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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
UFC 168 is quickly approaching, and excitement is at an all-time high. This is definitely the case for me. Before we get to the event itself, I did want to touch upon something else first, though.
Dana White recently discussed the UFC raising the price of the HD feed for UFC 168 by $5. White first tried to pass the buck by blaming the ubiquitous "suits" for the price hike. That's bad enough, as it just shows a lack of accountability. It's a seeming habit for White as the year comes to a close, as his refusal to admit he was wrong about Georges St-Pierre "owing" the UFC, Johnny Hendricks, and the fans anything also showed a lack of accountability.
It didn't end there, though, as White then suggested that you merely invite more friends over to split the cost. First, I'm sure that most people would say that everyone they would want to come over and watch UFC events with them has already been invited. This is also glossing over the fact that it's uncouth for White to dismiss legitimate complaints from paying customers who are objecting to a blatant money grab.
Of course, this isn't a huge deal, and ultimately everyone will just fork over the extra $5, but that doesn't make it right. It leaves a bad taste in people's mouths to get shook down for more money when you could already make the argument that UFC pay-per-views are overpriced as it is. Not that the UFC is alone in that regard.
With that out of the way, I'll move on to the fights.
Ronda Rousey vs. Meisha Tate
Prediction: Rousey by Submission in the fourth round
Rousey will look to defend her UFC Women's Bantamweight Title against Tate, who I think will push Rousey further than anyone else ever has. I don't think Rousey has lost her focus or anything like that, and I fully support her in branching out into movies and other projects she wants to do. I think that's great, and shows great business acumen. I think Rousey will be as good as she's ever been, but that's why I think she meets her greatest challenge yet.
Rousey has set the bar so high that her challengers have to raise their game to match. It's just like with Tiger Woods in golf. There was a time where you would ask "Tiger or the field?" and people would pick Tiger. That's almost ridiculous to say. You see it in other sports as well. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in the NFL, Michael Jordan in the NBA. Now, obviously, the fight game is different in certain ways. The career spans are much shorter due to the abuse their bodies undergo, you can lose in the blink of an eye, and also the sport is so young that it's still evolving, etc.
The challengers to Rousey are trying to catch up to her, and eventually they will. That doesn't diminish what she's been able to accomplish, that actually magnifies it. The sport is better because of Rousey, as she's raised the bar so high that it brings about greatness in those just trying to match her. I don't think that Tate has come so far as to beat Rousey, but I do think she'll come closer than anyone else ever has. This fight has been a long time in the making, and I think it'll deliver.
Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva
Prediction: Silva by KO in the second round
Weidman will try to make his first defense of the UFC Middleweight Title in the most anticipated rematch in UFC history. I think Silva goofed around far too much in the first fight and deserved to lose. I don't think that happens in this fight. I think Silva will be as focused as he's ever been, and we see a Silva we don't always get to see. I think we see the guy who crushed Chris Leben and Rich Franklin. I think we see the guy who beat Dan Henderson when he was at the top of his game. I think we see the guy who front kicks Vitor Belfort right in the mouth.
There's pressure on Silva, to be sure. However, his legacy is fully intact. If he loses this fight, he suffers the same fate that so many other fighters have. Time catches up to everyone eventually. What Silva did in his career, though, is unprecedented. His legacy is already written, with only a few additional paragraphs to be filled in.
Weidman, on the other hand, has all the pressure in the world on him. He has to win this fight to prove the first fight wasn't a fluke. If Weidman loses he becomes a trivia answer. He can overcome that, for sure, and go on to have a great career of his own, but that's nowhere near certain. Weidman has gotten very little credit for the first fight. That sounds unfair on the surface, but those who watched the fight couldn't help but feel that Silva lost the fight rather than Weidman won it. The ending was decisive, but the events leading up to it weren't.
A big factor that does work for Weidman is that he now has the confidence in knowing that he can beat Silva. No matter how it happened, he was the man with his hand raised at the end of the night. Confidence plays such a huge role in sports, and now Weidman has that for real. He knows that if he can hit Silva he can beat him. Hitting him will be the hard part, though.
I think this loss has woken Silva up. I'm sure he'll still do some of his showboating, but nowhere near the level that he was at during the first fight. He showed such contempt for Weidman that there was a big part of me that was glad to see him get knocked goofy, even though it meant the end of one of the most incredible runs in fighting history. I think Silva comes roaring back, ready to beat Weidman. I think Weidman will show that he's for real, but I don't think he wins this time. To be honest, the only thing that will surprise me is if the fight goes to a decision. I think Silva comes out tentative in the first round, gauging the distance and all that he typically does, then comes out and finishes things in the second.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank
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