Chris Weidman’s Upset Over Anderson Silva Couldn’t Be More Legitimate
The biggest upset since Fedor Emelianenko lost to Antonio Silva wasn’t a flop.
My initial thought on Chris Weidman’s historic upset over Anderson Silva last night was that it was solely due to Silva’s extreme overconfidence and recklessness, making the win much less legitimate since Silva wasn’t really “fighting.” But the truth of the matter is that Silva toys with all of his opponents and gives them plenty of chances to knock him out during his fights. Weidman is the first to actually do it.
In contrast to Alistair Overeem’s recent upset loss to Antonio Silva, Anderson Silva’s loss shouldn’t be attributed to cockiness since that’s how he always fights. His style of toying with his opponents and making them look like amateurs is what earned him such highly acclaimed status. Ironically it has now lead to his fall.
We were bound to interpret it as arrogance and carelessness as soon as it cost him the championship but it’s simply his way of demoralizing his opponents. In a way, Weidman’s win is just as valid as if Silva would’ve fought tooth-and-nail to keep his title. Silva played his game and lost.
Some are attributing the former champ’s loss as a passing of the torch, a potentially voluntary one. Silva is nearing forty and could possibly be wrapping up his career. He wasn’t too distraught over his loss of the title after the fight which leads me to believe he is ready to move on, but hopefully not too soon.
The MMA community surely still wants to see him fight Jon Jones at light heavyweight before he calls it quits. The super-fight bubble has definitely been deflated now that Silva won’t be considered the best in the world. But something tells me we’ll be still clamoring to see it once this news settles in.
