When the main event at UFC 162 was stopped midway through the second round, an era came to a close. Anderson Silva, largely considered the most dominating competitor in the sport and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in its history, had his historic UFC Middleweight Championship reign come to an end.
Nearly seven years ago, Anderson Silva defeated Rich Franklin at UFC 64 by TKO to win the title. Since that time, Silva defended the title a record 10 times, and added a handful of victories in the Light Heavyweight division. He also compiled 16 straight victories, another UFC record.
The era-ending loss to Chris Weidman was not by decision, but it’s certainly not a decisive defeat. Perhaps a bit cocky, Anderson Silva taunted Weidman in hopes of forcing his opponent to abandon a gameplan which conceivably might have involved takedowns aimed at getting a win by decision after controlling each round. The bobbing and weaving by Silva without a guarded fighting stance proved his downfall, as Weidman was able to get close enough to score a knockout.
Speculation as to what direction Anderson Silva will go next is rampant. Some have indicated that the 38 year-old fighter could move into retirement. Others speculate that his past forays into the Light Heavyweight division could make this a great opportunity for Silva to square off against the current champion of that weight class, Jon Jones. Yet, there has been talk for quite a while about a dream fight between Silva and Georges St Pierre.
Dana White has stated that Weidman vs Silva 2 is atop his priorities list for the weight class, despite Anderson Silva indicating he wouldn’t seek other title fights.
“Nobody wants to lose. He doesn’t know how to lose, he doesn’t remember how to lose, it’s been too long since he lost. This one’s going to sink in a couple days after.”
“Like I said, the first thing I hear when we walk in is somebody thinks it’s a fix and all the stupid shit that people are going to say will start to drive somebody crazy.”
“Everybody knows, I know, everybody knows he’s going to want the rematch.”
