UFC 168: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman Fight Breakdown
UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman will look to silence any doubters at UFC 168, as he takes on the man he stole the title from; Anderson Silva. In one of biggest fights of all time, we will hopefully get to see Silva take it a bit more seriously and answer all the questions that were raised at UFC 162.
Let’s take a look at the breakdown of the most highly anticipated fight of 2013, Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman II:
Wrestling
Weidman has the clear advantage in this department, with NCAA All-American experience to bring to the table. We have seen Silva use excellent movement to avoid takedowns, and it was a shock when Chael Sonnen ragged him about, but realistically Weidman is probably going to look for a takedown and get it.
Of course this isn’t to say that Weidman will blanket ‘The Spider’ for five rounds, but I honestly can’t see him risking his new title in a Muay Thai fight. Silva’s craftiness on the mat makes it hard to mount much offensive wrestling, but the fact remains that Weidman is the much stronger wrestler. 70-30 Weidman
Grappling
The champ Weidman is an excellent grappler, with a brown belt in BJJ and many people thought that Silva would be foolish to go to the mat with Weidman in the first fight. As it happened, Silva was able to escape from Weidman’s attempts at UFC 162 with relative ease. I think people forget that Silva is a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and in Judo, and it’s easy to do that because you don’t really see a lot of it when Silva fights.
‘The Spider’ owns six submission wins overall, to Weidman’s three, and is the stronger grappler in my opinion. His bread and butter is striking, but Silva is capable of finishing from his back if it comes to it. Silva takes the nod at 60-40
Striking
It’s interesting that Silva was beaten in his domain at 162, suffering a humiliating knockout while trying to punk Weidman and almost retiring as a result. Weidman has never really been known for huge KO power, or for technical prowess as Silva is, and I feel that Silva will be the one who shines at 168.
Muay Thai, Taekwondo and Capoeira help make Silva’s striking arsenal the most feared in the Middleweight division. I expect a clinical display by Silva, win or lose, ‘Spider’ owns the striking at 70-30
Banner image courtesy of USAToday.com
