Issue 120
October 2014
The history of mixed martial arts retold through the pages of FO's archives. October 2013: a lot can change in a year, but Chris Weidman has kept his UFC middleweight belt and started building a legacy – just as he predicted.
Chris Weidman has had a hell of a year. He saw off the challenges of two former champions and swept aside the barbed comments from naysayers who claimed his first, thumping KO defeat of Anderson Silva was a fluke.
When Fighters Only editor Nick Peet caught up with the Serra-Longo standout shortly after that contest in our October 2013 issue, he brushed off any predictions of revenge for ‘The Spider’. He was firm in his conviction that lightning would strike for the second time. In fact, that was all part of the plan from the very start.
“I always knew there was going to be a rematch,” he said. “It was inevitable we we were going to agree to a second fight. I know he’ll come back stronger, better and more determined to beat me, but I’ll be ready for that.”
‘The All American’ proved that was the case at the blockbuster end-of-year show in Las Vegas, UFC 168. The pressure couldn’t have been higher as one of MMA’s biggest ever rematches drew a rabid crowd and more than a million pay-per-view buys. He took it all in his stride and proved he had the ability to dispatch the sport’s GOAT for the second time.
He dominated every second of the fight and beat Silva in all areas of the game. The Brazilian was pummeled on the ground after being sent there with crushing blows from the clinch – a position that was thought to be his domain.
Despite that dominance, critics cried ‘fluke’ once again when the fight was stopped because of a nasty leg break, suffered when a Silva kick connected with his opponent’s knee.
Surely it was a freak accident? Not according to the champ, who had no doubt his success was down to diligent defensive preparation.
“I don’t think it was accidental when you try and check a kick and it works,” Weidman added after the fight. “If I didn’t check the kick, I’d have a bruised leg and he’d pick me apart with leg kicks.”
With Silva out of the way, things continued to go according to plan in 2014 as Weidman extended his reign with a convincing win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 175. And he is set to finish this year with another tough test in December against the next man in line for a shot at middleweight gold – Vitor Belfort.
Ask Weidman if the belt will remain in New York and you would expect to hear the same sort of confidence and humility that helped keep him on track after toppling a legend.
“I’m going to keep working hard and do the best I can,” he said last year. “I want to be the champ for a long time. I want to eventually be thought of as one of the greatest of all time. The Weidman era has begun, so jump on the bandwagon, friends, ‘cos it’s rollin’.”
ELSEWHERE IN THE October 2013 ISSUE
SHOCK AND AWE
Inspired by Chris Weidman’s first win over Anderson Silva, we offered a selection of the most dramatic upset victories in MMA history. Little did we know that perhaps the biggest of them all was just a few months away. TJ Dillashaw entered his fight against Renan Barao as a massive underdog, but he pasted the Brazilian from pillar to post and won by TKO stoppage to take the bantamweight belt back to Sacramento. The bookmakers learned their lesson and the odds were considerably closer for their rematch.
FALL OF A LEGEND
Guest columnist BJ Penn looked into his future and insisted he would only return to the Octagon at lightweight because he wouldn’t want his family to see him take a beating. Perhaps ‘The Prodigy’ should have stuck to his guns. He returned to competition at featherweight and retired after old rival Frankie Edgar gave him the lashing he hoped to avoid.
ICON
Pat Miletich has long been recognized as a pioneer in the sport for his achievements in fighting, coaching and broadcasting. ‘The Croatian Sensation’ talked us through his highlights of a career in combat that is unrivaled by almost every one of his contemporaries. The UFC brass clearly agreed and made him the 12th man to be inducted into its Hall of Fame in July.
NOSTRADAMMAUS: RUSSIAN INVASION
The emergence of a host of Russian MMA stars indicated the floodgates would soon open for even more warriors to journey from the east and join the world’s top promotions. Fighters Only hand-picked five top prospects to watch out for and sure enough, Adam Khaliev, Rashid Magomedov and Mairbek Taisumov were all snapped up by the UFC in the next 12 months.
