch with Chris Weidman at UFC 168, as well as in future fights.
The opportunity for Anderson Silva to fight Chris Weidman again six months after being defeated by the American middleweight is chance for Anderson to reinvent himself as a person and fighter. We have seen Anderson Silva be extremely dominant and blow through an entire weight class, but never seen him suffer defeat in the UFC Octagon. What sort of reinvented Anderson Silva will we see at UFC 168 on December 28th against Chris Weidman?
Anderson Silva chanted the following in his locker room with his team after suffering his first loss in the UFC against Chris Weidman at UFC 162: I come from there from far away to compete and never give up. We are not the best but capable of doing what most call impossible. To us all and the one like us are very few.
Pop star Usher is also someone who trains with UFC superstar Anderson Silva. After Anderson Silva was knocked out by Chris Weidman, lost his belt, and suffered his first defeat in the UFC, Usher sat down to counsel Anderson and tell him "You give me hope".
In times like this...There's a lesson. And I think you know the lesson. I guess the student becomes the teacher a lot of times. You're still going to be an incredible teacher but, the student of this is understand the responsibility that comes with wearing that crown. I just wanted to say to you because, you give me hope.
Hand trapping is the act of slapping, pulling or pressing one or both of an opponent's hands out of the way in order to fire a strike through the hole created. Hand trapping can be as simple as slapping someone's hand down and hurling an overhand, or can be a more complex and pressuring art form. Many forms of martial art focus largely on the many variations of hand trapping; Wing Chun and Kali being the main ones, but it exists in Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and just about any art form where free sparring is used. Many who watched the UFC match between Overeem and Lesnar will have noticed that Lesnar seemed almost helpless as Overeem stepped forwards toward him - largely due to Alistair's hand fighting. Lesnar (whose shakiness under fire is well known) had clearly been told to keep his hands up by his team and so was reluctant to fire punches, Overeem meanwhile stepped forward, covering the bigger mans hands and eliminating Lesnar's ability to punch while he stepped in to throw is infamous Uberknee. This is an advanced level of hand fighting, and one you will likely only see used by great strikers against less-than-stellar strikers, but many variations on hand trapping exist.
In this clip Japanese boxing phenomenon Hozumi Hasegawa comes out to start the 7th round and immediately drops Gerardo Martinez on the seat of his trunks. If you rewind to 0:05 it becomes clear how Hasegawa managed to drop his opponent with such a basic punch immediately on leaving his own corner. Hasegawa has fought six rounds prior to this in which he, as a southpaw, has been using his right hand to slap down, push around and annoy his opponent's leading, left hand. Immediately after slapping down his opponent's hand he has often used the path opened to throw a right handed jab straight back along his opponents arm - though it is not a damaging punch it has clearly begun to annoy Martinez as when Hasegawa does it again at 0:05 in this video, Martinez instinctively snaps his lead hand back up to cover, leaving the hole needed for the left straight which Hasegawa has already thrown in anticipation of Martinez's reaction. The result is that Martinez's lead hand flies up, exposing his chin and Hasegawa powers a fine looking left straight down the pipe, from which Martinez never recovers and goes on to be TKO'd later in the round.
Another type of handtrap is demonstrated by Fedor Emelianenko (who is going to come up again in this article) against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in their third meeting here. At 15:49 Fedor uses his lead left hand to slap Nogueira's lead left hand outwards and throw an overhand (more accurately termed a "casting punch" by sambo pracitioners) down the middle. This would normally eliminate Nogueira's ability to check the punch, but as Nogueira attempts to kick at the same time, he has the misfortune of running onto the full force of it. At 16:38 you can see what Fedor meant to do without Nogueira running on to his punch as he slaps the Brazilian's hand aside again and throws his overhand down the pipe with frightening accuracy. Nogueira's brilliant chin and heart hold him up where his boxing technique does not however, and he survives the 3 rounds in one of the best heavyweight contests in MMA history. The big hand trap to punches are repeated in slow motion at 21:15 and 21:31.
A third, more advanced form of hand trap is performed with the rear hand, then the lead hand is used to throw a power punch. Most will be familiar with George Foreman and his winning of the heavyweight boxing title for a second time at the age of 45; an interesting note is that for his comeback George hired Archie Moore "The Old Mongoose" to act as his trainer, meaning that his boxing technique and tricks were greater at the age of 45 than they had been when he was in his physical prime. At 7:12 George swings a looping right hand trap downwards, in order to slap down Cooney's lead hand and follows it with a left uppercut that connects. At 7:15 George Foreman comes out of a combination using his rear hand to smother Cooney's famous left hook preemptively, and delivers a hard jab with his left hand, following up with a right hand and a combination on the stunned Cooney, dropping him.
This same hand trap has been used to great affect in Mixed Martial Arts by the aforementioned Fedor Emelianenko and has resulted in two rapid victories for the Russian. Famed for his right hand lead, which he had used to great affect against Nogueira, Gary Goodridge and Kazuyuki Fujita, the Russian's opponents often carried their lead hand out in front of them, ready to parry the straight right. This presented Emelianenko with the opportunity to loop his right hand over their lead hand in a faked punch - turned hand trap, and follow with a hard left hook.
Against Zuluzinho the Russian executes his hand trap to left hook combination (now known around the internet as "zulu'ing") at 0:30 and it is repeated in slow motion several times at 1:00. Finally, proving how difficult this technique is to deal with, Tim Sylvia, a top ten heavyweight at the time took on Fedor in 2009, only to be dispatched in 27 seconds by the same combination and a follow up from The Last Emperor.
Other fighters with excellent hand traps are Andre Arlovski - who attempted to use them against Sergei Kharitanov most recently, Anderson Silva - who landed a wicked left straight against Nate Marquadt using exactly the same technique Hasegawa used in the first video, and Lyoto Machida who similarly uses a slap down of the lead hand to southpaw left straight almost exclusively.
Well I finally got the chance to see UFC 101 yesterday and boy was it worth the wait. If you haven't seen it yet look away now cause I know how it feels when fights are ruined for me. I usually opt for a media block out, and yeah don't use twitter the next day, trust me!
I can say with absolute confidence that the performance of Anderson Silva against Forrest has to be the greatest performance I have ever seen inside the Octagon. Joe Rogan says it a lot, but Silva is definitely a character out of a movie. Silva was up against the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion and one of the most beloved fighters in the UFC ever since his slug fest with Stefan Bonner in the Ultimate Fighter finally season one. Forrest also has excellent cardio, great power and most of all heart! People might have been excused if they thought he had a chance against the reigning Middleweight champion, I sure did, especially taking into account Silva's last two fights versus Cote and Laites. Cote got injured mid way through and Laites ran from Silva for 5 rounds. Lets also not Forget that Silva was moving up a weight class to fight Griffin. What we were treated too was magical.
Silva felt up Griffin for the usual minute and then turned on the action. He managed to knock down Griffin 3 times in the first round the last of which finished the fight as Forrest waved that he has had enough! The first knock down was via a right hook to the jaw which dropped Forrest instantly but he was able to recover pretty quickly. The second one was truly brilliant. Silva stayed in the "pocket" in front of Forrest ducking under 3 punches with incredible head movement only to land a straight right and Forrest was down again. It was something you could only see in a Hollywood movie, something Jet-Li could pull off. Silva immediately pounced on him and at that point I though Forrest was done, but either he recovered or Anderson wasn't ready to finish him off yet. With Forrest out of options he attempted a flurry of punches while moving aggressively forward, Silva moved back smoothly and landed a jab while doing so that downed Griffin for the final time. I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was watching with my brother, who follows UFC diligently like myself, my wife who is a huge Ultimate Fighter fan, and a friend who sees a game with me once every blue moon. Prior to the game my brother and I were trying to explain why Anderson Silva is a legend but no amount of words could explain what my friend saw with his own eyes a few minutes later. If you ever see an MMA match this one has to be it!
Anderson Silva is the best pound for pound fighter in the world, and probably the best fighter that ever lived. Like Jordan was for basketball and Mardonna was to football, Anderson Silva is for MMA!
Anderson Silva on his respect for Chris Weidman knocking him out at UFC 162 to win the UFC middleweight title:
People are going to be saying a lot of things now; they're going to say that Chris got lucky, they're going to say I underestimated him, but we need to respect what he did, we need to respect that he went in there and he beat me, and that's pretty much it.
In the book Warrior Speed by Ted Weimann, he illuminates us on the concept of peak performance and being the zone, but speaking to the eight peak performance feelings, which are being:
Just oft the top of my head comes an image of one mixed martial artist: Anderson Silva. Sure we witnessed Silva be knocked out for taking his clowning a bit too far against Chris Weidman; but aside from that, in some of his other fights, such as his bout with Forrest Griffin, you see him display all these traits. Anderson Silva is mentally relaxed, physically relaxed (hands down), highly confident and optimistic that he will succeed, focused in the present moment, highly energized, has extraordinary awareness, is in complete control, and seems to just let go to the process and allow the training to take over. Everything he does in the cage from the antics to the killer blows, he practices. Some other mixed martial artists give their take on being "in the zone":
Jose Aldo, UFC featherweight champion, who is ranked number four right now in the pound for pound rankings, gives his list of the greatest fighters in MMA mixed martial arts history:
Everyone has their opinion on who is the best pound for pound fighters in mixed martial arts. Here's ours.
1. Jon Jones
Jon Jones has shown that he's the greatest light-heavyweight ever in the UFC and is on his way to potential become the greatest of all time. He's almost cleared out the UFC's 205 pound division, and he has a very legitimate chance to move up to heavyweight and ascertain the most coveted title in combat sports: the UFC heavyweight gold.
2. Georges St-Pierre
Georges St-Pierre is Canada's most precious mixed martial arts resource. The Canadian champion of the UFC's welterweight division has defended the title an astounding eight times and is two shy of reaching Anderson Silva's mark of 10 title defenses.
3. Anderson Silva
The number one pound for pound king Anderson Silva now drops to the number three slot after being knocked out by Chris Weidman at UFC 162. But Silva is still regarded by most as the greatest of all time, and has a chance to avenge his loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 168 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on December 28th.
4. Jose Aldo
It's surprising that Jose Aldo doesn't get as much love as other UFC champions, but the man is a killer featherweight fighter. Not only has he dominated 145, but he defeated the former UFC champion at 155 in Frankie Edgar, so he definitely is a fighter who could possibly jump up to lightweight and win a belt up there. A sign of a true pound for pound great.
5. Ben Henderson
Benson Henderson is a very unique fighter and individual. He is happy retiring at the age of 30, he fights with a toothpick in his mouth, proposes in the UFC Octagon, and lives by his rules and principles. We love him for all that. He has his goals and works very hard to achieve them. His work ethic was instilled in him by his tireless working mother and he follows those same precepts in every aspect of his life.
Once you reach the pinnacle of the sport of mixed martial arts and become a UFC champion, you have to continue to set new goals to stay hungry and motivated. That is what Chris Weidman is doing. It's something that Jon Jones has done in trying to become the record holder for having the most title defenses in UFC history at light-heavyweight. He has tied Tito Ortiz's record with five, and is looking to eclipse it at UFC 165 in Toronto when he defends his title against Swedish superstar Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafssson.
Additionally, you have Benson Henderson, the champion at 155, who has made it a goal to defend his title 11 times, which is one more time than Anderson Silva defended his. Keeping that goal in mind helps him stay motivated and excited for that new challenge.
Roy Jones Jr and Anderson Silva are two who want to go and compete against one another in a boxing match, but both have immense respect for one another. Roy Jones came up to Anderson Silva after his knockout loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 and told him the following inspirational words:
You're still the best ever...By far...Keep your head up
1. Jon Jones Jon Jones rockets to the number one slot after Chris Weidman knocks out Anderson Silva. Jon Jones takes a humble approach and says he's not interested in becoming the number one guy by someone else losing, and wants to achieve that status through his own actions. 2. Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre's eight fight title defense streak of his UFC welterweight belt keeps him at the number two spot. His biggest test in years comes against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
3. Anderson Silva After a shocking knockout loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162, Anderson Silva drops to the number three slot in the pound for pound rankings.
4. Jose Aldo Jose Aldo is a champion that few actually talk about, despite the fact that he's 22-1, hasn't lost since 2005, and is on a 15 fight win streak, and has four UFC featherweight title defenses.
5. Benson Henderson Ben Henderson is a perfect 7-0 in the UFC and has defended his UFC lightweight belt three times.
Georges St-Pierre is happy to see his friend Chris Weidman win the UFC title. GSP was one of the first fighters to come out and say that he thought Weidman would win, but definitely not in the way he did: via knockout. The superfight talks with Anderson and GSP is now down the toilet, but Pierre has immense respect for Anderson:
You always recognize great champions...how they come back from a loss. Silva came back from loss before and adversity in his fights and he's the greatest of all time for sure.
