Ditch Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 Tonight's UFC card featured maybe the greatest finish in MMA history, as long-reigning and seemingly untouchable champion Anderson Silva was felled by unbeaten but unspectacular challenger Chris Weidman. Silva, who taunted and played rather than trying to win, pretended to be wobbled by a missed punch only to be caught on the chin and (as Meltzer wrote) "knocked the fuck out". The unusual nature of the fight has MMA website commenters foaming at the mouth claiming that Silva took a dive. Nobody can debunk this better than a wrestling fan. -The punch, the set-up, and the sell, are better than any two cooperating pro wrestlers could possibly hope to pull off in the heat of the moment. They would have had to work together extensively to have even a tiny hope of pulling off that sequence. Not to mention that the punch landed flush and Silva's head bounced off the canvas. -Dana White and the rest of UFC management are clearly very smart, very profit-driven people. I doubt that they would risk the company's credibility by paying someone to take a dive, but let's say they were going to do so. Would they take that risk for the sake of any scenario other than Chael Sonnen winning last year's rematch to set up Silva/Sonnen 3, let alone for Chris Weidman, possibly the most anonymous and vanilla champion in company history? At least in a hypothetical Sonnen scenario, you have a Great White Hope who can talk and is very much a company man; that trilogy match would have been enormous. Weidman is Some Guy. Having him dethrone Silva (and end any chance of a Silva vs Jones/GSP superfight) is bad for business, period. Nash over Goldberg at Starrcade '98 was a questionable decision by WCW; this would be like having Bobby Duncum Jr beat Goldberg. -If you're going to book the rematch (which is the only Weidman fight anyone cares about), you BOOK THE REMATCH. Instead they immediately announce the rest of the year's PPV fights and Anderson says he isn't sure he wants a rematch. 7 months from now there won't be half as much interest in a rematch, if it even happens then. So, as much as people want UFC to be pro wrestling, tonight it isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 Crimson Mask on Wrestling Classics is crying work and it's hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazeUSA Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 I'm so glad he got ko'd, I can't stand Anderson Silva & have said for years he is NOT the pfp best fighter in the world.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smack2k Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 They can cry all they want...you cant fake the look on Silva's face as he was going down..the lights were out...period... Does it mean he's still not pfp the best or one of the best? No, but "You got knocked the fuck out....man!!" "Oh No, the guy I thought was untouchable got knocked out....must be fixed..." I bet these are the same people that thought Buster Douglas win over Tyson was fixed and not what this was, someone not being ready for what they thought was inferior competiion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I'm sorry but I seriously question the intelligence of somebody who thinks that fight was fixed. You can question why the hell Silva was so stupid, but it's practically impossible to make a legitimate argument about that fight being fixed. Only people who have very little exposure to seeing real, legit fights would think it was fixed, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I'm sorry but I seriously question the intelligence of somebody who thinks that fight was fixed. You can question why the hell Silva was so stupid, but it's practically impossible to make a legitimate argument about that fight being fixed. Only people who have very little exposure to seeing real, legit fights would think it was fixed, IMO.Don't be sorry, you're right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Weirdly, this has made me want to revisit the booking around Cena vs Lesnar from last year. The main premise of the original post here is that the way last night was "booked" if it were "booked" was counter-intuitive if they wanted to make any sort of lasting, meaningful money from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 MMA's very nature precludes guys running up the kind of records you see in boxing where a guy is 35-1 but he really fought 30 nobodies. It's one of the few real praises I have about MMA is that the numbers in the sport prevent that sort of record padding that doesn't mean anything. Silva holding the title as long as he did is pretty amazing. People crying work are, I assume, mostly people looking for that kind of a MMA record they can point to, which is just borderline impossible. The idea UFC would slaughter their golden cow before the match with GSP is just the silliest shit. I don't follow UFC that closely but that's pretty obvious even to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I have noticed a groundswell tonight on Twitter among casual fans of UFC that don't follow wrestling that believe that the fight was "suspect" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ditch Posted July 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Oh and even the old "favorite takes a dive so those betting on the underdog make a mint" reason is out since Weidman (bafflingly) had the shortest odds of any Silva defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSR Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 Crimson Mask on Wrestling Classics is crying work and it's hilarious.Crimson Mask's posts are always laughable when it comes to MMA. The guy appears to have watched so much Boxing in his life that he believes the corruption and the like in Boxing also takes place in MMA. Read his play by plays. He (Crimson Mask) considers himself a far better judge than those who are appointed by the commission, if they don't score the fight the same as him they're wrong and 'hometown decisions' are one of his favourite excuses when a fighter he thinks won the fight doesn't. The idea UFC would slaughter their golden cow before the match with GSP is just the silliest shit. I don't follow UFC that closely but that's pretty obvious even to me.This was never going to happen. GSP wants/wanted no part of Silva and at least now we don't have to put up with numerous interviews of Georges constantly dodging the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 Around the Horn & PTI both asked the fix question yesterday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 If it was a fix, Anderson wouldn't have made himself look as big of a fool, nor made Weidman looks as undeserving. You can get across "lucky punch" or "can knock anyone out" in a way like GSP vs Serra did, which didn't make GSP look like a fool and got across Serra had a puncher's change that GSP had to avoid in a rematch. This one made both look bad. As far as PTI and Around the Horn, ESPN isn't behind MMA, and the folks on those shows are largely old sports reporter hacks rather than the younger generation that would follow MMA. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Around the Horn & PTI both asked the fix question yesterday I'm pretty sure the Sportscenter crawl right after the PPV listed this as Silva's first loss, which in UFC is correct, but that ignores 4 other blemishes. Not the MMA source of choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted July 11, 2013 Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 The ONLY reason I can see giving the 'work' theory any real thought, would be the fact that, like Ditch said, Weidman had the shortest odds of winning, but everyone was coming out of the woodwork to say that they thought he could take Silva. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted December 29, 2013 Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Enthusiast Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 Gimmicked leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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