Who deserves the next MW Title shot?

OU wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

I also think people are getting carried away with this blueprint talk. Sonnen got finished twice. If people are laying on the hopes that he can go out there and be Sonnen, why? He's gonna get finished.

I wouldn't say it was just Sonnen, but it has been shown that you can take Anderson down and win rounds. No one has been able to survive or find a way to do much damage once they got him there. But that is clearly where the challengers are having the most success. We haven't seen anyone win a round vs Anderson with standup only. The only way people are winning rounds is mixing in take downs. I think that is clearly Anderson's weakest area. But no one has been able to stop Anderson from getting his offense off when he needed to.

agree again, if there is a way to win, it surely ain't via striking. And if Chael wasn't so damn susceptible to sub's he very well may have pulled that first fight off.

Now unfortuneately for the wrestlers, I think this whole Sonnen business has forced Silva to tighten up that part of his game. We saw it in rnd 2 of the rematch. And Sonnen has proven to be a very very adept takedown practitioner.

captain organic wrote:

OU wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

I also think people are getting carried away with this blueprint talk. Sonnen got finished twice. If people are laying on the hopes that he can go out there and be Sonnen, why? He's gonna get finished.

I wouldn't say it was just Sonnen, but it has been shown that you can take Anderson down and win rounds. No one has been able to survive or find a way to do much damage once they got him there. But that is clearly where the challengers are having the most success. We haven't seen anyone win a round vs Anderson with standup only. The only way people are winning rounds is mixing in take downs. I think that is clearly Anderson's weakest area. But no one has been able to stop Anderson from getting his offense off when he needed to.

agree again, if there is a way to win, it surely ain't via striking. And if Chael wasn't so damn susceptible to sub's he very well may have pulled that first fight off.

Now unfortuneately for the wrestlers, I think this whole Sonnen business has forced Silva to tighten up that part of his game. We saw it in rnd 2 of the rematch. And Sonnen has proven to be a very very adept takedown practitioner.

I don't think Andy did so well stopping the TDs from Chael. Weidman outwrestling Munoz shows his game is ready fir Silva. I definitely think he is the guy right now after the way he dominated Mark. Andy won't accept the fight imo.

I think it was a big mistake putting that fight on FUEL. I guess wanting it to be 5 rounds was a good idea. But UFC 149 could have used the depth since the main event probably won't be that big of a draw.

GDPofDRC wrote:

I also think people are getting carried away with this blueprint talk. Sonnen got finished twice. If people are laying on the hopes that he can go out there and be Sonnen, why? He's gonna get finished.

To me, what makes Weidman dangerous for Silva is that he is essentially Sonnen 2.0. He is bigger, has longer reach, just as good with wrestling, average striking and a very good submission game. When Sonnen fought Silva, everyone knew that he had to win a 5 round decision to win, but with Weidman, once on the ground, he has the ability to submit Silva. Not saying thats what would happen, but I think Weidman is a harder matchup for Silva then Sonnen was.

I agree that the reach is a big thing. It was talked about post fight on FUEL. He has the same reach as Anderson. I have always thought that someone needed good takedowns and submissions to beat Anderson. That's why I thought Palhares could have been a problem for Silva. He has pretty good take downs and the BJJ to get the submission once he gets the take down. So both of those things are big for me. His BJJ once it hits the ground and his reach.

jimbojones1950 wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

I also think people are getting carried away with this blueprint talk. Sonnen got finished twice. If people are laying on the hopes that he can go out there and be Sonnen, why? He's gonna get finished.

To me, what makes Weidman dangerous for Silva is that he is essentially Sonnen 2.0. He is bigger, has longer reach, just as good with wrestling, average striking and a very good submission game. When Sonnen fought Silva, everyone knew that he had to win a 5 round decision to win, but with Weidman, once on the ground, he has the ability to submit Silva. Not saying thats what would happen, but I think Weidman is a harder matchup for Silva then Sonnen was.

I agree with a lot of that. My assertion of the overreaction is a lot of people making it seem like, because of the reasons you've mentioned, that it is practically a done deal for Chris to beat Silva. He looks more and more like he has the right tools to compete.

I think you have to be an absolute moron to just assume anyone beats Anderson Silva. Having the tools to possibly win and being a lock to win are very, very different things.

GDPofDRC wrote:

jimbojones1950 wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

I also think people are getting carried away with this blueprint talk. Sonnen got finished twice. If people are laying on the hopes that he can go out there and be Sonnen, why? He's gonna get finished.

To me, what makes Weidman dangerous for Silva is that he is essentially Sonnen 2.0. He is bigger, has longer reach, just as good with wrestling, average striking and a very good submission game. When Sonnen fought Silva, everyone knew that he had to win a 5 round decision to win, but with Weidman, once on the ground, he has the ability to submit Silva. Not saying thats what would happen, but I think Weidman is a harder matchup for Silva then Sonnen was.

I agree with a lot of that. My assertion of the overreaction is a lot of people making it seem like, because of the reasons you've mentioned, that it is practically a done deal for Chris to beat Silva. He looks more and more like he has the right tools to compete.

Ha ha, who is saying that?

I'm giving Weidman little chance. I don't care how long his reach is, he is not beating Silva in a standing affair. I find it very unlikely he would sub Silva, and I'm not of the belief that his takedowns and top control are as good as Chael's. But I do think that last point would be his only chance. For his own sake, he had better be able to wrassle up Silva.


And I do agree that a very impressive win by either Lombard or Boetsch, could put them at the top of this list. But it will need to be very impressive.

Quote :

"We're working on so much crazy shit right now -- you know how I get. I get all nutty and start telling you shit I'm not supposed to be telling you. We're working on really, really exciting stuff that we're just going to kill it at the end of this year. Some really fun stuff.... I am very excited about the 185-pound division -- it's all I've been talking about for the last four days. I was on the road, in Australia, on the phone every day talking about the 185-pound division. It's never been more exciting. I will let the cat out of the bag on Saturday about what we are going to do. Whoever wins on Saturday [between Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch], I will have answers for you at the press conference."

Sonnen was asked to give his opinion on who deserves the next middleweight title shot against Silva. He thinks Weidman offers the best challenge, but he feels a certain big-mouthed Brit may end up passing over "All American," for other various reasons:

Quote :

"Deserve is the key word there. Nobody deserves a shot. There's a lot that goes into that: The bureacracy and politics and, basically, who can sell the most tickets often elevates you to the top in this sport. That's where Michael Bisping comes in. Who's the best fighter? Chris Weidman. The question is: The fighter that beat up Mark Munoz, can he duplicate that, or did he just have a really good night?"

Shad or Bisping IF he beats Stann.

Ali wrote:

Shad or Bisping IF he beats Stann.

You can't seriously think Rashad Evans deserves a MW title shot over these guys. I think you are confusing your wish list with what who is truly more deserving.

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Shad or Bisping IF he beats Stann.

You can't seriously think Rashad Evans deserves a MW title shot over these guys. I think you are confusing your wish list with what who is truly more deserving.

I am, although I do feel Silva has earned the luxury of a fight like Shad.

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Shad or Bisping IF he beats Stann.

You can't seriously think Rashad Evans deserves a MW title shot over these guys. I think you are confusing your wish list with what who is truly more deserving.

I am, although I do feel Silva has earned the luxury of a fight like Shad.

What do you mean by that? Silva should be fighting the best MWs the UFC has to offer. He has been offered super fights of GSP and Jon Jones and he isn't interested in either(thankfully). After this weekend we could have 2 guys deserving of title shots. No reason why Rashad should jump in line. Might be different if we were waiting for a worthy challenger to emerge. But IMO that isn't the case right now. But I'm all for an eventual fight with Rashad. I just prefer he fight once at MW before he is given a shot. Or atleast give him a catchweight fight like they did Vitor.

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Shad or Bisping IF he beats Stann.

You can't seriously think Rashad Evans deserves a MW title shot over these guys. I think you are confusing your wish list with what who is truly more deserving.

I am, although I do feel Silva has earned the luxury of a fight like Shad.

What do you mean by that? Silva should be fighting the best MWs the UFC has to offer. He has been offered super fights of GSP and Jon Jones and he isn't interested in either(thankfully). After this weekend we could have 2 guys deserving of title shots. No reason why Rashad should jump in line. Might be different if we were waiting for a worthy challenger to emerge. But IMO that isn't the case right now. But I'm all for an eventual fight with Rashad. I just prefer he fight once at MW before he is given a shot. Or atleast give him a catchweight fight like they did Vitor.

Eleven defenses of the title isn't enough to allow Silva a fight with Shad ?

There isn't a clear contender at the moment Silva just beat the #1 guy.

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Shad or Bisping IF he beats Stann.

You can't seriously think Rashad Evans deserves a MW title shot over these guys. I think you are confusing your wish list with what who is truly more deserving.

I am, although I do feel Silva has earned the luxury of a fight like Shad.

What do you mean by that? Silva should be fighting the best MWs the UFC has to offer. He has been offered super fights of GSP and Jon Jones and he isn't interested in either(thankfully). After this weekend we could have 2 guys deserving of title shots. No reason why Rashad should jump in line. Might be different if we were waiting for a worthy challenger to emerge. But IMO that isn't the case right now. But I'm all for an eventual fight with Rashad. I just prefer he fight once at MW before he is given a shot. Or atleast give him a catchweight fight like they did Vitor.

Eleven defenses of the title isn't enough to allow Silva a fight with Shad ?

There isn't a clear contender at the moment Silva just beat the #1 guy.

I don't understand what you are saying? What does Silva's accomplishments have to do with Rashad being deserving of a title shot? Doesn't matter how many fights Anderson wins, it won't make Rashad any more deserving. Anderson doesn't have the right to pick someone to leap frog the other contenders, no matter how many fights he wins.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/7/26/3188719/ufc-chris-weidman-vs-anderson-silva-belfort-bisping-mma-news
In an excellent interview with Fighters Only, he implied that he's probably next:

Quote :

FO: Million dollar question - who is next for you?

Weidman: Hopefully Anderson Silva.

FO: Really?

Weidman: Hmm... I'm pretty sure... you know... there's a good chance of it happening and... yeah.