***spoilers*** UFC News and Discussion Thread

[Toe]

That was a very satisfying end for that event. You have to think everyone is salivating for a shot at Weidman know, purely on the basis that he is nor Silva.

[Cactus Drags]

You can't be the greatest fighter ever if you don't, y'know, actually fight. Thank god that dickhead got what he deserved. Happy for Weidman, but I wouldn't give him a rematch. You act like a disrespectful cunt and get stopped, you don't deserve another shot.

[apsham]

I just wanted to say too, that Weidman had kickass walk out music.

[Rich]

You can't be the greatest fighter ever if you don't, y'know, actually fight. Thank god that dickhead got what he deserved. Happy for Weidman, but I wouldn't give him a rematch. You act like a disrespectful cunt and get stopped, you don't deserve another shot.

Its got nothing to do with last night and everything to do with the 10 straight title fight wins before that though.

This is what I was alluding to earlier, yesterday he is the greatest ever fighter, today it seems like he is the greatest ever villain, lets get some perspective here guys.

[Cactus Drags]

I haven't liked him ever. I want to watch the best fighter actually fight, not prance around like an arrogant turd.

[Cymbols]

I know that Charles Oliviera is big for Featherweight, but looking at Frankie Edgar, could he realistically drop down to Bantamweight?

[Draevyn]

You can't be the greatest fighter ever if you don't, y'know, actually fight. Thank god that dickhead got what he deserved. Happy for Weidman, but I wouldn't give him a rematch. You act like a disrespectful cunt and get stopped, you don't deserve another shot.

Its got nothing to do with last night and everything to do with the 10 straight title fight wins before that though.

This is what I was alluding to earlier, yesterday he is the greatest ever fighter, today it seems like he is the greatest ever villain, lets get some perspective here guys.

He is the greatest fighter in the world....which also makes him and easy target for the biggest villain. It's one of the reasons I hate him. It's one of the reasons I always tuned in. Reversefigure4 used the best way to describe it in one of his diaries....We all love to see a Hero fall.

Edit: I think Frankie could drop to Bantam but he'd have to lose some of his muscle mass and I think that's what makes him good for his size. He's still pretty well muscled for a lower weight class fighter. It's why he liked fighting at Lightweight.

[EddieG]

I haven't liked him ever. I want to watch the best fighter actually fight, not prance around like an arrogant turd.

How does a guy who doesn't fight win 33 fights?

[Gabriel]

I honestly feel like Anderson Silva has been phoning it in for a little while now. I feel like he's been taunting his opponents and playing with them in hopes that someone might defeat him, so that he doesn't have the weight of the Championship anymore.

He seemed too relaxed after the fight, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He doesn't want to retire, but he obviously didn't want to be "the man" anymore.

If Silva wanted to walk out with the title last night, I think he would have, and it would have been in devastating fashion. That's not to take anything away from Chris Weidman, because if I'm correct, Anderson has been doing this for awhile, and nobody else has been able to stop him. Weidman stopped him, and now he's the man at 185.

[EddieG]

I honestly feel like Anderson Silva has been phoning it in for a little while now. I feel like he's been taunting his opponents and playing with them in hopes that someone might defeat him, so that he doesn't have the weight of the Championship anymore.

He seemed too relaxed after the fight, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He doesn't want to retire, but he obviously didn't want to be "the man" anymore.

If Silva wanted to walk out with the title last night, I think he would have, and it would have been in devastating fashion. That's not to take anything away from Chris Weidman, because if I'm correct, Anderson has been doing this for awhile, and nobody else has been able to stop him. Weidman stopped him, and now he's the man at 185.

Exactly what I thought after his interview with Joe Rogan, he pretty much said that as well.

[Draevyn]

I honestly feel like Anderson Silva has been phoning it in for a little while now. I feel like he's been taunting his opponents and playing with them in hopes that someone might defeat him, so that he doesn't have the weight of the Championship anymore.

He seemed too relaxed after the fight, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He doesn't want to retire, but he obviously didn't want to be "the man" anymore.

If Silva wanted to walk out with the title last night, I think he would have, and it would have been in devastating fashion. That's not to take anything away from Chris Weidman, because if I'm correct, Anderson has been doing this for awhile, and nobody else has been able to stop him. Weidman stopped him, and now he's the man at 185.

Really? I mentioned on facebook and I'll say it here too. In almost felt like Silva's antics were a way for him to run without looking scared. There is no doubt about it that he has amazing reflexes and he thought they'd keep him safe because Weidman had him on his back within the first minute of the fight. A place Anderson does not like to be. I think he started showboating as a way to not show fear. I think even if he'd taken it serious, he would have ended up on his back and it still would have ended with Weidman as the champ.

Weidman was that 1 out of 100 people who managed to catch Anderson, which to me was luck. Would it happen in a second fight? Probably not but I still think we'd see the same result in the end, just in a different way.

[Nerf]

Yeah, his post-fight interview seemed way too well prepared for him to not have been expecting to give it.

[Walker]

Silva is still the greatest of all time, you can't judge him on one fight. Considering he handled Weidman's grappling fine as well. If he took it seriously who knows what would have happened.

A rematch would be interesting to answer that question though.

My issue with all this is the people who flip-flopped from "genius" to "idiot". Actually, not even flip-floppers, just those who said the move was genius in the first place. It is silly and he was going to get caught sooner or later.

[Indie913]

Yeah, his post-fight interview seemed way too well prepared for him to not have been expecting to give it.

It's almost as if he went on a legendary seven-year run atop the world's biggest MMA promotion and constantly had to fend off questions about his legacy and status as the greatest in the world...

You think he never thought about how he'd feel when it came to an end?

Also, this Anderson did not begin in the Griffin fight or the Maia fight. This is the Anderson that has always been there. You see it more in some fights than others because sometimes his opponents allow him to do it to a greater degree, and you see it more in his later fights because he's a better, more confident fighter. That is the kind of stuff that helped build his mystique and make him the pound-for-pound kingpin, and it was very effective in all of his other UFC fights.

[apsham]

Here's the thing regarding Anderson Silva.

It doesn't matter for two seconds if you're the best in the world, if you act the way that he does. He was a champion for christ sake, breaking records here there and everywhere. This attitude that people have towards him? It didn't start last night - it's been there and it's especially been there ever since the showboating act he did with Maia. It was a piss poor way to fight and a piss poor attitude for someone who by then was a major ambassador for the sport.

And now you have people going around saying that Anderson Silva could only lose if there was a fix in or if he threw the fight himself. Him throwing the fight? I don't know.. it's more believable than some kind of fix - but his comments before and after the bout aren't a clear indicator to me as to whether or not he meant to go in there and lose. If anything, to me it's a buffer if he did - and if so, that's a terrible thing to do to his opponent. And not even in the playful "oh, you MMA fighters" way that these guys go at each other outside of the ring. Now there's a big section of people out there who don't legitimately look at Chris Weidman's reign as legitimate now... all because Silva wanted to dance around, pretend he's hurt, etc.

If he truly wanted to stop with being the champion, vacate the damn title and leave both you and whatever opponent you would've faced with some dignity.

[Indie913]

I think people underestimate just how much Silva looked up to great performers he watched coming up. He really idolizes Roy Jones Jr. I really don't think it was ever a case of trying to embarrass himself, the sport, or his opponent and I don't think it ever did prior to last night (Maia was as much an embarrassment in that fight as Silva was). He tried to emulate those great showmen he looked up to and as the gap widened between himself and his competition, he was able to take it to another level that, at that point, could easily be misconstrued as not taking it seriously. At the same time, when you look the career of Roy Jones, you can kind-of see how this was inevitable. Silva relies on lightning quick speed and reflexes more so than always being technically sound. The longevity of a style like that is much less than that of a textbook fighter, ie Bernard Hopkins., and the fall is much greater when those skills diminish.

[Gabriel]

It's not saying he threw the fight.

The idea is that maybe Anderson hasn't been giving it 100% to try and finish his fights because he was hoping that someone would come along and be able to beat him.

Chris Weidman is for real. Others have tried and failed before him.

I just don't think Weidman could beat Anderson Silva if he came into the fight looking to knock him out or submit him early. If Anderson Silva walks into a fight trying to finish a guy without any of the theatrics, I think he's as close to unstoppable as they come.

Silva's always liked to play with his opponents, but for the most part has done it with aggression and a killer instinct. I just haven't seen that in him for awhile now, and think maybe he lost his smile, so to speak. Maybe he wasn't having fun anymore. Maybe he got arrogant. Who knows. I'm just saying, I believe that he hasn't been giving his fights 100% for awhile, and I think it's because he doesn't want to be "The Man" anymore.

Maybe he's had his run and just wants things to settle down now? He said he still wants to fight, but not for belts. That, to me, says that he still has the passion to be a fighter, but he's done with the life of being the best in the world. It's a lot of press, a lot of pressure, and I don't imagine that a lot of people can just deal with it and maintain the rest of their personal life.

[apsham]

I think Silva got shaken after the first round performance and saw that Weidman wasn't falling for his fakes, and went above and beyond to try and make him slip up - but as Rogan called it at the end of the night, Anderson entirely underestimated Weidman's punching power.

[Drock007]

Watching Anderson Silva lose last night was an unreal moment for me as an MMA fan especially in the fashion he did. It was only the icing on the cake that the Chris Weidman the guy ive been saying would dethrone Anderson Silva for the last 2 years was the guy who did, he really was "the savior" as i've been referring to him for the last 2 years

[Benjamin]

Anderson Silva is the GOAT, no matter what people say and no matter what happened at UFC 162. Yes, he's a gigantic dick (no one has wanted him to lose more than me) but that still doesn't take away from the fact that he is a fucking beast at fighting, despite him being completely moronic in the cage. I hate it when fighters put their hands down, or have their feet flat like that, but he could do it and get away with it before this because he is that damn good. He's just an arrogant guy who's really good at his job and feels like he isn't being challenged enough.