| 11 April 2010
UFC 112 will go down as one of the most memorable- and infamous - events in mixed martial arts history. As if Frankie Edgar's stunning defeat of BJ Penn wasn't enough to make this a remarkable event, Anderson Silva completely overshadowed it with his clowning of Demian Maia in the main event. New questions and scenarios always arise at the completion of an event, this one even more so. So, to help try to make sense out of all the chaos, we've enlisted the help of Sean A. Malone of North Texas Fisticuffs.
1) The Anderson Silva debacle
Sean A. Malone:I just don’t get Anderson Silva sometimes. This is a fighter who is clearly on top of his game, and it is a fact he is well aware of, so why does he continue to tarnish a once impeccable reputation with performances like the one against Maia? As a result of such a disgraceful performance, I have to agree with Jeff’s questioning of Silva’s pound-for-pound ranking. A fighter who truly, and proudly, carries the burden of being the best fighter in the world does not clown around for five rounds against an overmatched opponent. No, a fighter deserving of that honor does what he is paid to do, and take out his opponent as fast as he can. Despite Maia’s excellent ground game, there was no way that he was going to beat Silva, and Silva knew this. All of which is why his performance Saturday should be criticized under the harshest of lights.
2) What should the UFC do with Silva now?
Jeff: Dana White claims he has no interest in him fighting Georges St-Pierre now and he might make him fight on the undercard, but White is a hothead who speaks from his heart, not his mind, so these statements don't really hold too much weight. So what is really next for Silva? There are no middleweights worthy or able to give him a challenge, so putting him up against Chael Sonnen or Vitor Belfort would probably just become a farce like last night. What really needs to be done is to give Silva someone who is such a formidable opponent that he will have to be focused, motivated and devoid of antics. A move down in weight to welterweight wouldn't do that - he needs to fight bigger, stronger opponents in the light heavyweight class. Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Maurico Rua, Rampage Jackson - any of the top guys would be a serious enough threat to Silva that he would have to focus and perform.
Sean:Dana White has himself a real dilemma on his hands following this Silva debacle. Had a lower-tier fighter pulled off the shenanigans as Silva, you can bet that White would have sent him packing from the Octagon. But, with Silva you have a fighter who is too good to release, yet puts in performances so awful that it threatens to tarnish the reputation of the UFC. What is clear is that Silva needs legitimate top-level competition to initiate a consistent performance. The middleweight division may have given all it had, and move to light heavyweight may be in order to reinvigorate Silva’s competitive fire.
3) What's next for Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn?
Jeff: What a shocking upset Frankie Edgar pulled off. The outcome of the match probably could have gone either way, but there are no real complaints about Edgar getting the decision victory (except that the judge who scored it 50-45 for Edgar is clearly insane, or perhaps legally blind). Due to the tight nature of the match, not to mention the competitiveness of it, I feel that Penn deserves a rematch with Edgar. If that's not the case, then Kenny Florian has to get the first shot, not Gray Maynard. While it's true that Maynard is the only guy to ever beat the new champ, Florian has demolished all his opponents since losing to Penn and was only being denied a title shot because Penn was the champ. Now that there is a new champ, give Florian first crack at him and let Penn, Maynard, Gomi and maybe Joe Stevenson pair up and duke it out.
Sean: I can’t even lie; I had no faith in Edgar pulling off the upset. In fact, I thought this fight would have played out like a mirror image of the GSP – Hardy fight. I have to give credit to Edgar, and his team, for formulating a plan to give Penn enough fits to keep the Hawaiian tentative. While I agree, the decision could have gone either way, but Edgar did more than enough to squash any cry of judge incompetence. That being said, I agree, Florian deserves first crack at the new lightweight champion. After all, Florian has been on a tear since he loss to Penn, and has done more than enough to get a title shot. As for Penn, a battle with Maynard may be just what he needs to get another crack at the title he held for so long.
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