The Spider is dominant once again, “Big Nog” impresses and Glover Teixeira lays down a marker – all in our rundown of last weekend’s UFC 153.
Super fights for Silva
Stephan Bonnar (15-8) was never going to turn down the chance to fight Anderson Silva (33-4) and to his credit he went after the current ‘pound-for-pound’ greatest in search of victory. But much like Silva’s last trip to 205lbs against Forrest Griffin (19-7), the bigger, younger man was no match for Silva’s speed and talent.
Having weathered the storm against Bonnar, Silva knew he was too much for his opponent. After both men separated, Bonnar took the centre of the Octagon and rather than get lured into deep waters, Silva took a few steps in reverse and placed his back against the fence. As Bonnar reengaged, Silva’s corner scolded their fighter for his disregard for safety. While Bonnar worked, Silva motioned to his corner with his palms as if to say ‘Calm down, I got this’. Like a scene out of The Matrix, Silva then dodged and side stepped everything Bonnar had to offer.
Shortly after he pounced and ended the fight with a solitary knee to the chest. The ground and pound that followed wasn’t really required.
At the post fight press conference Anderson Silva claimed he had 5 years left in his career and wants to remain a middleweight. Michael Bisping (23-4) deserves a shot and maybe Chris Weidman (9-0) if he keeps winning.
But outside of that – who’s left at 185lbs and would we watch Anderson Silva fighting them?
While neither Jon Jones (17-1) nor Anderson Silva have said they want to fight each other, Dana White seems to be committed to making this super-fight happen. Hopefully he succeeds.
Glover Teixeira is a threat at 205
All the hype about Glover (19-2) is legit. Granted he hasn’t faced any top 10 opposition yet, but in his 2 fights we’ve seen he has looked awesome in beating Kyle Kingsbury (11-5) and Fabio Maldonado (18-6).
What was most impressive about his ground and pound-inspired victory was the accuracy of his striking, whether on the feet or on the floor Glover landed punches and elbows in abundance.
Ironically, Maldonado’s fell victim to his granite chin -no-one would have thought less of him if he had given up long before the doctor called a halt to proceedings at the end of round 2. Maybe the ref could have made that call sooner.
Next up for Glover is Rampage, who he was originally supposed to fight at UFC 153.
‘Minotauro’ Nogueira is the bionic man
11 months on from having 16 screws and a steel plate placed in the arm that Frank Mir snapped in two, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-7) was back to beat up a guy that many expected him to lose to.
Back at UFC 134, also in Rio, ‘Minotauro’ had battled back from hip surgery, when many felt he should have retired, to knock-out Brendan Schaub (8-3).
After the sickening arm break at UFC 140 the calls to retire were repeated. The lure to fight in his home town of Rio was too much for Nogueira though. From the first bell to the tap-out of Dave Herman (21-5), Nogueira never looked like he was going to lose.
The $70,000 for ‘Submission of the Night’ would have made the win all the more sweeter.
The best BJJ in MMA
Having great BJJ does not necessarily result in a stellar MMA career, but it certainly helps.
Demian Maia (17-4), who is an ADCC and BJJ world champion, has added enough striking and wrestling to allow him excel in the area he’s best. Having gone 15-4 as a middleweight, which included a title fight with Anderson Silva, Maia made the move to welterweight. Having never been an imposing figure at 185lbs, Maia now looks like a bigger man against 170lbs opposition.
His win against a gritty Rick Story (14-6) was a BJJ master class.
Another few wins and ‘Maia 2.0’ could be on the way to another title shot.
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