How can you not include the most prolific and dominant champion in UFC history? Anderson Silva had ten title defenses, along with 16 straight victories in the UFC. He would either destroy or embarrass whoever stepped in front of him. His tactic of taunting seemed to be over the top at times, yet he still always managed to win in definitive fashion. Silva's new challenge was Chris Weidman, who was highly regarded by several world class fighters. Georges St. Pierre, Daniel Cormier, and a few other fighters talked highly of him and even gave him the advantage against Anderson Silva. Weidman had yet to be truly battle tested in such a depleted middleweight division. His biggest victory was a nasty counter elbow knocking out an out of shape Mark Munoz. It wasn't the resume that would give casual fans confidence to pick him, yet he wasn't a heavy underdog. We saw why in the first round, when he took Silva down instantly and began to land some powerful punches on top. Eventually he was forced to stand-and-trade with Silva, which made me believe that it was only a matter of time before we see " the spider" catch another victim in his web. Instead we saw an overabundance of taunting. His taunting wasn't reminiscent of luring Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar into catching them with a counter strike. This style of taunting was more similar to his lackluster victory over Demian Maia, where he kept circling around in the championship rounds. He seemed to be dancing more than throwing strikes, while Weidman stayed focused. His composure was superb and he eventually caught Silva slipping, which led to an improbable end to his astonishing title reign. The reason why this isn't the most shocking knockout of all-time is because of those well-respected fighters predicting an upset and Silva's over the top antics. When a fighter taunts to that extent, they are asking to be knocked out. This was a historical moment, but it did lose some luster due to Silva's antics.
I cover the sport of MMA, along with being a fan of the sport since 2008. I've been covering the sport for two years now, along with interviewing several fighters. I also write on MMASucka.com. You can follow me on twitter @Allen_Strk or email at AStrk19@gmail.com
