Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva, TKO (Round 2, 1:16) Ronda Rousey def. Miesha Tate, Submission (Round 3, 0:58) Travis Browne def. Josh Barnett, Knockout (Round 1, 1:00) Jim Miller def. Fabricio Camoes, Submission (Round 1, 3:42) Dustin Poirier def. Diego Brandao, TKO (Round 1, 4:54)
Fox Sports 1 Prelims
Uriah Hall def. Chris Leben, TKO (Round 1, 5:00) Michael Johnson def. Gleison Tibau, Knockout (Round 2, 1:32) Dennis Siver def. Manny Gamburyan, Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) John Howard def. Siyar Bahadurzada, Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
If you didn't see Silva breaking his leg, here's a nice few seconds of video. Warning*he breaks his leg* https://vine.co/v/h9EF9BvPAa9
YOUR 2012 NCCA Tournament Bracket Challenge Winner
UFC 168: Weidman v. Silva / Rousey v. Tate (December 28, 2013)
I thought that maybe "UFC 168: OW JESUS AUGH FUCK OW OW FUUUUUUCK GAAAAAAH" would be a bit crass for a subject line. More fitting, though.
In the rematch for the Middleweight title, Chris Weidman defeated Anderson Silva in the second round when Silva threw a leg kick, Weidman blocked it, Silva's leg wrapped around Weidman's leg, Silva crumpled in a screaming heap, and millions of people shouted "OWWWWW" and "FUUUUUUCK" in living rooms and sports bars around the world. This was a near Sid-level leg breaking and I expect Anderson Silva is never coming back from it.
In the other title fight, Ronda Rousey took Miesha Tate apart for two rounds before winning with THE ARM BAR to retain the women's Bantamweight title at the start of the third. Nobody'd ever lasted past the first round with Rousey, so that's something, I guess. Tate didn't look good at all, though. Or rather, Rousey just looked SO much better.
The other big news was the announcement of UFC Fight Pass, a new online-only subscription service. $10/month for some exclusive Fight Night cards (with very few fighters you'd have ever heard of) and a whole lot of old footage. Kind of like the rumoured WWE Network deal, only you don't get new PPVs included. I can't be bothered to watch prelims for most shows so I can't imagine I'll get this, but we'll see. The first show is in Singapore on Saturday, January 4 with a main event of Tarec Saffiedine vs Hyun Gyu Lim.
The rest of the card was really fun. No sign of Brock Lesnar, despite the rumours before the show.
Quick and dirty because it's bedtime: - Robbie Peralta d. Estevan Payan, TKO - William Patolino d. Bobby Voelker, unanimous decision - John Howard d. Siyar Bahadurzada, unanimous decision - Dennis Siver d. Manvel Gamburyan, unanimous decision - Michael Johnson d. Gleison Tibau, TKO - Uriah Hall d. Chris Leben; Leben didn't come out for the second round and is likely done with UFC - Dustin Poirier d. Diego Brandao, TKO - Jim Miller d. Fabricio Camoes, submission (THE ARM BAR) - Travis Browne d. Josh Barnett, KO in about a minute - Rousey d. Tate, THE ARM BAR - Weidman d. Silva, super gross leg breaking ow gross
I've seen some truly horrific sports injuries, but perhaps none more gutwrenching or cringe-worthy than Silva's. That was just stomach-turning in every conceivable way.
"Playing guitars. It's hard to sing while playing...guitars."
In her Rogan interview, Tate said she didn't want to go to ground with Rousey, but when she went for the take down, Tate decided to go with it and try to win. That's what got her beat. And that's how someone will eventually beat Ronda: Don't go to the ground. Tate had success with strikes.
Remember, Tate wasn't supposed to coach against Rousey on TUF. It was supposed to be Zingano. It worked out great for everyone involved not named Zingano, but that rematch is still out there.
Rogan also asked if the win over Silva legitimized Weidman. It can't. Silva suffered an injury that may have happened only once before in UFC history. That's the definition of a fluke. Chris was doing well before then, but Silva lost both times because of actions he took. No, of course, he didn't try to break his leg, but still.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Matt TrackerSilva lost both times because of actions he took. No, of course, he didn't try to break his leg, but still.
I've been thinking about this a lot.
MAYBE if Silva doesn't get into the bad habit of toying with his opponents, then...
MAYBE Silva doesn't drop his hands to set up the shot from Weidman, then...
MAYBE Silva beats Weidman in the first fight, then...
MAYBE there's no second fight, so...
MAYBE Silva doesn't leave the Octagon last night with a third knee.
Obviously, that's not completely sound logic, but what's the saying about "every avalanche starts with a single snowflake" or something? It's easy to go back and see a LOT of "what if"-s.
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Imagine if Tyson got a rematch agaisnt Buster Douglas and broke his own arm. Does that mean Douglas "beat" Tyson twice? No, but remember that Buster took a hard shot early in the fight and got back up to eventually KO Tyson. Maybe anyone could have done that had they the chance in Japan against a Tyson with the flu and a time change. Maybe. It was Weidman's chance then and last night. But it will always be packaged as "Silva clowned around" and then "Silva broke his leg" even though Weidman popped Silva good and defended against the leg kick. The next fight (Belfort?) will be very interesting.
And how good does he look for the UFC? Confident but grateful. Christian but aggressive. Young, handsome, undefeated, and American. They can sell that guy to lots of sponsors, and they need to. They lost GSP and Silva in little over one month.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Matt TrackerAnd how good does he look for the UFC? Confident but grateful. Christian but aggressive. Young, handsome, undefeated, and American. They can sell that guy to lots of sponsors, and they need to. They lost GSP and Silva in little over one month.
Can't wait for UFC's New Generation marketing campaign.
That kick was brutal. Obviously, a lot of us have seen Sid's which was probably worse but that still didn't make Silva's any less cringe-worthy. Especially since he's one of the best fighters UFC ever had (maybe THE best?). I don't know how much longer he was planning to go, but I wouldn't imagine he was going to be in UFC for too much longer. Still, it sucks that it ended like that.
Originally posted by Matt TrackerSilva lost both times because of actions he took. No, of course, he didn't try to break his leg, but still.
I've been thinking about this a lot.
MAYBE if Silva doesn't get into the bad habit of toying with his opponents, then...
The whole thing kind of breaks down here, because it wasn't a bad habit--it was his primary strategy. Silva's biggest strength has always been his counterstriking and his biggest weakness has always been his takedown defense (remember when he almost got pounded out by Travis goddamn Lutter?): The taunting and toying was his avenue for exploiting both. By not moving or fighting the way strikers expect strikers to fight he forced them to overcommit on their attacks and leave big countering opportunities (best example: Forrest), and by keeping at range with his hands down he was in better position to stuff takedowns from frustrated grapplers who felt they had to enter from extreme distance (best example: Maia).
Everyone went back and decried the dancing and toying after Weidman knocked him out, but dancing and toying is the strategy that got him incredible knockouts over four world champions. His problem wasn't that he was doing it, it's that he didn't have anything to fall back on when someone figured it out.
Regardless of the hows and whys, he got knocked out for showboating, and he lost the rematch. Plain and simple. None of those get an asterisk by them. They're both losses.
YOUR 2012 NCCA Tournament Bracket Challenge Winner
Originally posted by StaggerLeeRegardless of the hows and whys, he got knocked out for showboating, and he lost the rematch. Plain and simple. None of those get an asterisk by them. They're both losses.
Of course they're both fair-n-square losses, but I think they'll both get "what if/we'll never know"-type asterisks a few years from now. Especially the second one.
Race chase #2 winner: Jimmie Johnson (The earliest he has won in the chase). I also posted the Logano crash in case you did not see. Just goes to show how much safer those cars have gotten. Stats courtesy NASCAR.