End of an era: Anderson Silva's career likely finished

LAS VEGAS – During his seven-year UFC career, Anderson Silva did things in the cage that few men could do, or would dare try. On Saturday, Silva once again did something rarely seen, though this time, it was a gruesome injury he suffered that likely will end his masterful career.
Silva broke his left leg while throwing a kick at middleweight champion Chris Weidman early in the second round of their rematch Saturday in the main event of UFC 168 at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden.

He underwent surgery after the bout at a local hospital, UFC president Dana White said.

Silva whipped a hard kick at Weidman, who checked it. Silva's bone instantly snapped just above the ankle, as Silva collapsed in agony and Weidman backed off.

The fight ended at 1:16 of the second round and Weidman retained the title via technical knockout, since Silva couldn't continue. Doctors and paramedics placed a splint on his left leg and removed him from the cage on a stretcher.

Weidman checked the kick with a technique he learned from coach Ray Longo.

"Ray Longo once broke a guy's leg in training using what he calls 'The Destruction,' " Weidman said. "It's knee on shin, so when he goes to kick, you put your knee on his shin. It has happened in sparring and guys take a minute off and walk around, and at least it stops them from kicking you.
"To break someone's leg, I've never done that before. I didn't want to see Anderson get hurt like that."

Silva's injury was reminiscent of a 2008 broken leg Cory Hill suffered during a fight in North Carolina against Dale Hartt. Hill's bone broke through the skin and his foot was facing the wrong way when he hit the ground, but he returned to action 13 months later. However, his status is very different than Silva's and it's not likely that Silva will go through the ordeal it will take to return.

Silva had already contemplated retiring. Given the injury, his age and his stature in the sport, it would be a daunting task for him to get back to competition. If he could make it in 13 months like Hill, he'd be nearly 40-years-old and would have to fight young, hungry stars in order to battle his way back into contention.

That can't be appealing for a legend like Silva, who holds a slew of UFC records and is widely regarded as the greatest MMA fighter of all-time.

His injury caused the heavily pro-Silva crowd to gasp in horror. Even rival Vitor Belfort was disappointed.

"I feel for Anderson," said Belfort, who will fight Weidman for the title sometime next year.

Silva nearly didn't make it to the second round. Early in the first, Weidman caught him with a short right hand on the inside that nearly knocked the ex-champion out. Silva's eyes rolled back in his head and Weidman pounced in an attempt to go for the finish.

Weidman landed several nasty elbows from the top position, but the wily veteran recovered and made it through the round.

It wasn't a good sign, though, because he did little offensively and took a great deal of punishment. Weidman, though, was impressed with what he saw of Silva in their brief time in the cage Saturday.

"He's never shown signs of slowing down, so I couldn't afford to think that because he's getting older this would be the fight where it would start showing," Weidman said. "I expected the best Anderson Silva and I actually thought he looked great tonight. Physically, I thought he looked the best I've ever seen him."

Silva's presumed departure will leave the company without two of the greatest stars of its boon era. The UFC was struggling and in peril of collapse until the success of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 1 finale. Silva and Georges St-Pierre became the biggest stars of the era and now, each is gone at least for a while.

St-Pierre abdicated his welterweight title and announced he'd take a sabbatical following UFC 167 last month. St-Pierre said he had been burned out by dealing with the pressure and needed to handle some personal issues.

Silva's departure is more sudden, shocking and heartbreaking for those who reveled in his greatness, and the UFC will now have to find new stars.
That's the fight game, however. In boxing, fans would fret about what would happen to the sport when Muhammad Ali left, and then Sugar Ray Leonard came along. And then, as Leonard's career was winding down, Mike Tyson became not only the biggest thing in boxing, but one of the biggest names in sport.
After Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya took over and once De La Hoya was gone, Floyd Mayweather Jr. became the face of the sport.

The UFC will overcome the loss of Silva and St-Pierre in similar fashion, though new stars will have to emerge.

"I'm a big fan [of Silva's] and I have been since he came here," White said. "It's one of those crazy things. In a million years, you never expect to see that. This will be a tough thing to overcome and come back from at his age. He literally left here and is going straight into surgery. … Anderson Silva has been amazing, and is one of the greatest of all-time, if not the best ever. It's a [expletive] way to see him go out, but it's part of the game."

No one ever likes to see anyone leave with a gruesome injury, but it's particularly difficult to see a great like Silva go out that way. He had so many of the UFC's finest moments, but his career will now be remembered as much for how it ended as for what he accomplished.

That, though, is sport, and it's the hard reality the fighters live.

The end can come at any moment, in a fight and in a career, and it seemingly did just that Saturday for Anderson Silva.

Rousey v. Tate..Who Do The Fans Like Now

The essence of three months of reality television was whittled down to one very real three-minute live interview.There was Miesha Tate at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night, smiling, gracious, and witty.To her right, separated by interviewer Jon Anik, was UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere except where she was at the moment.

If this was professional wrestling, they’d call it a double turn, in which the hero becomes the villain and the villain the hero, all in one fell swoop.But really, should anyone be surprised? Saturday’s Ultimate Fighter Finale card was Tate’s crowning accomplishment, as her fighters went 2-0 in head-to-head championship matchups against their Team Rousey counterparts. Julianna Pena became the first TUF women’s champion by finishing Jessica Rakoczy in the first round of their bantamweight bout; and Chris Holdsworth won the men’s bantamweight crown with a submission win over underdog Davey Grant.

Ronda Rousey's image took a significant hit over the course of TUF 18. Rousey is an excellent winner. It’s something she’s used to, seeing as she came home from Beijing with an Olympic judo medal and has torn through the competition to become the first UFC women’s champ. But losing? That’s something she’s yet to prove she can handle gracefully. This was on display Saturday night, as Rousey displayed a teenager’s petulance during her interview. Asked what would make the difference between their rematch on Dec. 28 in Las Vegas and their first fight – in which Rousey beat Tate last year for what was then the Strikeforce title – Rousey said “I don't think I've seen as good a performance from her since I won the title and she's fought a few times since then. I feel like I have so many advantages I don't even know what is the difference." She then turned her gaze toward the upper deck while Tate responded.

Later, Tate was asked how she could better emotionally prepare for the rematch. "I got a lot of practice those six weeks [in the TUF house]," Tate said. "I'm trying to stay as emotionally un-invested as possible."

As Tate responded, Rousey made a point of yawning on camera.

While Tate has treated Rousey’s scorn with smiles, Pena, the show’s breakout star, makes no secret of her contempt for Rousey. Pena set the tone in the season’s first fight, scoring what at the time was considered a stunning upset of veteran Shayna Baszler, which prompted Rousey’s first on-camera tantrum of the season.

The Team Tate fighter continued to look impressive in the Finale, as she was simply light years ahead of Rakoczy, pummeling her with ground and pound until the fight was stopped.

At the post-fight news conference, Pena made it clear she hasn’t gotten over Rousey’s cold shoulder. "Whether Ronda has one penny or $10 million, the point I was trying to make there is she has her nose in the air and she acts like she's better than everyone else," Pena said. "She went on the show being like, ‘I'm Team Real Mean versus Fake Nice.' Well if she was so real, why didn't she tell me that I didn't deserve to breathe the same air as Shayna Baszler? Why didn't see tell me that to my face instead of saying it on camera behind my back?”

Miesha Tate has become a fan favorite thanks to her role opposite Ronda Rousey on TUF.

Then, there was the men’s side of the equation, which lacked much of the drama of the women’s tournament. It also lacked ratings. It didn’t take long to establish that TUF episodes featuring women’s fights drew more viewers than episodes featuring the men. Indeed, before the season was through, UFC president Dana White announced the company plans on adding a 115-pound women’s strawweight division with an eye on a future TUF season.

That TUF 18’s eight-man field was lackluster was underscored by the fact the Holdsworth-Grant final was the only men’s bout on the Finale card, as none of the other men’s bantamweights were given a slot. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that Holdsworth looks legit. A member of Sacramento’s well-respected Team Alpha Male gym, Holdsworth was head-and-shoulders above the men’s pack, as he won all three of his tournament fights via submission.

While it’s much too soon to project stardom on the kid, he’s at the right gym – training with the likes of Urijah Faber, Joseph Benavidez and Chad Mendes – and displays both sound fundamentals and a noticeable killer instinct to his fights.

“[UFC backstage coordinator] Burt Watson said [Friday] at the fighter’s meeting, ‘It’s harder to stay here than it is to get here,’ the unbeaten Holdsworth said. “So I’m just going to work my hardest to do my best and keep becoming a more complete fighter and just keep winning fights.”

As it was, the heated Rousey-Tate interview came down before either Pena or Holdsworth won their fights. So Rousey was in a real mood when they were reconvened on Fox Sports 1’s post-fight show. This time, Rousey claimed she had not watched a minute of the series, and railed against the concept of reality television and the often-inaccurate images of the people they portray. She has a point. Everyone knows reality TV shows are heavily edited to fit storylines. But there’s no doubt that at the start of The Ultimate Fighter 18, Rousey was the UFC’s golden girl, and Tate the perpetual runner-up. At the end of a six-month process (dating back to the show’s filming), Tate was all smiles and Rousey was all snarls on live TV. And that’s one she can't blame on an editor with an agenda.

Women's Wrestling Dying..But Why

Female wrestling has always been a niche product.  Something to occasionally have on a card.  A small roster with a couple bigger name females and the rest just a supporting cast.

Wendi Richter and Moohlah being the two stars in the early 80s.

As soon as Wendi Richter had a falling out in WWE and left, the division was worthless because there was no viable babyface.

In a down period like this the women become less used and thres been various times where WWE disbanded the division for over 3 years.

Then over time they brought it back more in spurts such as the Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano feud.

And then when they started the division again it was mostly a farce with people like Hervina, Kat, Bertha winning the title.

The more that era went on it became largely T&A. The use of a lot of T&A titilated fans and kept girls more interesting that otherwise wouldn't be.  WWE was also putting much more effort into the writing overall during these years.  

And they were smart to build a roster with star types like Trish and Lita bolstered by solid veterans to make them look good.

Throughout these various years they did Diva searches and things like Playboy pushes.  This all hurt the division because most of those girls didn't pan out at all and it gave Wrestlemania spots to busts like Ashley Massaro and Christy Hemme.

Trish and Lita left then the company leaned on Mickie James out of necessity after various girls I mentioned flopped. They put Candice on the right path but she quickly flammed out because of injuries and a deteriorating look.

After awhile the division was on the right track with Mickie and Kelly as the main faces. They were both buried though because of Vince/Stephanie's insistence of pushing Melina as a face.

We then entered the era of Michelle McCool's politics.  An era where mostly everything that was done was an attempt to build the Undertakers heat vacuum wife.  This took opportunities from other girls and numbed fans to the product.

If nothing else there was a Diva match every TV and houseshow, helped a lot by Kelly who gave them an ideal babyface that was always popular and healthy.

As time went on though the powers that be stopped putting any effort into the womens division. They consciously damaged it in many ways. No real storyline effort, 1 minute matches on Raw, no PPV build, no viable Wrestlemania matches.

Mixed in with bad politics of Stephanie trying to get Eve over as a face, Vince handing the title over to his "buddies" the Bella Twins.  Keeping a jumped the shark LayCool gimmick going for several months too long.  Only for McCool to randomly leave right when her husband went into semi-retirement.  Leaving the title on a completely played out Beth Phoenix for months rather than put effort into the division.

The result of the company burying the divison and its politics led to just about every notable Diva leaving.

The last straw for some perhaps AJ being given the absolute sun and moon because of a potential fling with Cena.  A girl who was strictly on the NXT brand shortly before.  And to get any traction they had to build several Raws around her.  Have her do endless amount of sexually charged acts.  And constantly be around main eventers.

All for a girl that never paid any dues in WWE, rarely wrestles, and has a nothing special look.

And how were they treating the wrestling division while this was going on?  Giving a bad political push to Layla and just keeping the title on her with no direction because they had no desire to put effort into the division.

They completely wasted a KK vs Eve feud which could have really helped the division get on the right track.  But no, they rather spend all their time planning outrageous sexual acts for AJ.

Kelly left. Beth Phoenix left. And Eve abandoned ship as well despite how much they continued to give her.

And where are we now? Trying to squarepeg Kaitlyn into a pushed face role which is bombing. Something that if they had half a brain knew would be the case but they frankly don't give a shit.

WWE in their arrogance thought the division could just roll along without its top stars.  After all, they just want to use it as a piss break anyway.  But even if you are toning down the use of the division you still need top stars.  They have no face anything close to Kelly.  A face that could make all the random pointless matches seem at least half way important. And could be the main diva headliner on houseshows.

Instead they have Kaitlyn who can't get a reaction. And look how bad the houseshow lineups are. Stuff like Kaitlyn vs. Tamina and Layla vs. Aksana. Its downright embarrassing.

What we are seeing is a wounded pointless division similar to when Wendi Richter left.  The only difference is now WWE can't seem sexist for disbandoing the division and won't be without something competitors have.

Internet marks live in a delusion that every girl they sign in developmental is going to be a star.  But most flame out becase of either injuries, heat, bad packaging and lack of starpower.  Not to mention given a crappy name, brought up with a crappy angle, and tasked with being successful in a division the company does not care about.

Most Divas they sign at most are going to be role players.  When I look at the FCW Diva roster right now I see maybe two girls that could be top heels, one of which isn't a good worker. I don't see any girls that are cut out to be a true top face.

And now they are doing a Diva Search which is just going to flood developmental with girls who will need at least 2 years of training and most will bomb.  For every Eve Torres (who failed as a face but was productive as a heel) there is girls like Rosa, Amy, Joy, Carmella, etc etc. 

Right now you could fire almost all the Divas and it wouldn't matter. Most of the FCW girls are just going to take their place as role players.

Then net marks hold onto some goofy hope of Indy girls being a savior.  We had to hear this for months about Sara Del Rey. And what really happened, they only signed her to be a trainer.  What do you think would happen if they actually had her be a wrestler? They would give her a new name, some goofy gimmick, give her an initial heel push then turn her into a jobber.

The reality is WWE can sign anyone they want. Every one of these Indy type girls have no problem selling out such as Kong and Serena. Girls who were hyped to the moon by the Internet and given the tools to succeed by political backers in the office. And what happened? They couldn't deal with WWE's controlling and demanding ways.

There just isn much of any well packaged girls in the Indys. WWE would sign them if there was. Instead they try to seem smarkish by signing girls like Davina Rose and Buggy Nova. One already flamed out.  The other just started in NXT and really has too minor league of a look. Its no wonder they have toyed with having her wrestle under a mask.

Most of what is in the Indys that is worth signing are girls to be veteran heel jobbers.  Girls like Sara, Cheerleader Melissa, etc would be fine in that role.  That would make the heel side a lot better than having girls like Aksana and Alicia as the main jobbers.

The first point of this article is WWE is the top wrestling company in the world. Its where every wrestler wants to be.  Yet they aren't able to cobble together a womens division.  All that is left is shakey role players and a blind hope that some of the Dev girls can develop into top stars.

Then you go down the ladder to TNA. The second biggest wrestling company and its just as big of a joke.

Their method is to mainly give pushes to long washed up WWE girls. It makes no sense to give a girl a huge push that is way up in age and was a jobber in WWE.

Then they delude themself by overvaluing their homegrown talent. For instance Velvet Sky.

Here is a girl who is almost 32. Her age along with her skanky look make it impossible for her to be uber marketable.

When Velvet was avialable did WWE want her? No.

If Velvet walked out on Raw right now would anyone care? No.

Yet this is who they want to build as their "it" girl. A plan as stupid as WWE trying to build Kaitlyn.

Net marks buy into this bullshit too.  They call Velvet "the TNA Kelly".  No, there is no comparison.  Firstly Kelly is way more popular and well known.  Secondly Kelly is way more marketable.  Thirdly Kelly is a lot younger.  And lastly if Kelly walked out on TNA it would be a big deal.

The one girl TNA has that is a commodity is Brooke who has some level of starpower, even if its mostly based on her showing her ass.  But even if Brooke walked out on Raw do you think anyone would really care? No.

The main star they have is Mickie James who is about on her last legs.

TNA's roster is really no better than WWE's.  They if nothing else give the women time.  But for being supposely the smark friendly female wrestling company, who do they put their title on, Velvet.

There is nothing high level going on in TNA's Knockout division.  Its just giving a lot of time to a odd mix of washed up girls and homegrown girls they overvalue.

Then you get to the female Indys. Internet marks go on and on and on about such and such girls in the Indys are such big stars.  They talk about these female Indys that are lucky if they get 100 people at their shows as if it is the big time?

Talk about delusional.

What do every one of these girls in the Indys want? A spot in WWE.

A chance to go to WWE. A place that has rampant politics and has systemattically killed the womens division.

So for almost every Indy female they are basically busting their asses for an opportunity that will never come.  And then WWE will sign an Indy girl like AJ who only had like ten Indy matches.

To sum things up I am basically saying that female wrestling is a niche product and its really only viable if you have a true star or two driving it.  We are seeing this big time in WWE right now.  And because of PG they can't even have the girls get a cheap pop for showing thier ass.

Internet marks though live in a fantasyland where every unover secondary girl is a star

Anatomy of NFL Bullying..REALLY

Jonathan Martin is a 6 foot 5, 312-lb man, and can we be honest here, he decided to take his ball and go home. So the word is bullying, and throughout history in our society, the strength of that word is that an individual decides he is not going to tell anybody about this. NFL players are looked at as tough guys and individuals who overcome obstacles and issues in their lives to succeed. How can they give young kids and young adults advice about bullying? The simple answers use to be tell a friend, tell a teacher, tell a principal, or tell a counselor. Also there was the ever, popular stand up for yourself. Though that scenario should only fall to grown individuals, which just happens to be Jonathan Martin. Who is to say if Jonathan Martin was to stand up to his offender, teammate Pro Bowler Richie Incognito, Incognito would not have back down? Everybody reporting seems to think, based on his past, Incognito would just buck up and get into a physical altercation. Well, why not, if they would have had a physical altercation, their teammates would have known there was tension. Martin’s issue is he decided not to tell anybody, simply put.  He decided he was more comfortable running home to his parents, honestly. And his parents happen to be law attorneys. What seems to be funny, is that fact that most people and lumping this issue into the football ritual of rookie hazing, but it isn’t. Jonathan Martin is not a rookie and hazing only happens as a team and unit, not one individual, so all of those people need to kill that noise. Especially the former players who are making statements about wishing they never participated in player hazing. Are you serious? Those allegations only come from the critics who hate the lifestyles and rituals that happen within the locker rooms of sports athletes anyway. Those people hate the fascination of the lives of athletes anyway, why do you think Twitter is so popular. The NFL is currently taken a lot of hits, so the general media will do whatever they can to tie everything to them. Trust me, if Martin doesn’t play again, definitely look for him to bring on some type of lawsuit. Though the culture of football should not be in question here, these guys are crazy anyway, they play a smart that can physically hamper them for life, and you have to be warped in the head. Columnist and writer Dan Le Batard complains Martin only had bad choices to handle this, did he really? First of all, these series on incidents are said to have happened outside the protective fence of the locker room. Le Batard makes the assumption that based on football lure, that if Martin tells somebody he would be looked at as weak, really? Isn’t that the same advice we give kids for bullying, see the beginning of this writing. My question to Le Batard, what if Martin goes to a veteran African-American teammate, like a defensive player or a member of their leadership council, and plays Incognito’s voicemails to them, you still think they wouldn’t do anything to intervene or give advice or, what is considered worse, look at him as weak for coming to them?

Watching Sportscenter the other day, I see former Colts GM Bill Polian commenting on an article on Mike and Mike. The article stated how Incognito is the of player teams want. You know what, it’s true. Incognito has an aggressive mentality on and off the field, he is a pro bowler. Polian went on to state most GM’s want good character guys and he went on the mention the handful of good character guys that succeeded. But Polian did not mention the loads of guy character players that don’t make or succeed. Bill didn’t bat 100 when it came to his draft picks and free agent signings. What about those guys. This situation is simply admittance to the world, that in the NFL, there are good apples and bad apples. Bill’s comments explain how business should be done, but he knows as well as anybody, in a “win now” league, you can’t also stick to that way of thinking. If a guy with a checkered past can make that goaline stop in the fourth or that 30-yard TD catch in the clutch, you think he won’t be on a team?   How about this, the ultimate good character guy, Tim Tebow, can’t even get a phone call and despite his lack of abilities, everyone knows Tebow’s intangibles make him very good player in the league, and yes, at the QB position. He is actually being overlooked by his hometown team for a guy who puts up worse QB stats them him, yes it’s true look it up. Don’t like that example, how about Donovan McNabb, an all pro QB with great character. In the twilight of his career, was still better than most of the quarterbacks in the league last season and he didn’t get a call. There are countless others. See what I mean, this notion by Polian that the bad apples get ignored is ridiculous and seems to be his philosophy only. And look it worked for a period of time for him, but other GM’s don’t have that luxury.  

In conclusion, you can call Jonathan Martin a bit immature for leaving his job and running home to mommy and daddy or call him a model day hero for just doing nothing. I question, what if this was Martin’s son or someone threatening his family at some point when you leave college or leave home, you have to stand up for yourself or stand for something. That’s the world we live in, welcome to harsh reality people. I would contend that Jonathan Martin is what’s wrong with today’s society. He was a guy who seemed to want to stay to himself and tell no one of his pains and struggles, not even his friends and family. Reportedly, they didn’t know until he left the team. He decided to ignore everything until he just couldn’t take it anymore. Doesn’t that scenario sound familiar. Solitary is never the best option in stressful pressure situations. The only difference is Martin didn’t go home and get a gun and it wasn’t because of his rational or civilized background. I honestly can’t see how he would be looked at as a hero, not for the football lure, but just the simple fact that we tell our kids to open up and tell someone when it comes to harassment and bullying. And all signs say Martin didn’t. I am not one who has sympathy for Martin based on what has been said currently, nor sympathy for Incognito, I have seen and heard too many stories on young people being bullied and harassed and the tragic fallouts following them. A grown man picking on another considered grown man is suppose to be a tragedy in our society? Keep in mind both men are wealthy. We need to prioritized what is a tragedy and what we need to be outraged about.

See link below and see the realness of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpxHAiVJn4E&list=UUGqFLBOfUknxoPPazshP4Zw