Kelvin Gastelum vs. Anderson Silva At UFC 212: Well Done, UFC
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Anderson Silva At UFC 212: Well Done, UFC
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Anderson Silva at UFC 212 marks a perfect matchup by the UFC. FloCombat's Hunter Homistek explains.
Kelvin Gastelum called out Anderson Silva after finishing Vitor Belfort in spectacular fashion at UFC Fight Night 106 in Fortaleza, Brazil, and bah gawd! did that tactic work out for him.
Three days later, MMA fans were treated to these tweets:
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/AnaHissa/status/841789556840099840" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/bokamotoESPN/status/841791529773543424" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Funny how that works. A 25-year-old killer calls out an aging legend, and the wish is granted in 72 hours.
A fight like this UFC 212 matchup in Rio momentarily sets the MMA world ablaze. Everyone stops to chat about it, to riff about it, to offer their hot takes and opinions.
In this case, most of y'all think Gastelum is going to squash "The Spider."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/FloCombat/status/840805640134152192" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
That's fair. Gastelum is an animal inside that eight-walled battle chamber. In his last three, he's defeated Johny Hendricks via decision, he's (literally) retired Tim Kennedy, and he's knocked out Belfort in less than four minutes, looking increasingly slick and polished in each bout. If Gastelum wants Silva next--rankings be damned--Gastelum should get Silva next. He's earned that kind of leverage.
Silva is down too, which is unsurprising given his current trajectory. Silva has fought three times in the past year against varying levels of men. First, there was the volume striker Michael Bisping, then wrestling-stud-heavyweight-turned-light-heavyweight-king Daniel Cormier on short notice, then Derek Brunson, a powerhouse puncher-wrestler hybrid coming off a loss. Those three fights represent wildly different tests, but Silva never hesitated.
The dude boasts 43 professional fights--22 of which came inside the UFC Octagon. Ruling the middleweight division for almost seven years, he posted the record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history, and when that task became a little boring to him, he would move up to 205 to smash some heavier skulls. He obliterated each of those light-heavyweight opponents in less than one round. Just for fun.
Es normal.
Talents like Silva are never out of this game, and even though he's 1-4 with one no-contest in his last six, you can't even be mad about the current Gastelum matchup.
For starters, Gastelum called him out, not the other way around. Silva agreed. If they're down, that should be enough.
But digging deeper, this fight might just come at the perfect time for a 185-pound division in flux.
Right now, there are no clear answers at middleweight. The champion, Bisping, will face Georges St-Pierre in a bizarre matchup "later this year." It's bizarre because St-Pierre hasn't fought in three and a half years. And he's a welterweight. And there are a ton of legitimate contenders at middleweight (but we've covered this).
Yoel Romero, the clear-cut number-one contender in the division, will wait for his shot at gold (thanks to MMAFighting.com Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani for that one).
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/841802107653095424" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Romero's 39 years old, and he'll be 40 before he gets his shot. Tick. Tock.
Other contenders for the middleweight strap, like Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Luke Rockhold, Gegard Mousasi, and Chris Weidman, are similarly tied up.
Souza (No. 3) fights Robert Whittaker--himself ranked No. 6--April 15 at UFC on Fox 24. Rockhold (No. 2) is injured and would like to come back around July. Mousasi (No. 4) and Weidman (No. 5) square off April 8 at UFC 210.
What else are Gastelum and Silva going to do for now--get old and older (respectively)?
It's not like any of us knows what's going to happen at 185--clearly--so for now, let's watch the fists fly and let's see how somebody two years older than Belfort fares against the young buck in Gastelum.
If the UFC wants to turn its middleweight division into the wild, wild west, I'm handing out ammo instead of bartering peace.
Silva and Gastelum want to take 20 paces, turn, and fire.
Say when.
Three days later, MMA fans were treated to these tweets:
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/AnaHissa/status/841789556840099840" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/bokamotoESPN/status/841791529773543424" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Funny how that works. A 25-year-old killer calls out an aging legend, and the wish is granted in 72 hours.
A fight like this UFC 212 matchup in Rio momentarily sets the MMA world ablaze. Everyone stops to chat about it, to riff about it, to offer their hot takes and opinions.
In this case, most of y'all think Gastelum is going to squash "The Spider."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/FloCombat/status/840805640134152192" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
That's fair. Gastelum is an animal inside that eight-walled battle chamber. In his last three, he's defeated Johny Hendricks via decision, he's (literally) retired Tim Kennedy, and he's knocked out Belfort in less than four minutes, looking increasingly slick and polished in each bout. If Gastelum wants Silva next--rankings be damned--Gastelum should get Silva next. He's earned that kind of leverage.
Silva is down too, which is unsurprising given his current trajectory. Silva has fought three times in the past year against varying levels of men. First, there was the volume striker Michael Bisping, then wrestling-stud-heavyweight-turned-light-heavyweight-king Daniel Cormier on short notice, then Derek Brunson, a powerhouse puncher-wrestler hybrid coming off a loss. Those three fights represent wildly different tests, but Silva never hesitated.
The dude boasts 43 professional fights--22 of which came inside the UFC Octagon. Ruling the middleweight division for almost seven years, he posted the record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history, and when that task became a little boring to him, he would move up to 205 to smash some heavier skulls. He obliterated each of those light-heavyweight opponents in less than one round. Just for fun.
Es normal.
Talents like Silva are never out of this game, and even though he's 1-4 with one no-contest in his last six, you can't even be mad about the current Gastelum matchup.
For starters, Gastelum called him out, not the other way around. Silva agreed. If they're down, that should be enough.
But digging deeper, this fight might just come at the perfect time for a 185-pound division in flux.
Right now, there are no clear answers at middleweight. The champion, Bisping, will face Georges St-Pierre in a bizarre matchup "later this year." It's bizarre because St-Pierre hasn't fought in three and a half years. And he's a welterweight. And there are a ton of legitimate contenders at middleweight (but we've covered this).
Yoel Romero, the clear-cut number-one contender in the division, will wait for his shot at gold (thanks to MMAFighting.com Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani for that one).
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/841802107653095424" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Romero's 39 years old, and he'll be 40 before he gets his shot. Tick. Tock.
Other contenders for the middleweight strap, like Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Luke Rockhold, Gegard Mousasi, and Chris Weidman, are similarly tied up.
Souza (No. 3) fights Robert Whittaker--himself ranked No. 6--April 15 at UFC on Fox 24. Rockhold (No. 2) is injured and would like to come back around July. Mousasi (No. 4) and Weidman (No. 5) square off April 8 at UFC 210.
What else are Gastelum and Silva going to do for now--get old and older (respectively)?
It's not like any of us knows what's going to happen at 185--clearly--so for now, let's watch the fists fly and let's see how somebody two years older than Belfort fares against the young buck in Gastelum.
If the UFC wants to turn its middleweight division into the wild, wild west, I'm handing out ammo instead of bartering peace.
Silva and Gastelum want to take 20 paces, turn, and fire.
Say when.