speak your mind
Courtesy MMALifestyles.com
As this weekend’s memorable mixed martial arts event looms closer, a bevy of bouts will dictate the future of their respective division’s.
Headlining UFC 139 will be a Pride throwback as legendary fighters Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson meet for the first time in a pivotal light heavyweight affair, in a match that will likely dictate the next immediate contender for the 205-pound belt.
However, another legend of the Pride circuit will also be prominently featured this weekend, as Wanderlei Silva returns to action to welcome Strikeforce transplant Cung Le.
Silva returns on the heels of a devastating knockout loss to Chris Leben this July—his fourth loss since reentering the Octagon in December of 2007.
Since returning to the UFC, Silva has looked like the shell of the man that once ruled Pride with an iron fist. The Brazilian chin has been tested as of late and has not passed with flying colors, having been rendered unconscious in some of his most recent outings against Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, Quinton Jackson and now Leben.
A victim of his own success, Silva’s early career victories came due to his bezerker style of fighting, wading in with hooks, relying on his chin to keep him afloat before he devastates his opponents for an aesthetically pleasing finish.
Against Le, a touted striker who hails from a Sanshou karate background, Silva finds himself matched up against an equal heavy hitter. Of his 7 career victories as an MMA fighter, all of Le’s victories have come by knockout , besting the likes of UFC veterans Tony Fryklund, Scott Smith and former champion Frank Shamrock in his career.
If this were the Silva of old, you could expect “The Axe Murderer” to evade the bevy of kicks in Le’s arsenal by pressing the action early, swarming him with shots and eventually recording the knockout finish—but this isn’t the same Silva.
The former Pride champion is a little bit slower and a little more fragile. Expect Le to keep Silva at a distance with his kicks, frustrating the Brazilian who will wade in recklessly looking to catch Le, before the Vietnamese fighter catches Silva a right hook that will send him face first into the canvas.
