Anderson Silva Returning in 2015

Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, was last seen in action at UFC 168 in which he tried to recover the UFC title that he lost at UFC 162 to Chris Weidman.  During their clash, Anderson Silva broke his leg throwing a kick that was checked by Chris Weidman.  Since that moment Silva has been out of action trying to recover from his injury.  Silva quickly underwent surgery and has slowly been recovering and even sharing videos of him training on his various social media accounts.  This week, Anderson Silva's doctor in Brazil has cleared him to begin training and resuming his MMA career.  MMA H.E.A.T.'s Karyn Bryan sat down with Silva and asked him about his future in MMA.



Silva is expecting to return in 2015 and doesn't yet have an opponent in mind yet.  Many are buzzing about possibly seeing a bout that has seemed to elude the UFC fans for years--a fight between Silva and Michael Bisping.  I personally wouldn't mind seeing Silva go up to 205lb for a fourth time or possibly see him face Vitor Belfort or Rich Franklin in a rematch.  Franklin believes that he could defeat Silva if he got his hands on Silva for a third time.  Franklin has one last fight on his contract and I wouldn't be opposed to another round of Silva and Franklin.  If Penn can get a third shot at Edgar in a similar situation, why shouldn't we see Franklin try to redeem himself against the man who took his title?  Also a super fight with Georges St. Pierre has been buzzed about, but I'd rather see a clash with Franklin, Belfort or Bisping over a fight with GSP.  Who would you all like to see the Spider face?

UFC 173: Main Event Rescheduled to UFC 175 in July

It seems that UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman, has suffered a knee injury and has been forced to pull out of his second title defense against Lyoto Machida. The match has now been moved to UFC 175 on July 5th.  This now leaves the UFC 173 card without a main event.  They could make the heavyweight clash between dos Santos and Miocic the main event, but that is doubtful.

Dan Henderson, who is coming off of a TKO win in Brazil this weekend, has petitioned for a rematch with Machida to fill in for the main event card.  I also find this rematch unlikely to replace the main event, though I wouldn't mind seeing that fight.  We will have to wait and see the fate of UFC 173.

UFC 173: Junior dos Santos Returns Against Miocic and Other Bouts!

UFC 173 is shaping up to be a solid card just in time for the summer as Lyoto Machida has stepped up to face UFC Chris Weidman for the UFC Middleweight Championship.  A huge fight has been added to what was already an attractive fight.  The UFC has confirmed that former UFC champ Junior dos Santos will be facing fellow heavyweight striker Stipe Miocic in Las Vegas this May.

Both men represent the cream of the crop in the UFC's Heavyweight Division and are outstanding strikers.  The biggest question that comes to mind when I heard about this fight is how much has JDS improved his wrestling since getting throttled by Cain Velasquez in their las bout this past October.  It makes one wonder if he will be able to handle Miocic's elite wrestling.  Like Velasquez, Miocic comes from a very high caliber wrestling background.  I love to see a good grappling match or clinch fight, but between two men with accurate heat-seeking missiles like the two of them, I hope the fight stays on the feet.  Both men have technical striking plus power.

Who wins at UFC 173?

Junior dos Santos

Stipe Miocic

Poll Maker

Below is the list of confirmed bouts scheduled to take place on May 24, 2014:

UFC 173 Fight Card*

Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida
Junior Dos Santos vs. Stipe Mioci
Jamie Varner vs. James Krause
T.J. Dillashaw vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Chris Holdsworth vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Doo Ho Choi vs. Sam Sicilia
Al Iaquinta vs. Mitch Clarke
Mike Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Yves Edwards vs. Piotr Hallmann 

* as of 3/4/14. Card subject to change

UFC 173: Machida Replaces Belfort in Title Fight

There has been a major change to the UFC 173 card as the main event has changed.  Due to the recent NSAC changes, UFC Middleweight contender Vitor Belfort has been forced to pull out of his title fight with current Champion Chris Weidman.  Vitor Belfort is perhaps the scrutinized TRT user currently signed on the UFC roster despite other big name users also using the testosterone balancing treatment.  With Belfort out of the title fight with Weidman, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida has been booked as his replacement to fight for the title.

Lyoto Machida is coming off a close decision victory over former multi-promotion champion, Gegard Mousasi.  Machida made his 185 lb debut at the end of 2013 after defeating top ten contender and friend, Mark Munoz.  He first decided to drop to middleweight after a highly controversial decision loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163.  Many felt that Machida clearly won the fight, but he still fell short on the judges' scorecards.

Lyoto Machida may only sport a 2-0 record in the UFC's Middleweight Division, but he is definitely a worthy and deserving challenger.  His two fights at 185 lbs. both earned him post-fight bonuses.  He earned KO of the Night over Mark Munoz and Fight of the Night in his most recent bout with Gegard Mousasi.  As a Light Heavyweight, Lyoto Machida had a record of 11-4 with all of his wins clear decisions or stoppages.  His four losses came by the hands of three current or former UFC champions (Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Jon Jones) and one top ten contender (Phil Davis).  His fights with Mauricio Rua and Jon Jones were stoppages, but his fights with Jackson and Davis could arguably have been wins for Machida.

Machida has an evasive style similar to Anderson Silva, but with a greater emphasis on complete evasiveness and not just head movement.  Machida has an unorthodox fighting style that I believe will give Weidman some trouble and make it hard for Weidman to grab a hold of him.  If Weidman wants to gain a victory over Machida, He will need to somehow cut off the cage from Machida, grab him and smash him on the ground.  I don't see Weidman earning a quick KO over Machida.  I feel that Weidman will have to work hard for a win over Machida.  He'll be playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse that usually frustrates most of Machida's opponents.  Will he be able to retain the title against a man who I feel is a tougher test than Anderson Silva.  Only time will tell and I am excited to find out.

Machida May Get Weidman/Belfort Winner

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida faces Gegard Mousasi February 22nd at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil.  UFC President, Dana White has stated that Lyoto Machida could be fighting for the UFC Middleweight Championship if he wins against Mousasi in their five round fight.  We've heard these same statement from White while Machida was the #2 guy behind Jones.  Hopefully he won't get passed up with a victory over Mousasi.  Machida and Jacare Souza are definitely the best options for the next title fight.

Jones and Weidman Both Interested in Super Fight

It seems that current UFC Champions Jon Jones and Chris Weidman both share an interest in competing with one another in a potential super fight.  Before you quote us in saying that this is going to happen soon, please realize that the two only share an interest and have not made steps towards trying to make this fight happen.

Both men share a sudden meteoric rise to stardom on their way to becoming champions.  Both men are strong offensive and defensive wrestlers who also have the ability to strike with guys who are considered to have better stand up skills.  This would be an interesting fight if it were to occur down the road after Weidman has at least 3 to 4 more title defense under his belt and both men are still champions a few years from now.  Now just wouldn't be the time for this fight to occur.  Had Silva not lost the UFC title at UFC 162 or possibly regained it at UFC 168, the Silva Jones fight would have been perfect.

Sonnen/W. Silva to Be Paired With Weidman/Belfort

UFC President, Dana White, has expressed an interest in having the Light Heavyweight bout between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen be placed on the same card as the UFC Middleweight Championship fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.  The date is not final for that bout, but the fight is scheduled to occur in Las Vegas sometime in May or Fourth of July weekend.  Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva have been exchanging words with each other for the last year or so and they will finally get to back up all of their talk in the cage.  The two men have already come to blows while filming TUF Brazil 3.

Who wins Sonnen vs. W. Silva?--Tough Spar MMA

Chael Sonnen

Wanderlei Silva

Poll Maker

Johny Hendricks the New Middleweight Champion??

Despite the fact that Johny Hendricks hasn't fought Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship, he already has his future all planned out.  He plans on winning the vacant title and defending it a few times and then moving up to Middleweight and earning that title and staying there to defend that belt.  Hendricks believes that the weight cut to Middleweight would be a lot better for his body than the cut to 170 lb as he normally walks around at 220 lbs.  He is also interested in a fight with the current 185 lb champ, Chris Weidman.

I'm on the fence about Hendricks moving up in weight.  Hendricks is a large welterweight in terms of natural weight and strength, but Hendricks isn't a large welterweight in terms of height and reach.  I feel that Hendricks would be able to throw more power at middleweight, but the weight cut hasn't been a negative in his performance.  He went five rounds with the champ at a high pace with grappling and striking.  He has figured out a way to make the cut and to make it work without losing explosiveness and cardio.  I would love a fight with Weidman at some point, but I don't want him to stay at middleweight as I feel he wouldn't stand a chance at some of the UFC's large Middleweights that are 6'4" while Hendricks stands at 5'9".  I think right now he should worry about getting through a hungry Robbie Lawler in Dallas at UFC 171.

Silva Still Wants to Compete/Possible Super Fight with Georges

According to Anderson Silva's manager, Ed Soares, Anderson Silva is doing better than expected in his recovery.  At UFC 168, Silva was competing to get his UFC Middleweight title back from Chris Weidman, the man who took it back at UFC 162.  In the second round of their fight, Silva threw a leg kick at Weidman, who checked the kick, which caused it to break.  Silva went into surgery that same night to repair the broken leg and the surgery was a success.  Soares has stated that Silva is able to walk with crutches and able to move the toes of his broken leg.

Soares stated that Silva is still in fighting spirits and could possibly be back training as early as six to nine months.  Silva's camp already has an opponent in mind for his return and that man would be former UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre.  GSP announced a leave of absence from the sport not long after his title defense at UFC 167 in November against Johny Hendricks.

This wouldn't be the first time that a fight between the two of former champions has been spoken of.  For years the two dominant champions had been mentioned in the same sentence as the words 'super fight.'  Both men had practically cleared out their entire weight classes before GSP's leave of absence and Silva's injury.  It is very likely that GSP will return and Silva has already shown his interest in still competing, so this match is completely doable especially considering that at one time Anderson Silva fought as small at 168 lbs and 174 lbs.  Silva and GSP could meet at one of their respectful weights or in a catchweight bout somewhere in between.  I think that it would be an amazing crowd-pleaser and put the two most dominant champs in the cage with each other.   It is very unlikely that Silva will be fighting for the UFC Middleweight Championship and GSP will probably have to win a few fights before he gets another crack at his title that he vacated, so why not have them return against each other as long as GSP and the UFC complies.  When asked about a fight with Silva not long before announcing his temporary leave from the sport, GSP stated that he would prefer to continue his legacy in the welterweight division  and defending his belt.

It is a fight that I wouldn't mind seeing and I think that it would be a big money fight for the UFC and a bigger super fight than some that have come before it.  It would be a good fight at 180 lb catchweight.

Would you like to see a fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre upon their returns?

Yes

No

poll generator

Fertitta: Weidman/Belfort Maybe in May or June

The UFC's co-owner Lorenzo Fertitto has stated that the UFC is targeted for May or July as long as Weidman is able to compete.  After Weidman's TKO victory over Anderson Silva, it was announced tha Vitoe belfort would be the next in line for the title. During a post-fight interview, Weidman expressed some concerns with his knee that he wanted to get looked into.

The UFC believes that the best location for this bout will be Las vegas Nevada. There is no official date or venue for the future UFC Middleweight title fight. Be sure to stay posted to our site to get the official date and time as soon as it is available.

New Options in the Middleweight Realm

With Anderson Silva passing the torch to Chris Weidman with his recent fight-stopping injury, there are new possible fights in the UFC's Middleweight Division.  Though the injury to Silva is tragic if not sad for any MMA fan, it is not a complete loss to followers of the UFC.  If Silva were to have won his fight, we would've been seeing a rematch of a fight that we had already seen in the last few years with Vitor Belfort guarenteed a title shot against the winner.  Vitor Belfort has improved since his last fight with Silva, but the fight against Silva was a quick knockout not a closely contended fight.  Though both Silva and Belfort are knockout artists, one could not convince me that Belfort would even stand a chance against Silva in a rematch.

With Silva away and probably never getting a title shot or even fighting again at the current age of 38, Weidman and the UFC can finally move on.  One of the beautiful things manifesting from such an ugly ending, is a fresh match up between Vitor Belfort and Chris Weidman.  Had Weidman not won against Silva this past weekend we may have never seen or considered a match between the two of these amazing competitors.  It will be a mtach that will showcase the champion's raw athleticism and great wrestling against Vitor Belfort's experience, striking and amazing power-striking. I predict that Weidman will get the better of Belfort in their match, but with Belfort anything is possible.

There are other options lurking about at 185 lbs like former Strikeforce Middleweight Jacare Souza who is 2-0 in his UFC career after his TKO victory over Yushin Okami. Silva had said before that he would never face his teamates Jacare Souza and Lyoto Machida if the UFC wished to have him face either man for any reason. He even went as far as to say that he would surrender the title so that Souza or Machida could fight for the belt had that time come.  Souza has great killer instincts and finishing abilities. His two wins in the UFC were both stoppages, one a submission and the second a TKO. Souza 100% has a chance to potentially stop Weidman or any other man to wear the UFC Middleweight Championship. He faces Francis Carmont who is on a six-fightwin streak since joining the UFC.

Who remembers the words 'the Machida era?' I do. I would love to see the Machida Era truly start considering the original era at 205 was derailed by Shogun Rua by way of KO. Lyoto Machida was guanteed to be the man to face Jon Jones for the UFC on many occassians and then it wouldnt fall through. I believe that Lyoto Machida was definitely the second best 205 lb fighter in the UFC, after Jones, before he fled to the UFC's Middleweight Division following a poor judge's decision loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163. In his middleweight debut, Machida ran through Mark Munoz with a head kick knock out. He is now set to face Gegard Mussasi in early 2014 and with a victory over Gegard we could possibly see Machida fighting for the title in late 2014 or early 2015.

Other fighters who could potentially get title shots soon would be Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Mark Munoz. 

UFC 168: Salaries

Main Card:

Chris Weidman ($200,000 + $200,000 =
$400,000) def. Anderson Silva
($600,000)
Ronda Rousey ($50,000 + $50,000 =
$100,000) def. Miesha Tate ($28,000)
Travis Browne ($28,000 + $28,000 =
$56,000) def. Josh Barnett ($170,000)
Jim Miller ($46,000 + $46,000 = $92,000)
def. Fabricio Camoes ($8,000)
Dustin Poirier ($23,000 + $23,000 =
$46,000) def. Diego Brandao ($20,000)

Preliminary Card:

Uriah Hall ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000)
def. Chris Leben ($51,000)
Michael Johnson ($18,000 + $18,000 =
$36,000) def. Gleison Tibau ($39,000)
Dennis Siver ($33,000 + $33,000 =
$66,000) def. Manny Gamburyan
($25,000)
John Howard ($16,000 + $16,000 =
$32,000) def. Siyar Bahadurzada
($17,000)
William Macario ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Bobby Voelker ($12,000)
Robert Peralta ($12,000 + $12,000 =
$24,000) def. Estevan Payan ($10,000)

UFC 168: Recap

Despite UFC 167 being the 20th anniversary for the UFC, tonight's event had just as much pressure to be a five-star event.  The main card featured a night in which there was not a single fight that went the distance.  Also in the prelims we got a chance to see Uriah Hall rise back from the brink of being cut to making Leben quit between rounds.

The first fight on the main card was between Dustin Poirier and Diego Brandao.  It was a fight in which Dustin Poirier used great speed in his stand-up game which eventually got him the victory via TKO due to strikes.  It would be a great match to see him face off against Frankie Edgar after he faces Penn or possibly in a rematch against Cub Swanson who beat him via unanimous decision.  Another option for Poirier would be a clash with fellow UFC 168 winner, Dennis Siver, who defeated Manny Gamburyan by decision in the prelims.

Next on the card was a fight in the lightweight divison in which Jim Miller took on Fabricio Camoes.  Miller was able to submit Camoes off of his back with an armbar in the first round.  I think a good fight to make for Miller would be against Donald Cerrone if he beats Martins in there clash early 2014.

The evening kept rolling with another fight in the UFC's Heavyweight Division.  Travis Browne and Josh Barnett met in the center of the Octagon and instantly went to work.  Travis Browne got the better of the stand-up striking exchanges which led Barnett to look for a takedown.  While Barnett shot for the take down and pressed Browne against the cage, Browne landed a knee and a series of elbow strikes to the side of Barnett's head, which left him out cold.  Dana White has already announced that Browne's next opponent will be submission specialist, Fabricio Werdum.

The next match was the most exciting fight of the evening in the first title fight of the night, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate.  Tate and Rousey came out swinging to the fences as soon as the fight began. Both women were landing clean shots until the fight inevitably went to the ground.  For three rounds, Rousey and Tate scrambled on the ground for position.  There were times that Tate was in conntrol and Rousey and vise-versa.  It took Ronda Rousey five armbar attempts at the armbar before the final one was enough for Tate to tap in the third.  Miesha Tate's grappling defense was one of the best performances of submission defense that I have seen in a long time.  Tate gave Rousey her toughest fight in her MMA career.  The fight between Rousey and Tate was just as exciting if not more exciting as the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight title fight.  After the fight, Dana White announced that Rousey would be returning to action very shortly to headline the UFC 170 card and defend her title against Sara McMann.  It will feature two Olympic medalists from the same year fighting for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship.

The main event was between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva who both had a lot to prove in their fight.  For Weidman it was an opportunity to prove that his first victory wasn't a fluke.  For Silva it was an opportunity to prove that he could beat the only man to beat him in the UFC.  As soon as Silva came out to exactly the same song that he used at UFC 162, it felt like deja vu.  Anderson Silva was in the blue corner for the first time since he won the title at UFC 64.  When the fight began Weidman was able to get a takedown early in the first round.  Silva was able to get back up instantly but was forced to get into a clinching situation with Weidman.  Weidman got the better of the clinch game and eventually dropped Silva and controlled him with great ground and pound from the guard.  Silva was able to use his jiu jitsu in order to survive the barrage of punches until the round ended.  In the second round we saw Silva get looser on his feet and began to look more comfortable.  The second wouldn't last that long as Silva threw two kicks that would seal his fate.  The first one he threw was speculated to have fractured his leg when it was checked by Weidman and the second one thrown broke Silva's leg.

Chris Weidman successfully defended his UFC Middleweight Championship via TKO by way of checked leg kick.  Vitor Belfort will be the next man to face Weidman for the belt.  This could be the last time that we saw Anderson Silva in the UFC.  We hope to see a healthy Anderson Silva whether he fights again or not.

UFC 168 Results

Main Card:

Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva due to injury (leg fracture) Round 2
Ronda Rousey def. Meisha Tate via submission Round 3
Travis Browne def. Josh Barnett via TKO (elbow strikes) Round 1
Jim Miller def. Fabricio Camoes via submission (armbar) Round 1
Dustin Poirier def. Diego Brandao via TKO (punches) Round 1

Preliminary Card:

Uriah Hall def. Chris Leben via TKO (corner stoppage) Round 1
Michael Johnson def. Gleison Tibau via KO (punches) Round 1
Dennis Siver def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision
John Howard def. Siyar Bahadurzada via unanimous decision
William Macario Patolino def. Bobby Voelker via unanimous decision
Robbie Peralta def. Estevan Payan via KO (punches) Round 3
145 lbs.: Estevan Payan vs. Robbie Peralta -- Peralta wins by KO (punches) - 0:12 rd. 3

UFC 168: Weigh-in Results

Main Card:

UFC Middleweight Championship: Chris Weidman (184) vs. Anderson Silva (185)
UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship: Ronda Rousey (135) vs. Miesha Tate (135)
Josh Barnett (252) vs. Travis Browne (242)
Jim Miller (156) vs. Fabrício Camões (156)
Dustin Poirier (146) vs. Diego Brandao (153)

Preliminary Card:

Chris Leben (185.5) vs. Uriah Hall (185)
Gleison Tibau (156) vs. Michael Johnson (156)
Dennis Siver (145) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (146)
John Howard (171) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (171)
William Patolino (171) vs. Bobby Voelker (171)
Robbie Peralta (145.5) vs. Estevan Payan (145)

UFC 168: Extended Preview

Will Anderson Silva be able to win his title back from Chris Weidman?--Tough Spar MMA

Yes--he will do it in impressive fashion

Yes--he will do so, but it will be a tough fight

No--Weidman will finish him again

No--Weidman by decision

Poll Maker

Sonnen Interview