UFC 168- Weidman vs. Silva: 3 things you need to know
When Chris Weidman ended Anderson Silva's legendary title reign with a short left hook on the then-champion's chin at UFC 162, fans were immediately clamouring for a rematch.
Six months later, the UFC will finally deliver.
Silva (33-5) will get his chance at redemption on Saturday night at UFC 168, when he finds himself in the challenger's corner for the first time in seven years against the 10-0 middleweight champion, Chris Weidman.
We'll find out if Weidman "won" or if Silva "lost"
Many thought Silva, possibly the greatest mixed martial artist to ever step foot in the Octagon, wasn't really beaten, but instead "clowned" his middleweight title away. The prevailing notion was that Silva was playing with his food and got burned.
Instead of the narrative focusing on the rise of Weidman, an undefeated 29-year-old New York native who rose through the ranks with impressive victories over tough competition like Mark Munoz and Demian Maia, all anyone wanted to talk about was the fall of Silva, and the mortality of a so-called MMA god.
Weidman is hoping an emphatic victory on Saturday night will finally quash any notion of a "fluke" punch, while Silva, who has hinted at retirement leading up to this clash, will try to erase the memory of head-movement gone horribly wrong.
Ronda Rousey will try to take home Miesha Tate's arm..again
Although Ronda Rousey, the UFC women's bantamweight champion, lost a lot of shine during the most recent season of "The Ultimate Fighter", the best female fighter on the planet is still the overwhelming favorite against hated rival Miesha Tate.
Rousey (7-0), who won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, ran game on Tate during their first scrap in August 2012, tossing Tate around the cage before brutally dislocating her elbow with a vicious armbar.
Since her loss to Rousey, Tate (13-4) has alternated wins and losses, defeating tough veteran Julie Kedzie by armbar before falling to Cat Zingano in April via TKO.
A knee injury to Zingano, and the relative thinness of the women's bantamweight division, opened the door for Tate to coach opposite Rousey on "The Ultimate Fighter 18" and as a result, fast track herself to a UFC title fight.
Josh Barnett is back in the UFC title hunt for the first time in more than a decade
"The Warmaster" was last in a UFC heavyweight title fight in 2002, when he trounced Randy Couture before being stripped of the title for testing positive for a banned substance.
Barnett (33-6) spent the next ten years chasing paychecks in both MMA and pro wrestling, including stints in both PRIDE and Strikeforce, before making his return to the UFC in August with a win over former heavyweight kingpin Frank Mir.
Now, in what seems like a lifetime later, the former "Baby-faced Assassin" finds himself on the brink of another shot at UFC gold. A win over Travis Browne on Saturday would put Barnett on a short list of possible challengers for Cain Velasquez's championship strap, an idea that seemed impossible just a few months ago.
Browne (15-1-1), for his part, earned his spot in the upper echelon of the heavyweight division with an impressive string of victories including a thrilling comeback against the heavily favored Alistair Overeem at UFC Fight Night 26.
A win over Barnett would put the 6-foot-7 Hawaiian in a position to climb into a title eliminator, most likely against division stalwart Fabricio Werdum.