LAS VEGAS – Anderson Silva's remarkable mixed martial arts career
likely came to an end on Saturday in a rematch with Chris Weidman when he gruesomely broke his left leg throwing a kick.
The
former champion, Silva was throwing a kick at Weidman in the early
stages of the second round. The kick landed and it appeared as Silva's
left leg snapped just above the ankle.
Weidman won by technical knockout at 1:16 of the second round in the main event of UFC 168 at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden.
The
injury was reminiscent of a gruesome broken leg suffered by Washington
Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann in a game against the New York
Giants.
Weidman dominated Silva in the first round, nearly
knocking Silva out with a right hand that sent Silva's eyes rolling back
in his head. Weidman landed a series of elbows from the top and
controlled the round, but was not able to finish Silva.
When
the second round began, Silva began whipping hard kicks at Weidman. The
final one, though, almost certainly ended the career of the man who
held the middleweight title for nearly seven years and who holds a
significant number of UFC records.
As soon as the kick landed,
Silva's shin snapped and it was dangling. Weidman back off and referee
Herb Dean jumped in to stop the fight and get the doctors to Silva.
Silva was removed from the cage on a stretcher with a splint on his left leg.
Weidman
was interviewed in the cage as Silva lay writhing in pain on the mat
and didn't take much joy in how the fight played out.
“We knew
that in the last fight he hurt me most with the leg kicks so we trained
checking them a lot," Weidman said in the Octagon after the fight. "The
goal is to get your knee up and allow them to make contact with their
shin right there. As soon as he hit me with that kick and moved
backwards I knew right away. There’s no real excitement in a fight
finishing like that because you never want to see anyone get hurt like
that."
All attention was focused on Silva, who had lost the title
via second-round knockout to Weidman at UFC 162 in July. That one,
though, came under much different circumstances. Silva stuck his chin
out at Weidman and Weidman cracked him with a powerful left hand,
stopping him.
This time, Weidman nearly finished it in the first but was no less dominant than he was the last time.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Photos: Gruesome Loss of Anderson Silva. UFC 168.
2:49 AM
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Source Article: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ufc-168--anderson-silva-breaks-leg-kicking-chris-weidman--likely-ending-his-legendary-career-054136393-mma.html
Source Photos: http://mmajunkie.com/2013/12/photo-the-moment-anderson-silva-breaks-his-leg-at-ufc-168-warning-graphic/
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