Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva at the UFC 168 weigh-ins. Pic by SHERDOG.COm -click for source- Credit: Dave Mandel

Anderson Silva paused and knelt down before walking through the gate and in to the arena. The rest of us couldn’t physically see him as he meditated or reflected in the tunnel under the facility, but we could see him from the big screens that surrounded the MGM Grand Garden Arena last night at UFC 168.

He stayed down in a crouch for a while as security shifted their feet around him and the rest of us just stared at the big screen, waiting. I wondered what must’ve been going through his mind at that moment. While I watched Silva alongside everyone else, I could only guess at what was happening inside his mind of course.

Whether he was having a spiritual or religious moment or simply meditating, I think he was accepting whatever was going to come next. Then when he stood up and began walking forward in an even measured pace with a fixed expression on his face, the moment felt fitting as he entered the arena for maybe the final time in real life as a mixed martial arts competitor.

When Chris Weidman checked Silva’s leg in to oblivion in the second round, capping the night’s brutal string of finishes in a sickening display, the ridiculously irrational nature of the moment was almost the perfectly rational ending to a crazy night of circumstances.

The first real indicator the night was going to turn out odd was when Chris Leben and Uriah Hall stepped in to battle it out as the main event of the undercard.

The matchup felt intended to make Hall fight. Since leaving the TUF house with all the accolades and hype of true contendership in the sport, it seemed like Hall was a fight or two away from a title shot. That’s pretty ridiculous for a fighter who has yet to start his UFC career. Unfortunately he dropped two decision losses in lack luster performances, right out the gate.

His losses felt ironic though. Instead of becoming the killer he had made a reputation of being, he danced around the Octagon with what felt like a superior athleticism than his opponents, yet failed to inflict damage or exhibit any sort of killer instinct in the cage.

This is something he has said he embraced about himself and will look to change so he can be a successful mixed martial artist, going forward. The fight against Leben started out much in the same manner as his previous two fights, but after a few moments of backing up to Leben’s slow plodding assault, Hall jumped forward in a blur, landing a vicious flying knee that seemed to hurt The Crippler.

For the entire round, Leben plodded forward after Hall with a single minded intent to engage or die trying, something that will hopefully have earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame someday. In quick measured moments, Hall would shoot a jab in and connect with an unencumbered ease and continue moving backwards with unmatchable athleticism.

The end was simple. He jumped forward again, this time dropping Leben with a crushing right hand, following it up with strikes from the ground as the bell rang and Leben seemed saved for at least a second round that night.

Unfortunately the years he spent fighting wars of attrition inside the cage appeared to be weighing down on Leben as he got up off the canvas and made his way back to his corner. Within the minute of rest between rounds, he said he was done and the second round never happened, much to the chagrin of his opponent who had been searching for redemption in the cage, and now was left confused if it had actually happened or not since the fight would be left unfinished, even though he was rightfully awarded a TKO finish for the first time since being on TUF.

Dustin PoirierIn the first two fights of the main card, it was cool seeing Jim Miller jump back in to the win column with a submission victory over Fabricio Camoes, while Dustin Poirier secured a KO finish in round against Diego Brandao, who’s a very aggressive and dangerous opponent in his own right.

Travis BrowneWhen Travis Browne and Josh Barnett had finished their entrances and stood poised on the opposite ends of the cage, staring at each other, both had different expressions that seemed to mirror an identical power of will, soley intent on ending the other’s night.

Browne had a half smile of anticipation as Barnett stared intensely back without a single twitching muscle to betray his focus. They were going to settle this one quickly, something to be expected these days with the heavyweights.

Right away after the first bell, Browne started landing rangy strikes on Barnett that seemed to be there all day for him. Barnett moved in an attempt to make it ugly and found Browne’s knee squarely catching him in the face as he pushed him in to the cage, immediately causing him to drop for a double leg attempt. Then brutally and with apparent ease, Browne knocked out his second opponent with elbows to the side of the head as Barnett went limp while in his attempted takedown stance, earning the knockout of the night in the process.

Like Joe Rogan said in the post-fight interview, this will make anyone think twice about take down attempts on Browne, who is now on a three fight win streak among the heavyweights, having only been caught once in his career back in October of 2012 against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Up next was the co-main event in Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate. This one was for all the marbles in the most prestigious weight classes in all of women’s combat sports. Everyone knows Tate and Rousey had bad blood coming in to this one, and their entrances were no less in stark contrast of the other.

Where Tate came out to Roar by Katy Perry, Rousey entered the arena to Bad Reputation by Joan Jett. It was like Joe Rogan said, these were two beautiful women who hated each other and happened to be two of the best mixed martial artists in the world, and in my opinion, their aura was self-evident.

After one round of back and forth action that definitely was favoring Rousey in the standup and on the ground, it was miraculously going in to the second round for the first time in Rousey’s career. After initially gassing out a bit, Rousey began asserting her Judo dominance with some of the most beautiful sweeps and slams seen in the sport that left the crowd of mixed fans all in awe of her abilities.

Miesha defended plenty of arm bars throughout the fight and landed solid strikes of her own, including a few take downs that proved she wanted this one, regardless of the odds.

As the fight went to the third, Rousey came out the gate as a mixed martial artist in her full potential and took another arm bar finish, but not without first cementing her argument as a fighter with more than one dimension. Fight of the night honors was given to these two, along with submission of the night for Rousey. Afterwards she refused to shake hands with Tate and the crowd of course hated her for it, but if anyone remembered her walk out entrance, she could clearly care less.

As quickly as they had entered the cage, everyone’s combined attention turned to Silva and Weidman. The mixed crowd had flown in from all over the world for this one, and while it felt like Weidman had all but wrapped the thing up in the first round, no one was ready for the end in the second.

To see the greatest fighter in the world quickly become reduced to the status of contender and possibly retiree, it felt difficult to care about the sport honestly when you know that everyone, including the greatest champions will one day fall. But that’s something that makes the time they were on top so memorable.

Chris Weidman commented that the injury was probably a testament of Silva’s time to hang it up and I won’t fault him for this assessment. What I really appreciated from Weidman was when he said in the cage that neither of his TKO wins over Silva took anything away from Silva’s status as the greatest ever. It was simply his time.

As much as I’m grateful for the magic Silva gave us during his tenor as champ, I’m equally as thankful Weidman eased the pain of watching Silva’s empire fall, with the way he addressed the man he took the belt from with eloquence and respect. After witnessing UFC 168, clearly the sport of MMA is brutal. It’s also the sport that glorifies the human condition, whether in success or in the stark contrast of defeat.

And then there was Vitor Belfort, congratulating Weidman at the post fight presser for his win over Silva and telling him he was ready for his shot. Dana White also nonchalantly propelled circumstances forward as he taped a poster of UFC 172, headlined by Ronda Rousey vs Sara McMann on the podium.

Like I said, the sport moves on, eventually leaving everyone, including us in the past at some point as well. So I would encourage the avid MMA fan to not only cherish the wins, but the losses as well.