Jayne Kamin-Oncea – USA TODAY Sports
Chris Weidman was a man on a mission last night. Coming into this fight, he was a slight underdog to Anderson Silva, who has been one of the most dominant champions in all of the UFC. Silva has been known to taunt his opponents, and he has always been able to get away with this, which is predicated on his finesse and ability to get in and out of the pocket before his opponent can find his chin.
Well, last night was not the night for Silva. Call it cockiness; call it getting old. Silva has been dethroned. Weidman did what no other fighter has been able to do inside the octagon, handing Silva his first loss inside the UFC in impressive fashion. In the first round, Weidman was able to take Silva down using his wrestling. He would land some good shots from the top, but Silva was able to survive. Round 2 started off with Silva taunting Weidman.
But this would only lead to his dismay. Anderson tried to elude Weidman’s punches, leaving his chin unprotected. Weidman capitalized on the mistake, sending Silva to the canvas out cold. We now have a new middleweight champion, and what a great one in Weidman. He did what he said he was going to do, but it’s incredible that he did it via KO. Ladies and gentlemen, Weidman has arrived. To all those fighters out there looking to make a run in this sport, always leave your hands up, as anything can happen inside the octagon.
