When Anderson Silva defeated Yushin Okami at UFC 134 in August the question immediately became, who does the spider fight next? There wasn’t a fighter waiting in the wings for the champion and the potential opponents in the division were all scheduled to fight in the coming months.
With no major Mixed Martial Arts this weekend as we gear up for the crazy run of shows starting September 10th, Josh and Dan used the extra time to talk about who they see the UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva fighting next. They also took a look back at last weekends UFC Rio (134) and the return of Pro Elite as well as discussed the week’s news in another jam-packed episode of The MMA Pulse Podcast.
As Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira was in the Octagon the rest of team Nogueira was in the locker room of Anderson Silva as the champ prepared for his fight with Yushin Okami. Watch as Team Nogueira react to the impressive victory of Rodrigo “Minotauro” at UFC Rio over Brendan Schuab.
Even without an athletic commission in Brazil the UFC handed down medical suspensions on the fighters following UFC Rio (UFC 134). 16 fighters or two-thirds of the entire card were suspended, ranging anywhere from 7 days mandatory rest to 180 days pending doctor’s clearance.
With the highly anticipated UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami (UFC: Rio) completed and in the history books, it’s easy now to sit back and view the event as a whole. The crowd comes to mind right away because if you watched any portion of the card (Facebook Prelims, SpikeTV Prelims or PPV Main Card), you probably noticed the extremely loud Brazilians cheering, booing, and shouting at maximum volume for seemingly the whole event.
Another fantastic card from Zuffa and Co. is in the books and there is a lot to be said for the performances turned in by the men on Saturday’s UFC: RIO card. Legends showed us to not to count them out, fighters couldn’t live up to their own hype and Rousimar Palhares is so confident that he will beat you he will celebrate prematurely before actually beating you.
Maricio “Shogun” Rua demonstrated in Rio this past weekend that despite the background, pedigree or even the fact he lost to you in the past, all these elements do not play a factor when he has you locked in his sights and moves in to terminate the man across from him. When he debuted in Anaheim, Ca at UFC 76, he was favored to defeat Griffin with ease; after gassing out in the second round, everything went downhill and he tapped in the closing seconds of the fight for the submission loss.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira knocked out Brendan Schaub at last night’s UFC Rio in what was surprisingly the Heavyweight Legends first fight in his Mother Country. Then he stayed home, which is was only three miles away and celebrated.
