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Today we have another edition of Ask MMATorch, where MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick and MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen answer your questions about the world of MMA. If you have a question you'd like answered by either of them, send it in to askmmatorch@gmail.com.
Tanar writes:My question is simple. Why should there be an immediate Weidman vs. Silva 2? Nothing about the fight warranted him earning a rematch. In my head, the most necessary rematches were Edgar vs. Maynard, Sonnen vs. Silva, and Serra vs. GSP.
This fight was closer to Bigfoot vs. Overeem with the ending of Rashad vs. Liddell, and no one clamored for rematches after those fights. While I think Anderson should earn a rematch, (see: EARN, like Cain and dos Santos did or GSP after his loss to Matt Hughes) I see no reason for him to be gifted one after he blew off the fight and paid for it with his title.
MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick Answers: There's a very fair criticism here in that Silva seemed not to take the fight and Weidman as seriously as he should have. It fits the Overeem comparison more than the Rampage-Liddell fight, as Overeem disrespected Bigfoot entirely before being knocked out. Still, a big difference with Anderson Silva is the idea that he simply got caught. It wasn't such a dominant and one-sided performance from Weidman, showcasing him as the clearly better fighter, to say to Silva: get back in line. And another major difference with Silva beyond any of those other fighters is his 16-fight winning streak in the UFC.
This really can't be compared to the situation any other champion has faced. Immediate rematches have been rare, and yes, in the case of many they had to work back up to get another crack at the title. But none of them have had the history Silva has in the UFC, and when they lost they didn't have the fallback of getting caught while overly cocky. It's certainly not the fairest situation to other fighters in the division, but from a business perspective it's the fight that makes the most sense for the UFC as well.
Joel writes:It's UFC 166 co main event Dan Moore vs Rich Hansen, my question is who wins and by which method?
MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen Answers: You're kidding, right? Dan's British army. I'm couch army. Dan would murder me. Easiest question ever.
MMAFanatic25 writes:What happened to the five round main events? That would have been perfect for a more decisive winner for UFC 161's Henderson vs Evans.
MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen Answers: Five round main events are still in play. The original main event for UFC 161 (Barao vs. Wineland) was set to be five rounds, which meant that Henderson vs. Evans was set to be three rounds. Once Henderson vs. Evans was elevated on short notice to main event status, they couldn't just change it to a five round fight because both fighters were already in deep training... for a three round fight.
That said, the fight itself wasn't entertaining, and was only going to get slower and sloppier. Slow and sloppy might be awesome for making out on a third date, but it's not so good for a cage fight.
Maddox writes:GSP has been quoted as saying before any fight, he feels nervous and scared about the person he's fighting in fear of losing when everyone puts high expectations into him.
Anderson Silva says he fears no man and hasn't lost a fight to anyone the UFC has put in front of him (until Saturday night).
Can't we read between the lines and see that GSP doesn't want to fight Silva because he's too afraid to lose to him? I'm a huge GSP supporter, but its not hard to read his body language and see how he truly feels about it.
MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick Answers: I don't think Georges St-Pierre is truly afraid to fight anyone. He has that fear of losing that drives him into each and every bout, yes, but I don't think he's afraid of anyone.
The biggest issue when it has come to the Silva-GSP booking is the fact that GSP never asked for it. He's a welterweight, Silva fights 15 lbs. heavier than him and walks around even higher. There's a significant size difference between the two fighters, and GSP hasn't at all been looking to move up in weight. He's been highly consistent about that fact, and has said if Silva wanted to come down to his weight class he'd gladly fight him there.
I think more than anything, the weight difference is what has played the biggest part in that fight not coming together. If Silva ever dropped to welterweight, or if St-Pierre decided he could no longer make that cut himself and moved up to middleweight, perhaps it's a fight that could happen, but I wouldn't ever say St-Pierre's scared to fight Silva.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
