Chris Weidman – Anderson Silva fight ends in shocking freak injury

MANILA, Philippines – In an unexpected turn of events, Chris Weidman defeats Anderson “The Spider” Silva, but not the way most had hoped it would go. The fight ended in a shocking freak injury that not only finished the fight, but most likely finished the career of possibly the greatest MMA fighter in the history of the sport.

Leading up to the match, many questions had arisen due to the controversial nature their first fight had ended. In their first meeting, Silva characteristically showboated in-fight and paid the price with his consciousness as Weidman knocked him out cold.

After the fight, many fans had wondered that if Silva had taken the fight a little more seriously, that he would have gone on to win quite easily. Immediately after the loss, Silva sang to the tune of a comeback, telling his fans around the world that he needed the loss to change his frame of mind.

A determined Silva would get back on the right track, securing an immediate rematch with Weidman at UFC 168.

As such, much was riding on their second meeting – the future of Chris Weidman and the remainder of Anderson Silva’s glorious career.

In a familiar scene in the very first round, Weidman took the fight straight to Silva’s grille and landed a concussive right hook on Silva’s temple that caused the Brazilian’s eyes to roll back as he fell to the mat. It appeared as though Weidman was close to finishing off Silva in a repeat performance, but Silva quickly regained consciousness and fought off his back.

In Silva’s guard, Weidman tried to work in some ground-and-pound, but Silva had good success landing strikes from this position, as he has for most of his career. The exchange resulted in a bloody nose for Weidman, and a good close out for Silva heading into the second round.

“There was a point where I was thinking, ‘ref stop the fight’. That’s what I was thinking,” said Chris Weidman, referring to having Silva down with a bludgeoning right hand.

Although dominant in the first round, Weidman knew Silva was always dangerous as long as the fight bore on. In the second round, Weidman kept the pressure on and opted to stand and trade with Silva.

The second round bell signalled the beginning of the end.

After the punch heard round the world landed last year, this time it was a kick that ended the fight.

In a gruesome scene, Anderson Silva launched a powerful leg kick aimed at Weidman’s base that got checked. As Silva’s leg collided with Weidman’s, it snapped in two in a horrific visual that saw the Brazilian’s limb shattered and flailing about as if partially amputated.

@FudgeGuartico “@CountOnVic: Oh. My. God. RT @rudetellzLBC: https://t.co/1KcZtFXNKS”””

— Fixed Stars★ (@Tangtatangtang) December 29, 2013

Silva hit the ground, writhing in pain from the freak injury. Subsequently, Chris Weidman was awarded the TKO victory at 3:44 of Round 2, successfully retaining the UFC Middleweight championship.

And once again, a Silva-Weidman fight ended in controversy.

It is a sad ending to an awesome career for Anderson Silva.

There’s a huge cloud over Silva right now. Forget about fighting again, the challenge would now be to recover and try to walk again. There is no way, after suffering an injury such as this, that Silva will be able to fight on.

At 38 years of age, in the twilight of his career, many believe that we have witnessed the end of an era and that this latest setback will prove to be too steep of a mountain to climb for the once proud warrior. Regardless, Silva is still widely considered to be the greatest to ever step inside the Octagon.

Now however, is Chris Weidman’s turn to carry the torch for the future of the UFC Middleweight division.

With the victory, Chris Weidman can now move on to much more compelling fights perhaps against “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort next who is quietly waiting in the wings. Weidman improves to 11-0 with his second straight stoppage of Anderson Silva, as Silva drops to 39-6.

UFC 168: Silva vs Weidman 2 was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. – Rappler.com