Silva (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

The MMA world is settling into a new and radically different reality today, and it’s one that no longer has the sport’s greatest fighter ever sitting atop the UFC middleweight rankings. The undefeated Chris Weidman became the first man in 17 fights to defeat Anderson Silva, by knocking out the legendary fighter in the second round. While many observers and fighters claimed Weidman could be the man to end the historic reign of Silva, few, if any, predicted it would go down the way it did.

Of course, the reason Weidman’s boosters believed he posed a serious threat to Silva, was because of his high level wrestling skills and awe inspiring top game. While Weidman was able to take Silva down quickly, the former champ did a good job of negating the challenger’s attacks and got back to his feet. The jaw dropping finish came, not because of a submission or punishing ground-and-pound strikes, but as a result of Silva’s continued taunts. The renowned fighter has gotten away with such actions several times before, but this time, Weidman made him pay for leaving his jaw completely unprotected.

“A lot of people felt the reason that Chris Weidman would win is because of his ground game and his wrestling. He took Anderson Silva down, immediately, and Anderson did a great job of defending the submissions,” UFC President Dana White noted afterwards in the post fight presser. “Got back up to his feet and there’s no doubt he got into Chris’s head by the end of the first round, yet, he kept doing it throughout the entire second round and ended up getting clipped and knocked out.”

After the fight, Silva didn’t blame his loss on being reckless or cocky, but rather, he credited Weidman for countering his strategy. Whether fans agree with Silva’s explanation moving forward, remains to be seen.

Chris Weidman

“I always say I try to do my best. I tried to induce Chris into my game but that didn’t work. He threw some shots that landed, I got caught so obviously my game plan didn’t work,” Silva said in the press conference. “I can’t make any excuses, it is what happened. I would never fight a fight to lose. I trained four months for this fight to win but this is what happened. I lost the fight and a fight’s a fight.”

Weidman also acknowledged afterwards that he expected Silva’s antics, and further, that he deserves full credit for the victory, as other men have crumbled when the former champ has performed the same way. That said, the decorated wrestler stopped short of saying it was his best performance.

“It’s crazy man. At this point I’d think I’d be able to just sit back and relax but instantly I’m like, I’m fricking hungry, I’ve got to get better,” said the 29 year-old Weidman, who moved to 10-0 with the win. “I feel like I still didn’t really look my best. I want to get back out there and hold on to the belt for as long as I can.”

Immediately following the loss, Silva said he wasn’t interested in rematching Weidman, but White believes that will change once the loss sinks in. It’s extremely difficult to picture Silva carrying on with his career without challenging for the title isn’t it?

If he returns, and promptly dispatches of another opponent, the calls for a rematch will be that much louder. Weidman deserves full credit for his win, but one can’t help but consider how a rematch would unfold, if Silva returned with a different ‘game plan.’