Anderson Silva did not throw his fight with Chris Weidman

I have probably been remiss in not affording my opponent the proper courtesies prior to the start of each round. It has been a spirited debate thus far, and I want to thank my opponent for starting the debate topic and providing valuable source information. Counter-arguments: 1) That gif is a great reference point. A hook is probably a more appropriate label. I will concede that point. However, as far as hooks go, that wasn't exactly a particularly powerful one when you take into account Silva's body of work. He is a master at taking punches. Watch the videos in this article, and tell me if you think that shot he took in the ring looked like a punishing shot. Check out these hits that Silva takes: http://www.bloodyelbow.com... 2) Eyes roll back and head bounces on the floor. Yeah, true. Although, both are really easy to fake. You just have to look back, go limp, and fall. Fighters have been taking dives for years. I think Silva was just waiting to take a real shot so he could go down. Plus, even if he didn't go down on purpose, deciding not to cover up when he was coherent in MMA is the same a taking a dive in boxing. I think the fact that he has aware enough of his surroundings to catch Herb Dean from kicking him in the head speaks volumes. 3) He tried to grabble with Herb Dean. I feel very strongly that this is a misinterpretation of what happened. Herb Dean tripped over Silva, and Silva grabbed his foot to stop from getting kicked in the head. Then, he caught Dean, held him in place, and placed him back on the mat so that he wouldn't fall. Silva is extraordinarily aware of his surrounding for a dude that is knocked out. Furthermore, after that gif cuts out, Dean asks Silva if he is ok. Silva sits up and says, "Yeah, I'm fine." Almost never do you see a guy that gets knocked out cold wake up immediately, be aware of his surroundings, and coherent enough to speak a foreign language. 4) Post fight interview. He says, "I still have 10 fights left (on my contract)." He doesn't say he is going to fight 10 more fights. In an article with a Brazilian paper he states "I will retire within the next year." This loss gives him leverage to leave on his terms. As a title holder, he doesn't have any choice in who his opponents are. They are the hungriest, most dangerous fighters in his weight class. He has to train for those fights 6 days a week away from his family. As a former champ, he still gets paid lots of money to fight lesser opponents. Since his contract is pre-negotiated, he doesn't get paid more for fighting in a title fight. He only gets marginally more money winning those fights. Fighting, not for the title, as he says in the post fight interview, would allow him to spend less time training and more time teaching and spending time with his family. Those are the things he says, in the same interview, that he wants to focus on. Furthermore, non-title fights are only 3 rounds. Title fights are 5. Those extra two rounds require championship fighters to be in peak cardio shape. Silva could stop training right now and still beat the snot out of lesser fighters, cash the checks, and do it while having fun (i.e. without Sonnen/Weidman and such tackling him to the ground and beating in his face, even though he can still win the fight.) 5) Fight stats. Personally, I don't put any stock in fight stats. I know they play a big part in how fights are judged. But, Silva doesn't take fights to decision. And, even though Silva was scoring, he wasn't fighting. There is a difference. A big difference. The fact that he scored, doesn't mean that he was throwing knockout punches. And, throwing knockout punches is his style. Fighting to score isn't. If we were debating whether or not Frankie Edward threw a fight, I would concede this point. I don't think it applies to Silva though. Plus, no one watches Silva fight to see proper technique. They watch him because he murks people with copious amounts of swag. 6) He didn't throw big shots, because there weren't any openings. I believe there were openings. There was a point in the fight where Silva had him in a semi Muay Thai clench, with Weidman's hands occupied grappling, and Silva didn't throw any knees. Weidman was throwing punches left and right, leaving plenty of opportunities to counter-strike forcing Weidman to back up. On why the fight was thrown: 1) Retiring as a motivation is not disproved by his post fight speech. Again, he doesn't say he is going to fight 10 more fights. He made the 10 fights on his contract comment as a way of evading Fear Factor's direct question about retiring. There is a good deal of grey area between retiring on the spot, and throwing a fight so he can retire from training like a title holder. I think he wants to retire from the grueling preparation, even if he fights a few more times to grow his retirement nest egg. 2) The argument that Silva was clowning around to prove a point is a good one. So is the arguments that it was a tactical decision. But, loosing the fight gives him the freedom to pursue the Roy Jones Jr. fight. Winning the fight would not have provided such freedom. So, if he REALLY wants to fight Roy Jones, as opposed to proving that he should be able to fight Roy Jones, loosing is a better tactic. It accomplishes the goal outright, by allowing Silva to rid himself of UFC's exclusivity hold over him. Winning the fight with ease, would only prove a theoretical point. Dana White would still be able to control his fight destiny. Furthermore, there appears to be a monetary benefit to getting out of his UFC contract. I was shocked when I realized this, but Silva only makes $200,000 per fight. Roy Jones Jr's average per fight purse was 10 to 12 million dollars, with his largest purse totaling 22 million dollars. Silva's NET WORTH is 10 million dollars. Comparatively, the UFC's wages pale in comparison to boxing wages. If he had won, and Dan White decided to let Silva fight Roy Jones in a boxing match. The UFC would take a large portion of that purse and HBO salary, because the UFC controls Silva contractually. It is more than conceivable that a Silva / Roy Jones Jr. fight would be worth more to Silva monetarily then the entirety of his remaining contract with the UFC. Pretty crazy huh? http://www.celebritynetworth.com... http://answers.yahoo.com... 3) Dana White is always talking about super fights, because the fans want to see super fights. He has to appear to want the same things that the fans want to continue to garner their support. But, often, his interests do not ally with the fans interests. Super fights are a perfect example. Ever wonder why super fights never seem to materialize? It is because they usually only benefit the fans, while they don't benefit the fighters or the institutions. Note Pacquiao/Mayweather. Additional points: 1) I want to credit this point to Jblocks comment. I'm putting it in here, because I think it deserves consideration. Weidman did not act the way you would expect a young kid to act after he dethroned the greatest fighter of all time. Dana White accredited this to the fact that he is a classy kid. Weidman also said that he expected to win. But, even so, he seemed guilty to me. It is possible he was grappling with the fact that by winning he was embarrassing his childhood hero. But, its just another little detail that adds up to an overall feeling that the fight just didn't look right. So much so, that the first question from the press core in the post fight conference was about there being a fix. Questions: 1) Can you explain the moment in the fight where Silva appears to be psyching himself up to get hit in the face? 2) Why does he close his eyes when he taunts? 3) Why doesn't he want a rematch? Fight from another angle: http://www.youtube.com...