Now that UFC 148 has left us with another nostalgic moment in the beloved sport of MMA, let’s take a look at what was memorable, and what may be in our future. Silva vs. Sonnen 2 definitely lived up to the hype. I think it’s amazing how Silva has lost every round against Sonnen in their two fights except for the moments Silva finished him. I could see another fight in their future since Sonnen is a tough man to beat and will probably stay in the top contender spot in the foreseeable future.
Moving forward, I would like to see a tournament in the middle weight division before another body is thrown at Silva. The Sonnen fight was warranted, but it doesn’t change the fact that in many instances, Silva has been thrown fighters who were under prepared and frankly undeserving of a title shot. To list a few: Damian Maia, Patrick Cote, and Yushin Okami.
Mark Munoz probably has the best chance of beating Silva with his strong wrestling pedigree and solid over all skill set. Frankly the only fighter to beat Silva at this point will be the first man who can lay and pray on the champ without getting finished for five rounds.
Give Anderson Silva the man who remains standing after Munoz and Mat Weidman headline UFC on Fuel this Wednesday and the winner takes on the winner of Tim Boetch and former Bellator Champ Hector Lombard who will compete at UFC 149 . In my opinion that will create a viable and deserving challenge for the champ.
I wasn’t too thrilled about Griffin vs. Ortiz 3 when it was initially announced but the fight was a fitting end to the MMA career of one of the most polarizing characters in the business. I doubt I would last two minutes in a conversation with Tito Ortiz without becoming extremely aggravated. Yet I can’t deny his spot in the sport or the feeling of nostalgia I experienced as he walked in to the cage for the final time last night.
Forrest Griffin should probably retire as well but after his win, I say give him a top ten contender. I would like to see him face the winner of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Brandon “The Truth” Vera after they headline UFC on FOX 4.
I doubt Cung Le will be able to make a title run but UFC President Dana White seems to have his sights set on sending Le to China for the UFC debut in the country. He jokingly made a comment corroborating this statement at the post fight press conference last night.
Damian Maia may be a contender in the welterweight division now yet his win didn’t really convince me of anything. I believe it was a crazy accident that saw Don Hyun Kim tap out to a weird take down. Maybe Maia would have beaten him but we won’t be able to accurately place Maia in the division until he fights again in the future.
Chad “Money” Mendes did what everyone thought he would to Cody McKenzie last night as he smashed his way to a first round victory. I say give him another top five opponent and let him back in to title contention.
For the record I went 3-3 with my predictions last night and unfortunately that’s nothing to brag about. On a positive note, I usually do much worse than 50%.