Anderson Silva Loses Title to Chris Weidman

Pride comes before the fall.

Anderson “The Spider” Silva (33-5) lost his title last night to Chris Weidman (10-0) in a second-round shocker that almost brought the roof down on the MGM Grand.  Silva, who is arguably the greatest pound for pound in the world, played it cocky and theatrical both rounds of the potentially 5 round championship fight, and got caught by a surprise left hook that sent him plummeting wide-eyed to the mat.

Anderson has been known for a long time for his intense speed, incredible power, and his showboating ways.  Many times he has been watched putting his chin out to his competitors, dropping his hands to his sides, leaning against the fence and waiting to be attacked, and goading his opponents on to attack him.  Usually, this is a tactic that has sent his opponents into a rage, making them come at him, where he would then unleash a flurry of strikes down on his opponents, which is what has made him undefeated in the UFC since his arrival, and he has defended his belt 10 times since receiving it in 2006.

The scandal this time around?  Anderson has NEVER been as sloppy as what we saw last night.  Has he been cocky?  Sure.  Has he showboated more than an NFL touchdown dance?  Absolutely, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson be damned.  But not to the level the world watched yesterday.  Silva dropped his hands within the first minute of the first round and began antagonizing Weidman early, giving up his chin and laughing at Weidman when punches landed.  UFC President Dana White said in an interview after that fight that he absolutely believed that Silva had gotten into Weidman’s head in the first round, but that he didn’t think that Silva had needed to continue the theatrics into the second round.

But, he did.

Another taunting in the second round ensued when Silva blocked a takedown attempt by Weidman, and then began pretending to be hurt when he got grazed by a left hand from Weidman.  Weidman attacked hard and caught Silva with a flush left hook that locked up Silva’s legs and put his back on the mat.  Silva’s eyes were wide open as Weidman jumped on the champion and finished him off with a series of blows directly to the face, causing referee Herb Dean to call the fight at the 1:18 mark in the second round.

“I felt I was destined for this,” Weidman said. “I imagined doing this many times in my head, but it’s surreal.”

Afterwards, Silva gave a speech that would have made Brett Favre proud, stating, “I trained hard for this fight, I changed my life. I changed the life of my family. Chris Weidman tonight is the champion. Chris is the best.

“I won’t fight [again] for the belt. I had the belt for a long time.”

Silva does, however, still have a UFC contractual obligation.

“I have 10 more fights [with UFC], but not [necessarily] for the belt.”

Silva may have trained hard for the fight, but practicing how to showboat in front of the mirror was probably something he should have spent a little less time on, and a little more time on how not to block left hooks with your chin.