USA TODAY: Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar headlines UFC 153

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Posted by Shawn91111

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Posted by Bubbles

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Posted by jjeans

Silva is risking his reputation against a guy who's only lost by cuts or Decision, and he's doing that on 30 days notice. Not every champion is willing to step up a weight class, save an event, or even fight on 30 days notice with no training camp prior.

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do you think Silva would have accepted this short notice fight vs someone like Evans or Shogun...or even Teixiera? Or does Bonnar make more sense for him?

I'll give him credit for stepping up to save the card, but not for accepting to fight Bonnar....Bonnar gets mad respect for stepping up to fight Silva

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Exactly

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What if he volunteered and all they could find to fight him was Bonner? He did step up for 151 vs any 205er.....

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Posted by shaneTpain

its such a strange fight that its very intriguing !

everyone knows that Bonnar is losing the fight but I'm tuning in FOR SURE for the same reason that I used to watch Mick Foley wrestling matches.. To see how much punishment this crazy motherfucker is gonna take

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hell in a cell vs taker...best cage match ever !

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Posted by frizzzlecake

Fuck you Anderson Silva, you can't fight Weidman because he's not a name? but you fight a 8-6 Bonnar who built that awesome record in a different weight class.

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You serious man? You're pissed that he's stepping up to save the card?? The fight against Weidman would be for a title and Weidman has by no means earned a title shot. Weidman has beaten 2 good guys and only one of those wins was in impressive fashion. He's got a lot more work to do to build a case and to build a name.

With regards to this fight, it's obviously a huge mismatch on paper. Bonnar got technically out struck by Forrest Griffin and we all saw how well Forrest did vs Anderson on the feet.

On the other hand, Bonnar has a great chin so can take a lot of punishment, he is an underrated grappler, he's not going to be afraid to get in there and trade with Anderson, and anyone can get knocked out.

An 8-6 fighter beating the GOAT would be the biggest upset in MMA or maybe even fight sports history......

But that doesn't mean its impossible.

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Posted by bjj1605

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Posted by frizzzlecake

Fuck you Anderson Silva, you can't fight Weidman because he's not a name? but you fight a 8-6 Bonnar who built that awesome record in a different weight class.

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You serious man? You're pissed that he's stepping up to save the card?? The fight against Weidman would be for a title and Weidman has by no means earned a title shot. Weidman has beaten 2 good guys and only one of those wins was in impressive fashion. He's got a lot more work to do to build a case and to build a name.

With regards to this fight, it's obviously a huge mismatch on paper. Bonnar got technically out struck by Forrest Griffin and we all saw how well Forrest did vs Anderson on the feet.

On the other hand, Bonnar has a great chin so can take a lot of punishment, he is an underrated grappler, he's not going to be afraid to get in there and trade with Anderson, and anyone can get knocked out.

An 8-6 fighter beating the GOAT would be the biggest upset in MMA or maybe even fight sports history......

But that doesn't mean its impossible.

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This. I don't know why any old-school fan who remembers Bonnar fighting years ago wouldn't be ecstatic to see this. I know I'll watch this fight simply because I have hopes Bonnar will do what Forrest couldn't do; make Silva fight.

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Posted by SpiderSilva

This is what i don't understand why people don't want to see this. Weidman is tied up in a fight and this has to do with fight in Brazil and giving them a show more than anything. This may be the last time he fights in his home country. Unless he fights GSP in that soccer stadium...........

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Weidman is tied up because Silva refused to fight him

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Posted by bjj1605

You serious man? You're pissed that he's stepping up to save the card?? The fight against Weidman would be for a title and Weidman has by no means earned a title shot. Weidman has beaten 2 good guys and only one of those wins was in impressive fashion. He's got a lot more work to do to build a case and to build a name

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he has by every means earned a title shot. He has done more, and beaten better ranked opponents, than Cote, Maia and Belfort had to "earn" their title shots vs Silva. He has done more than what Belfort (LHW as well), Faber, Florian (FW), Koscheck, Lesnar, and others to earn a title shot. He was sluggish vs Maia as he had 8 days to get into fight shape, pretty valid reason if you ask me. If not Weidman, than name me one other MW who deserves the next title shot. If you cant then the #2-4 MW in the world absolutely deserves the title shot

If Anderson Silva himself cannot sell a PPV headliner, something is wrong with him/his management.

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Posted by Bubbles

he has by every means earned a title shot. He has done more, and beaten better ranked opponents, than Cote, Maia and Belfort had to "earn" their title shots vs Silva. He has done more than what Belfort (LHW as well), Faber, Florian (FW), Koscheck, Lesnar, and others to earn a title shot. He was sluggish vs Maia as he had 8 days to get into fight shape, pretty valid reason if you ask me. If not Weidman, than name me one other MW who deserves the next title shot. If you cant then the #2-4 MW in the world absolutely deserves the title shot

If Anderson Silva himself cannot sell a PPV headliner, something is wrong with him/his management.

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Tim Boetsch, the fighter Chris Weidman has to fight next, has a more impressive win on his middleweight run than Chris Weidman does. (Weidman is probably the harder fight, but if you are using the nuts and bolts of strength of schedule, Boetsch has a win over Okami - a better fighter than anybody Weidman has defeated.)

Dana White has not campaigned for Chris Weidman either. Probably because his job is promoting these events.

To even take this fight on Silvas part in my eyes means he wouldnt even have a remote chance at Jon Jones...Maybe Bonnar gets lucky and rocks him...

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Posted by lohmann

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Posted by Bubbles

he has by every means earned a title shot. He has done more, and beaten better ranked opponents, than Cote, Maia and Belfort had to "earn" their title shots vs Silva. He has done more than what Belfort (LHW as well), Faber, Florian (FW), Koscheck, Lesnar, and others to earn a title shot. He was sluggish vs Maia as he had 8 days to get into fight shape, pretty valid reason if you ask me. If not Weidman, than name me one other MW who deserves the next title shot. If you cant then the #2-4 MW in the world absolutely deserves the title shot

If Anderson Silva himself cannot sell a PPV headliner, something is wrong with him/his management.

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Tim Boetsch, the fighter Chris Weidman has to fight next, has a more impressive win on his middleweight run than Chris Weidman does. (Weidman is probably the harder fight, but if you are using the nuts and bolts of strength of schedule, Boetsch has a win over Okami - a better fighter than anybody Weidman has defeated.)

Dana White has not campaigned for Chris Weidman either. Probably because his job is promoting these events.

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Boetsch is the only other MW that has 2 top 10 wins, other than Weidman. And yes, Okami is a better name to have a win over than Munoz or Maia, but you also have to take into account how the fights went down. Boetsch was getting dominated by Okami before he went Barbarian on him, and against Lombard, he barely did enough to win a controversial decision. It doesn't matter anymore as all parties are booked, but I did see Weidman as worthy because he had beaten 2 top 10 MWs. Other than Sonnen, nobody, at least recently, had done that before being awarded a shot at Anderson.

Belcher has a nice streak going. I like him vs Silva over both Boetsch and weidman. Plus I think he can beat both.

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Posted by tallica62

Now that I think about it, at least we'll get to see Silva perform some nifty never been done before ko of some sort....I'm going with literal karate CHOP ko

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That would be badass. We all know Bonnar is suseptable to spinning elbows. Spinning karate chop FTW

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Posted by bigrand826

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Posted by lohmann

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Posted by Bubbles

he has by every means earned a title shot. He has done more, and beaten better ranked opponents, than Cote, Maia and Belfort had to "earn" their title shots vs Silva. He has done more than what Belfort (LHW as well), Faber, Florian (FW), Koscheck, Lesnar, and others to earn a title shot. He was sluggish vs Maia as he had 8 days to get into fight shape, pretty valid reason if you ask me. If not Weidman, than name me one other MW who deserves the next title shot. If you cant then the #2-4 MW in the world absolutely deserves the title shot

If Anderson Silva himself cannot sell a PPV headliner, something is wrong with him/his management.

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Tim Boetsch, the fighter Chris Weidman has to fight next, has a more impressive win on his middleweight run than Chris Weidman does. (Weidman is probably the harder fight, but if you are using the nuts and bolts of strength of schedule, Boetsch has a win over Okami - a better fighter than anybody Weidman has defeated.)

Dana White has not campaigned for Chris Weidman either. Probably because his job is promoting these events.

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Boetsch is the only other MW that has 2 top 10 wins, other than Weidman. And yes, Okami is a better name to have a win over than Munoz or Maia, but you also have to take into account how the fights went down. Boetsch was getting dominated by Okami before he went Barbarian on him, and against Lombard, he barely did enough to win a controversial decision. It doesn't matter anymore as all parties are booked, but I did see Weidman as worthy because he had beaten 2 top 10 MWs. Other than Sonnen, nobody, at least recently, had done that before being awarded a shot at Anderson.

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I look at it like this Tim Boetsch has the ability to win a fight at anytime. He was getting worked and he came back from that and knocked the guy out. It wasn't a fluke KO like we have seen before dude just decided he was not going to lose that fight and as you said went Barbarian on him. Whos to say we don't see him do that to Anderson or anyone else. While I don't think it would happen Id be intrested in watching him try. Far more intresting then Weidman trying to takehim down. IMO

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Posted by postman

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Posted by bigrand826

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Posted by lohmann

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Posted by Bubbles

he has by every means earned a title shot. He has done more, and beaten better ranked opponents, than Cote, Maia and Belfort had to "earn" their title shots vs Silva. He has done more than what Belfort (LHW as well), Faber, Florian (FW), Koscheck, Lesnar, and others to earn a title shot. He was sluggish vs Maia as he had 8 days to get into fight shape, pretty valid reason if you ask me. If not Weidman, than name me one other MW who deserves the next title shot. If you cant then the #2-4 MW in the world absolutely deserves the title shot

If Anderson Silva himself cannot sell a PPV headliner, something is wrong with him/his management.

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Tim Boetsch, the fighter Chris Weidman has to fight next, has a more impressive win on his middleweight run than Chris Weidman does. (Weidman is probably the harder fight, but if you are using the nuts and bolts of strength of schedule, Boetsch has a win over Okami - a better fighter than anybody Weidman has defeated.)

Dana White has not campaigned for Chris Weidman either. Probably because his job is promoting these events.

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Boetsch is the only other MW that has 2 top 10 wins, other than Weidman. And yes, Okami is a better name to have a win over than Munoz or Maia, but you also have to take into account how the fights went down. Boetsch was getting dominated by Okami before he went Barbarian on him, and against Lombard, he barely did enough to win a controversial decision. It doesn't matter anymore as all parties are booked, but I did see Weidman as worthy because he had beaten 2 top 10 MWs. Other than Sonnen, nobody, at least recently, had done that before being awarded a shot at Anderson.

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I look at it like this Tim Boetsch has the ability to win a fight at anytime. He was getting worked and he came back from that and knocked the guy out. It wasn't a fluke KO like we have seen before dude just decided he was not going to lose that fight and as you said went Barbarian on him. Whos to say we don't see him do that to Anderson or anyone else. While I don't think it would happen Id be intrested in watching him try. Far more intresting then Weidman trying to takehim down. IMO

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And Weidman doesn't have the ability to win a fight at any time? And don't you think Boetsch would be trying to get Anderson down as well? Are you just trying to say that Boetsch has a better chance standing? I suppose, but I'd argue that Weidman probably has a better chance on the ground, and anybody is going to have a better shot on the ground than on the feet against Anderson, imo. Again, it doesn't matter now because the winner of Weidman-Boetsch will be far and away the most worthy of the next shot at Anderson's belt. That will be 3 top 10 wins, which is about 2 more than anybody besides Sonnen has racked up on their way to a MW title shot.

This will be "Fight of the Year"

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Posted by Bubbles

he has by every means earned a title shot. He has done more, and beaten better ranked opponents, than Cote, Maia and Belfort had to "earn" their title shots vs Silva. He has done more than what Belfort (LHW as well), Faber, Florian (FW), Koscheck, Lesnar, and others to earn a title shot. He was sluggish vs Maia as he had 8 days to get into fight shape, pretty valid reason if you ask me. If not Weidman, than name me one other MW who deserves the next title shot. If you cant then the #2-4 MW in the world absolutely deserves the title shot

If Anderson Silva himself cannot sell a PPV headliner, something is wrong with him/his management.

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I don't think anyone has earned it yet and they still need to have some of these top guys fight each other to figure it out.

Boetsch, Weidman, Belcher, Bisping, and Belfort are all in the mix but not one of them has distinguished themselves.

If Weidman dominates Boetsch or if he wins one more fight after Boetsch, there is no way you can deny that he's earned the shot.

In the mean time, since there is no clear contender, this is the perfect time to set up GSP vs Silva.

I predict that Stephan will lose a few pints of plasma and will STILL keep coming like a Zombie

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Posted by kingsmasher

To even take this fight on Silvas part in my eyes means he wouldnt even have a remote chance at Jon Jones...Maybe Bonnar gets lucky and rocks him...

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Wait. Silva taking a fight means he couldn't beat Jon Jones? Signing for a fight with someone is now a way to determine whether a fighter could beat another fighter? You just keep outdoing yourself, just when I think it can't get anymore ridiculous you really shine through.

goddamn it Anderson Silva..... just..... goddamn it........ Anyway lets see if Anderson doesnt become the most hated man in MMA after he taunts Bonnar and disrespects him for 3/5 rounds like the Maia fight.......

Then UFC probably wont want a Forrest level finish in a minute 30

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Posted by kingsmasher

To even take this fight on Silvas part in my eyes means he wouldnt even have a remote chance at Jon Jones

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this hurts my head

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Posted by bjj1605


I don't think anyone has earned it yet and they still need to have some of these top guys fight each other to figure it out.

Boetsch, Weidman, Belcher, Bisping, and Belfort are all in the mix but not one of them has distinguished themselves.

If Weidman dominates Boetsch or if he wins one more fight after Boetsch, there is no way you can deny that he's earned the shot.

In the mean time, since there is no clear contender, this is the perfect time to set up GSP vs Silva.

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i agree with every bit of this

I dont get why anyone thinks Bonnar will do better than forrest, EVER..... Did Bonnar fight Shogun too or something? Bonnar has litterally zero chance and even if Silva broke both fists and his shin against Bonnars head he would still use the other leg to win......

On the other side of the coin, it was nice for Anderson to choose to take a short notice in Brazil.... pretty much anyone vs Anderson will be huge to the Brazilians and I am pretty certain that crazt motherfucker Bonnar is the only guy who would choose to step up like that.

This is a throwback to Pride in a way, doesnt make the most sense, or any, but like pride, it is all about the show.

Also this might be the biggest odds favorite since Buster Douglass.

I had an argument with a guy who said Forrest wasn't shit when he fought Silva. And that Silva was given an easy fight then. I shook my head then dropped some knowledge. Dude didn't think Griffin was in his prime when he fought Silva. A former champ coming off losing his title is not top 10. And being 3-1 with a win over Franklin doesn't mean anything. Also said if Griffin lost to Tito in the last fight he would have been cut....... Asked to retire maybe. cut? naw

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Posted by ghandikush

I dont get why anyone thinks Bonnar will do better than forrest, EVER..... Did Bonnar fight Shogun too or something? Bonnar has litterally zero chance and even if Silva broke both fists and his shin against Bonnars head he would still use the other leg to win......

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he will do better than forrest because he is more durable and has a better chin. forrest was once able to take punches but that ship sailed after rashad, bonnar can take punishment.

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Posted by Manak

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Posted by ghandikush

I dont get why anyone thinks Bonnar will do better than forrest, EVER..... Did Bonnar fight Shogun too or something? Bonnar has litterally zero chance and even if Silva broke both fists and his shin against Bonnars head he would still use the other leg to win......

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he will do better than forrest because he is more durable and has a better chin. forrest was once able to take punches but that ship sailed after rashad, bonnar can take punishment.

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Bonnar hasnt fought strikers like forrest, kingsberry and krystolf seem to be the best strikers, I wouldnt rate them above the likes of anyone forrest has been fighting in the last 4 years.

I can see what you mean though, I have no doubt he has more left than Forrest.

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Posted by ghandikush

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Posted by Manak

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Posted by ghandikush

I dont get why anyone thinks Bonnar will do better than forrest, EVER..... Did Bonnar fight Shogun too or something? Bonnar has litterally zero chance and even if Silva broke both fists and his shin against Bonnars head he would still use the other leg to win......

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he will do better than forrest because he is more durable and has a better chin. forrest was once able to take punches but that ship sailed after rashad, bonnar can take punishment.

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Bonnar hasnt fought strikers like forrest, kingsberry and krystolf seem to be the best strikers, I wouldnt rate them above the likes of anyone forrest has been fighting in the last 4 years.

I can see what you mean though, I have no doubt he has more left than Forrest.

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Nevermind, you edited it

Bonnar's only chance is if this was a 5 round fight and he survives 3-4 rounds of punishment but his best case scenario in reality is losing a 30-26 decision in Brazil but I think he gets KO'd for the first time in his career and retires promptly without the crying like Forrest.

I was waiting all day for Dana and Lorenzo to tweet "APRIL FOOLS!"

Then I realized it wasnt April