Before Silva vs Weidman II, very few people gave the current champion the respect he deserves. As I pointed out in an earlier article, most of the blogosphere went nuts exclaiming Weidman either won because Silva messed up, he got lucky, or some serendipitous combination of the two. After the second fight, however, collective amnesia set in as it does on the internet, and the world was all of a sudden talking about how great and well rounded a fighter Mr. Weidman actually is. He’s the guy who beat Silva, twice, and did it with skill and ease. He’s the new legend and no one could stop him.
Now that the Nevada sports commission has banned TRT exemptions all together, which disqualified Weidman’s potential next opponent Vitor Belfort, the champ is going to have to face Lyoto Machida in May at UFC 173. Like they did for Silva, the talking heads are already building Weidman up as, at minimum, an extremely difficult to beat opponent, and in some cases, an unstoppable force. While I agree that this will be an interesting match up and a difficult task for both fighters, I remind the world that Lyoto Machida is not Anderson Silva, and fighting him may prove to be a little more difficult.
While both Silva and Machida are skilled in the art of counter striking, the methods they use to draw out an attack are completely different for the two fighters. Silva frustrates his opponents with a show. He bobs and weaves, he feints, and he taunts his opponents. Silva makes them feel dumb… then makes them look dumb. Silva’s counter striking is pure Bill Murray-esque performance art.
Machida on the other hand, sometimes just looks like he’s just running away from getting hit. The beauty of a Machida fight is not the way he dodges an attack, but the patience he shows while being attacked. Machida doesn’t taunt his opponents; he reads them. Then, once they have gotten comfortable being on the offensive, Machida comes out Karate style with straight punches and quick but powerful kicks. Machida’s counter striking is a science.
Now, the reason Chris Weidman beat Anderson Silva the first time was, arguably, because he saw a hole in Silva’s antics that he could capitalize on. No such hole exists in a Lyota Machida fight. While he’s reading his opponents, he does very little in the way of broadcasting his attack plan. Also, in Silva v Weidman II, Weidman went on the offensive early in the fight and eventually used a leg check that he had been training based on Silva’s previous low-kick attacks to win. That’s exactly what Machida wants Weidman to do. If he starts off going on the offensive, that’s less time Machida has to wait.
All that being said, it’s very possible that Chris Weidman will defend his title and remain champion. This is not exactly Cormier vs Cummins here; both of these guys are champs. However, if Weidman’s plan is to go in the same way he did with Anderson Silva, it’s also very possible that we may see a new champ.
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