speak your mind
Courtesy MMALifestyles.com
The co-main event at UFC 139 will feature the aging legend Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva vs. Cung Le. It seems like a misnomer that we would call Wanderlei Silva an aging legend at age 35 as opposed to the 39 year old Cung Le.
But looking at the each of the fighters, Le has a total of 24 fights in both kickboxing and MMA, while Silva has almost twice as many fights (46), all in mixed martial arts. And, of course, Silva is a legend as the former PRIDE FC Middleweight Champion and a middleweight Grand Prix tournament winner. The list of fighters that Silva has fought is like a roster of “who’s who” in the world of legendary MMA fighters.
However, the road to Silva’s fame has not come with out a price. Silva has lost 6 of his last 8 fights, and in 4 of those losses Silva was knocked out. Of particular interest, Silva was savagely knocked out by Chris Leben in 27 seconds of the first round.
After that fight, UFC President Dana White began the talk about Silva considering retirement.
That kind of talk from a guy who sees a lot of fights and a lot of fighters, is pretty revealing.
Le on the other hand, while maybe not quite as experienced, is coming off a knockout victory over Scott Smith, albeit, Le has not fought in almost 17 months.
So this is an interesting match up, an aging star in Silva fighting to keep his career alive and a relative newcomer in Le fighting to make a name for himself.
By no stretch of the imagination is this fight set up to get Silva “back on track”. Le is a formidable opponent, despite being out of action for almost a year and a half.
The biggest problem that Silva is going to have is whether he can take a punch. Silva’s been a warrior and has been in a lot of “wars” and has taken quite a few shots, and as mentioned earlier, he has shown a propensity toward being susceptible to being knocked out.
Le on the other hand, has not really fought top tier MMA opponents. Certainly Scott Smith isn’t a slouch, but he is a “former” UFC fighter, and the last time Le stepped into a fight after a long layoff, it was against that same Scott Smith, who knocked Mr. Le out (yes, Le avenged that loss to Scott Smith 6 months later, but the point is, Mr. Le first got knocked out by Scott Smith after an extend sabbatical).
So on the surface, this fight sets up pretty well for Wanderlei Silva, unfortunately, I think that the cost of too many “great” fights has taken its toll on the “Axe Murderer”. For Silva, his chin will betray him. Le wins this fight by knockout.
Then, look for the “Axe Murderer” to hang up the axe, and unfortunately, we’ll once again see an MMA legend fight one more fight than he should have. But the memories of the “Axe Murderer” and how he built the sport, will live in our hearts forever.
