Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: UFC on FX 8 Reactions, Nate Diaz, and Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva
May 22, 2013 - 10:55:49 AM HYDEN BLOG: UFC on FX 8 Reactions, Nate Diaz, and Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

After a UFC card I usually do a blog I call The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly where I go through the event and list what I liked and didn't like. I'm not going to do that after UFC on FX 8 because, quite frankly, there's no need to. There's nothing on the card that I would consider to be bad, and certainly nothing that would be ugly.

On the other hand, there are only two things I would consider "good": Vitor Belfort's spinning kick KO and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza showing off his impressive submission skills. This card was the definition of average. There's nothing wrong with that, but it was just another card. Other than Belfort's kick, this card will be filed away and mostly forgotten. I don't mean that to be as dismissive as it sounds, it's just that we typically only remember things that are either really good or really bad.

Jacare looked strong in his UFC debut as he fought Chris Camozzi. Jacare made his submission look easy, but that's a testament to his skills. Camozzi was game and showed up to fight, but he was facing a guy that was just better than him and it showed. I give Camozzi credit for taking the fighter change on short notice, but Jacare is just too skilled at what he does.

In the main event Vitor Belfort knocked out Luke Rockhold with a crazy spinning back kick. He followed up with some lightning quick punches and forced the stoppage. Before the fight, I had thought that Rockhold could win if he were able to weather the storm early. Well, he certainly was not able to do that. Belfort looked great, except for the lousy mohawk haircut he had.

I do feel the need, though, to bring up that Belfort was approved for TRT for this fight. I personally do not think that TRT use should be allowed, especially for guys who have failed drug tests before.

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Nate Diaz was fined $20,000 and suspended for 90 days after comments he made about Bryan Caraway on Twitter. Long story short, Pat Healy failed a drug test for marijuana after UFC 159 and got his fight bonus revoked. That bonus then went to Bryan Caraway. Nate didn't like that, and proceeded to call Caraway the "biggest fag in the world". Obviously that didn't go over too well and led to this punishment.

I think it was incredibly stupid for Diaz to make such a comment. For one, he had to know better than to use that word. Two, it's not Caraway's fault that Healy failed a drug test. I don't think that marijuana should be criminalized the way it is, but everyone knows that this is the case. Healy is the one who messed up here, not Caraway.

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Chris Weidman did an interview last week where he made fun of Anderson Silva's high-pitched voice. I think that's wrong for many reasons. For one, that's a low blow. Unless Weidman wants to be like Chael Sonnen and be reviled this isn't a good move. For two, this is classic bulletin board material. I've had some people suggest to me that Silva is overlooking Weidman as he anticipates a fight with Jon Jones after a successful title defense. I disagree with this because Weidman has been agitating for this title shot for a very long time. He's even gone so far as to say that Silva is ducking him and doesn't want to fight him. This ensures that there's no way that Silva overlooks Weidman.

To accuse someone of ducking them is enough of a low blow, but then to make fun of their voice or the way they talk pretty much guarantees that you now have their full attention. I really don't think that this was a smart move on Weidman's part. His best chance for victory was in Silva overlooking him, and now that's gone. Weidman's talked a big game, now he's got to back it up or he'll look like a chump. If Weidman wins, he looks great. If Weidman loses, though, he looks like an idiot for talking so much.

The stakes are very high for Anderson Silva in this fight, his winning streak and his title are on the line. Every time Silva steps into the cage the stakes are high. However, the stakes are also very high for Weidman. That goes without saying in a title fight, but it goes beyond that. Weidman's big talk has raised the stakes for him even higher. It's title or bust for him. He has to win this fight to justify the talk. That's a lot of pressure, way more pressure than he's ever faced in his fighting life. How he responds to this pressure will define him for a long time.

I always look forward to an Anderson Silva fight because we're witness to history every time he fights. Will Chris Weidman finally be the one to defeat Silva? Or will Silva continue his unprecedented winning streak? Either way it's going to be a night to remember. I just wish this fight was happening tomorrow.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank