Results tagged “Wanderlei Silva” from MMA Explosion

By mmajunkie.com
A rumored bout between Wanderlei Silva (32-10-1 MMA, 2-5 UFC) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is apparently set for UFC 110, which takes place Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Silva discussed the fight openly in a recent video his camp posted on YouTube.

According to Silva, the middleweight bout serves as the headline fight for the event, which takes place on a rare Sunday (with an apparent live Saturday broadcast in the U.S.).

Gotta love the wisdom of Wand: "Only the fighter who persists to the end, gets to the top ...Many guys that I knew gave up, guys who were better than me. My only difference is that I persisted and continued trying."

I don't know that I've ever seen a highlight video like this one. Typically, highlight videos show the triumph of the sport, the winning - the knockouts, the submissions - usually paying homage to one fighter. This is a compilation of the sport's lows - the intense physical and mental punishment that MMA fighters absorb. The one scene that sticks out for me is the head kick by Cro Cop on W. Silva, followed by the head kick he took from Gonzaga. Like Frank Sinatra said, "You're ridin' high in April, shot down in May." For that reason, I believe they are the world's greatest athletes. We as fans owe them a great deal.

Here's a photo I'm told is untouched and lo and behold, it looks like the photo below that is labeled "fake." Mystery solved, my friends.

I do know that Wanderlei Silva did in fact have facial surgery, to repair years of scar tissue build-up and to repair his nose, which had been broken repeatedly. Silva and Bisping were scheduled to fight at an upcoming UFC in England, but Bisping blogged recently that the fight was off, due to Wand's surgery. Still, the question remains - which pic is real, which is fake, or are they both photoshopped? I have no idea, I'm just here to add fuel to the fire ...

Hey, let me squish your cauliflower ear ...

Fighters Only, a great MMA magazine from England, which has recently made inroads into the U.S., has some cool shots of Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. Click here to see more. Interesting how Randy beat Chuck once, and then Chuck won their next two, and also has a UD win over Wand. Randy and Wand never fought, but have trained together at Randy's Xtreme Couture academy in Las Vegas.

Look for Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and one of the Nogs (must be Big, 'cause Lil is not with the UFC) toward the end of the video.

The latest video from Wand Fight Team. Wand - fresh from his fight with Franklin (cuts on his nose and ear) trains his team and gives them a heartfelt psych-up, complete with a classic Chute Boxe-like cheer at the end.

Nice shot. Wanderlei has asked for a rematch and I'd like to see it - at 205. Looks like it won't happen, since Dana White wants Franklin to take a run at the LHW title and Wandy to drop down to 185. ... Hey, here's another one: how about Silva vs. Liddell II? Man, that first one was a war. We'll see what's next for both fighters - I'll keep you updated.

Here's the description written on his youtube channel: "The Fight Camp" is a Documentary Feature Film about the legendary, mixed martial arts fighter Wanderlei Silva, preparing for the greatest fight of his career in the UFC. Motivated by his loyal fans from around the world, and with the heavy burden of his last career loss, Wanderlei Silva like a true champion, overcomes all obstacles, to push forward through the toughest fight camp of his life.

To see the fight, click the red circle with the arrow in it, then click the green circle with the arrow in it. The video should play.

OFFICIAL RESULTS from mmajunkie.com:

Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic def. Mustapha Al-Turk via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:47
Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:47
Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Terry Etim def. Justin Buchholz via submission (D'Arce choke) -- Round 2
Denis Siver def. Dale Hartt via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1
Paul Taylor def. Peter Sobotta by unanimous decision
Paul Kelly def. Roli Delgado via unanimous decision
Stefan Struve def. Denis Stojnic via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:37
John Hathaway def. Rick Story via unanimous decision

Just watched the weigh-ins for UFC 99: The Comeback, and since I can't find a video that will allow me to pirate it and put it up here, I'll give you the highlights:

Couple of shoving matches in the undercard. Denis Stojnic and Stefan "The Skyscraper" Struve squared up and got really, really close. Stojnic - maybe feeling a little bit uncomfortable at that point - pushed Struve, which prompted Joe Rogan to say, "First I thought they were gonna make-out, then a fight breaks out."

Then we had Roli Delgado and Paul Kelly. Joe Rogan said Delgado had an "epic beard" and called him the "Crazy Jew-ban" which I'm guessing is a reference to his mixed heritage. Anyway, it was Delgado with a push on Kelly after the two went forehead-to-forehead.

The crowd gave its biggets pop for the return of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who is fighting Mostapha Al-Turk. It'll be very interetsing to see if Cro Cop can channel some of that left high kick magic from days gone by.

Marcus Davis, who has engaged in a pre-fight war of words with Dan Hardy, looked to be in his best shape ever. I guess he really was motivated for this fight, having said he spends a considerable amount fo time each day thinking about how much he hates Hardy. We'll see if his condition plays a role tomorrow. Surprisingly, the two had an uneventful stare-down.

In another version of the ol' grappler vs. striker match-up, French kickboxer Cheick Kongo and collegiate wrestling sensation Cain Velasquez weighed in and squared off. Kongo stuck his face in Velasquez's, but unlike when he squared off with Al-Turk, he didn't jab his head in there like he was gonna head-butt him. Maybe it was something in Velasquez's eyes, although I don't know if that's going to prevent Kongo from throwing his patented nut-shots. Let's hope Cain is ready.

Finally, Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin weighed in. Silva was very tight, Franklin looked about the same. I truly believe this fight could go either way. People talk about how Silva is old, but Franklin is about two years older than him. Silva has more losses, and has been knocked a few times, but Franklin was destroyed by Anderson Silva twice and knocked out by Lyoto Machida a while back. We'll see. I like both fighters, so it sucks they have to fight, because someone's gonna lose.