ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

During a prefight media call on Thursday, former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz accomplished a feat never witnessed before, at least publicly: He caused Georges St-Pierre to lose his cool.

For more than 25 minutes, St-Pierre and Diaz engaged in a heated verbal back-and-forth. There was name calling and lots of profanity, mostly from Diaz. But St-Pierre tossed in his share of insults.

These two don’t like each other much, that much was clear before their hard-biting telephone altercation. This kind of trash talking isn’t uncommon in the fight game, and it definitely isn’t something foreign to Diaz. He’s known to give opponents a verbal spanking before fight night. But what made last week’s incident especially unusual was the reaction Diaz elicited from the UFC 170-pound titleholder.

There are only a handful of men in the fight business capable of combining athletic skill, technique and intelligence quite like St-Pierre. There is, however, another element to St-Pierre that separates him from the pack -- an uncanny ability to control his emotions.

Being in control of his emotions is something St-Pierre takes seriously. It’s imperative to St-Pierre’s success that he doesn’t allow anyone to take him out of his emotional comfort zone.

But for a several minutes on Thursday, Diaz broke through St-Pierre’s emotional guard. It won’t happen again, according to St-Pierre, who vows he’s back in control of his feelings.

Diaz’s success was short-lived; St-Pierre is staking his title on it. Only for a moment did he lose sight of his foe’s intent. St-Pierre has seen this act before, maybe not from as skilled a trash-talker as Diaz, but he still should have handled the situation better. Prefight taunting is designed to serve two purposes: increase financial revenue for the bout and throw an opponent off his game.

The first is sure to succeed; the second? St-Pierre says Diaz hasn’t come close to disrupting his rhythm or focus.

“[Diaz] is not the first guy who’s been disrespectful toward me,” St-Pierre told ESPN.com. “These types of guys are stupid. They all make a deal about me before the fight.

“They all want to fight me because they want to make money. But that’s why we are all in this business -- to make money. So, they want to fight me to make that money off pay per views.

“I take it as a compliment.”

“

[Nick Diaz] is not the first guy who's been disrespectful toward me. These types of guys are stupid. They all make a deal about me before the fight.

” -- Georges St-Pierre, on opponents who try to rattle the cage before a fight

Despite his efforts to dismiss Diaz’s trash talk as nothing more than an annoyance, a hint of disdain can be detected in St-Pierre’s voice. Any form of disrespect, especially when directed at someone who’s accomplished as much as St-Pierre has in his professional fighting career, must sting somewhat.

St-Pierre was definitely stung by Diaz’s verbal assault. And he intends to ease that pain Saturday night when the two settle matters at UFC 158 in Montreal.

The promotion calls it a welterweight title bout; it’s a lot more than that for St-Pierre. He claims to be fighting for something greater and Diaz is just the latest hurdle on the journey toward achieving it.

“I don’t fight to be champion anymore,” said St-Pierre, who will carry a record of 23-2 into the cage against Diaz. "I have bigger goals. I want to fight guys who will help me reach the next level, and Nick Diaz is one of them.”

St-Pierre couldn’t be coaxed into revealing who is next on his hit list. Unlike Diaz, he never looks beyond the task at hand.
But he was willing to tell ESPN.com that Diaz is in for a very painful evening. St-Pierre is determined to put him through a horrifying experience. He wants to make Diaz suffer in every possible area of mixed martial arts.

While listening to St-Pierre describe what will take place in Saturday night’s main event it almost seems as if he’s angry -- like he has an ax to grind. But he insists that is not the case whatsoever.

“It’s really not personal,” St-Pierre said. “I don’t have bad blood toward him, though he’s been disrespectful to me.

“Fighting is more fun. I’ve changed a lot of things in my life and in my career. I feel reborn, refreshed.

“I’m a better fighter now. I’m happy. The most important thing in doing [mixed martial arts] is to have fun. And if you’re having fun at what you do, enjoying it, you will be good at it.

“Nick has been talking for a long while and his style will bring out the best in me. It’s going to be a very interesting fight for the fans.”

A word St-Pierre uttered repeatedly throughout the conversation with ESPN.com, whenever Diaz’s name arose, was “disrespectful.” Maybe he was using it unconsciously, but for sure St-Pierre associates Diaz with the word.

On fight night, St-Pierre will recall the “disrespect” Diaz repeatedly exuded toward him. And if Diaz stays true to form, he will direct a few more “disrespectful” words at the champion inside the Octagon.

St-Pierre says what happened during the media call was a one-time occurrence. He vows not to lose his cool in the cage; Diaz will certainly test his resolve.

When Rashad Evans last stepped inside the Octagon to fight -- on Feb. 2 at UFC 156 -- he was a shadow of himself.

There was very little head or foot movement, making him an easy target for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira’s stiff right jab. But the sluggish standup wasn’t the only hint that Evans was present in name only -- he found it difficult to get Lil Nog off his feet.

Evans registered one takedown during the 15-minute battle. Every one of his takedown attempts was telegraphed. A solid wrestler like Evans doesn’t normally broadcast when he’s about to go for a double-leg.

His performance against Nogueira was so poor that some wondered aloud whether Evans’ best days as a fighter were in the past. Based off that outing against Nogueira, the simple response is yes.

But the reality is much more complex. Evans remains as physically explosive as ever. On that level, he can still compete with the best. He’ll be the naturally faster, more athletic fighter in the cage at UFC 161 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on June 15 when he meets hard-hitting Dan Henderson. But will he be mentally and emotionally as strong as his opponent that night?

“I’m happy about this fight [against Henderson],” Evans told ESPN.com. “Having the chance to fight somebody like Dan is a big deal, especially after not having the performance I would have liked [against Nogueira].

“It’s good to get in there with somebody like Dan and answer a lot of critics and to show everybody that I am still one of the best guys in the weight class. I couldn’t find my rhythm against Nogueira; I couldn’t find my timing. It was just one of those things. It was like I was in a mental fog.”

Evans has dropped each of his past two fights. It’s the first time as a professional fighter that he’s experienced a losing skid.

Despite his recent setbacks -- to Nogueira and a highly emotional affair with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 145 in April 2012 -- Evans isn’t one to make excuses. And he is not about to start, despite less-than-impressive showings in his past three outings -- tons of criticism was heaped on him after his win over Phil Davis in January 2012.

Evans was experiencing marriage problems before his fight against Davis. The Chicago resident and father of three spent most of 2011 in Boca Raton, Fla., training with his "Blackzilians" teammates.

It also was the year Evans severed ties with his longtime trainer, Greg Jackson, who instructs Jones. Evans was able to handle the split with Jackson; dealing with a crumbling marriage and seeing less of his children proved much more difficult. It’s a matter he still hasn’t fully come to grips with, and his performance in the cage has suffered. Evans’ divorce was finalized after his loss to Jones.

“Having a failed marriage and not being able to see your kids on a daily basis, that’s what hurts me every single day,” Evans said. “I feel like I failed in my marriage and I failed my kids by not being in their lives on a daily basis.

“It’s because they live in Chicago and in order for me to train I live in South Florida for the most part. I have a place in Chicago, but I’m rarely ever there because I’m always trying to train. It bothers me and I can’t say that it doesn’t.”

Evans has yet to come to grips with not seeing his children regularly. He knows firsthand what it’s like not having a father in the home. Being a former light heavyweight champion and top-level mixed martial artist doesn’t come close to the joy Evans gets from being a good father.

“

I feel like I failed in my marriage and I failed my kids by not being in their lives on a daily basis.

” -- Rashad Evans

Evans enjoyed being a mixed martial artist when his children were around him often. During the past year, that enjoyment has dissipated.

“I must admit I did get to a point where I wasn’t having fun and went through the motions,” Evans said. “And that’s where I am right now.

“When I started fighting I enjoyed everything part of it: I enjoyed training so much, I enjoyed learning. But lately it had gotten to the point where it was something that I had to do, it’d become somewhat monotonous.”

Evans realizes that he won’t be able to compete at the highest level of MMA if he can’t find enjoyment in the sport. He struggles with this each day. But a two-fight skid has helped him conclude that a third loss must be avoided. It has become the source of his motivation as he prepares to face Henderson.

Evans would love to spend more time with his children, but it’s a situation he can’t reverse at this time. What he can control is providing for them financially.

A loss to Henderson, however, could seriously threaten his earning power. That realization might just be enough to shake Evans from his emotional doldrums.

“This is the type of fight that keeps you up at night, because you want to do well,” Evans said. “My back is against the wall. And this is when I perform at my best.

“In the fight business, you’re only as good as your next fight. If you lose two or three then you’re done.

“My manager Bill Robinson always says, ‘You’re either one fight away from getting a title shot and becoming champion or you’re two losses away from being cut from UFC.’”

Georges St-Pierre has added more intrigue to a potential showdown between he and Anderson Silva by claiming the Brazilian will be comfortably beaten by Chris Weidman later this year. More »

Michael Bisping claims Hector Lombard has been shown up to be very "average" in the UFC, although the Brit insists he would never call for any fighter to be cut from the organization. More »

Times like this, we’re reminded of words from the great philosopher Ferris Bueller, who warned us in his landmark 1986 work that, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Mixed martial arts fans who took an eye off the ball for even a moment this week might’ve missed the whirlwind saga leading up to Saturday’s confirmation that, yes, Mark Hunt will indeed face Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 in May.

Even by the standards of our sport’s frenzied (and often absurd) news cycle, this story was a doozy. It moved so quickly and changed so many times it was hard to track using old-fashioned methods like the written word.

Believe me, I know, this is the fourth time I’ve written this blog.

It began on Wednesday, with a vocal faction of fans virtually quaking with excitement at the notion Hunt might step in for the injured Alistair Overeem to take on dos Santos, in what might well turn out to be a heavyweight title eliminator. As groundswells nearly always do in MMA, the idea began on social media and the chorus quickly spread to include a handful of journalists who all thought Hunt was perfectly fit for a replacement role.

Things got dicey on Thursday when a short-lived Twitter kerfuffle briefly appeared to put UFC president Dana White and the 38-year-old “Super Samoan” at odds. For the sake of brevity, here’s a recap of the situation in fewer than 140 characters: After the UFC announced JDS would wait for Overeem, White said it was because Hunt turned down the fight. Hunt disagreed. Hence: An impasse.

It was all very breathless stuff, especially since just a day before, when the idea of Hunt-versus-dos Santos first began making the rounds online, Hunt told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani to bring it on. “I'm always down for a battle,” he said. “I was born down. You know this." After Hunt responded to White’s statements with tweets insisting he’d never turned down a fight in his career, it appeared as if we had a veritable MMA soap opera playing out before our very public eyes.

It lasted all of an hour. One of the UFC’s specialties has always been putting out fires and this one took just 14 words to diffuse: “Mark Hunt and I just got off the phone and had a GREAT conversation,” White tweeted late Thursday night, just as the Internet gossip mavens began to sink their teeth in.

So, crisis resolved. The UFC and the most surprising heavyweight star on its roster were back on the same page. A day or so after that, here we are: Hunt-JDS is back on, too.

Thank goodness.

Even though we took a roundabout path to get here, booking this fight was the right move.

There would have been nothing wrong with waiting for Overeem to get healthy, of course. His bout with dos Santos would still have had all the trappings of an epic showdown whenever and wherever it finally happened. Still, elevating Hunt is a slam dunk, especially knowing the UFC’s distaste for delays, its fondness for guys who’ll “step up” when needed and its track record for giving its fans the fights they want to see.

There can be no denying that Hunt has earned this opportunity. His four-fight win streak is the second-longest in the heavyweight top 10, behind only Daniel Cormier’s 11-0 run. He’s captured the imagination and support of fans during the past two years by crafting one of the sport’s most improbable comeback stories. So far, he’s succeeded in a modern heavyweight landscape in which athletes of his particular ilk -- read: plodding and fairly one dimensional -- aren’t supposed to be up to snuff.

That’s precisely why the ensuing brawl with dos Santos will be so interesting. Because Hunt is such a throwback (and because of the six-fight losing streak that dogged him from 2006-10), there remains some uncertainty about how seriously to take him as a contender.

When he debuted at No. 9 on the ESPN.com heavyweight Power Rankings last week following his third-round knockout of Stefan Struve, it was the kind of thing that made you look twice. Mark Hunt, a top-10 heavyweight? It just sounded wrong, yet there he was on the list -- career .563 winning percentage and all -- sandwiched between Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett.

In fighting JDS, the perennial underdog Hunt gets his chance to prove that he belongs among the 265-pound division’s elite. In a sport where too often it feels like we’re trying to sort out who’s cheating, who’s got beef and who’s about to get cut, this is news we can all feel good about.

Now we just sit back and pray it doesn’t change again before May 25.

Just over two years since his last fight, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman officially retired from mixed martial arts this week. The 48-year-old mixed-style pioneer, a brutal force when he was at his best, will be remembered as one of the most influential heavyweights this demanding sport has produced.

Defeating Dan "The Beast" Severn in 1997 to become the first UFC heavyweight champion (MMA heavyweight championship lineage timeline), Coleman, a 1992 Olympian in Barcelona after winning an NCAA title at Ohio State University, established himself as the dominant force in UFC with a 6-0 start. Then the wheels fell off. He dropped three straight in the Octagon before taking another defeat, albeit a dubious one versus Nobuhiko Takada in Pride.

Coleman, the "Godfather of ground-and-pound," delivered the highest of highs and lowest of lows -- emblematic, one could say, of the man himself.

Immediate UFC dominance

Try as he might, Moti Horenstein, Coleman's debut opponent in 1996, had no hope of defending takedowns. Gary Goodridge lost by exhaustion. And while Don Frye, as hard a fighter as there ever was, managed to push Coleman into the 12th minute, he failed to match Coleman's speed, power, wrestling ability and unmerciful ground attack. That was UFC 10, an eight-man tournament Coleman used to introduce himself to the MMA world. Two months later, he won a four-man bracket at UFC 11, beating little known Julian Sanchez and well regarded Brian Johnston in a combined 185 seconds. That success led him to a title unification of sorts with Severn, then the reigning UFC Superfight champ, which he won. He undoubtedly inspired wrestlers to join up, a trend that significantly benefited MMA over the years.

Ground and pound master

There wasn't anyone worse to have on top of you in a fight than Coleman, especially when rules were liberal and he showed up in shape. Takedown to control to punches and headbutts. He ushered in this way of fighting at a time when grappling in the UFC meant the jiu-jitsu man held an advantage.

Rule changes

Pressure from politicians had as much to do with the tightening of UFC rules as anything else, and Coleman's pounding head trauma was a perfect example of that. The visage of him slamming his head into another man's while on top of him was gruesome. But so, so effective. After the UFC prohibited headbutts in Oct. 1997, Coleman seemed to lose steam. He was limited in terms of skill and relied on simply overwhelming the man underneath him. That was bound to catch up with Coleman at some point, and the rules adjustments hastened that reality.

Hammer House

Coleman became the frontman for a group of wrestlers turned fighters based out of Columbus, Ohio. They were never known for their skill, but man could they punish people. In fact, that's what training consisted of. Just beating the snot out of the other guy. Coleman's success propelled the team, which also included eventual UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman.

Takada episode

After struggling through four straight losses, Coleman was matched with well known Japanese pro wrestler Nobuhiko Takada, Pride's first star. There's no way Takada should have defeated Coleman, even in this topsy turvy sport, but he did, and it immediately drew questions. Coleman has said he took the fight because he needed to support his family and was guaranteed another contest. He's never come out and admitted the bout was in fact a work, but he's never denied it either.

Pride Grand Prix 2000

Following the Takada mess, Coleman's record stood at 6-4, leaving him desperate for a turnaround. Over the next year and a half, he did exactly that, reeling off six straight wins, four of which leading to his resurrection as the Pride Grand Prix 2000 champion. The tournament was epic, and Coleman, largely dismissed heading into the 16-man competition, memorably bounced off the Pride ring ropes after stopping Igor Vovchanchyn to win it all on May 1, 2000.

The Smashing Machine

Several years after the Pride GP 2000, HBO aired "The Smashing Machine," a documentary that tracked Coleman and his friend Mark Kerr during their participation in the tournament. Kerr's story of drug addiction stole the director's focus. Coleman was grounded and professional by comparison, almost serving as a hero at the end. It remains one of the best pieces of film ever done about MMA.

Allan Goes destruction

Serving as a reminder of just how devastating he could be with less restrictive tools at his disposal, Coleman engineered one of MMA's scariest results when he repeatedly kneed Allan Goes in the head at Pride 13. This was the event the Japanese promotion opened up such tactics, including stomps and soccer kicks. Goes was forced to the hospital with bleeding on his brain, and Coleman seemed poised to dominate yet again. But a new breed had arrived, and his momentum was halted by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in his next fight.

Shogun win, Chute Boxe brawl

Fresh off one of the best stretches any mixed martial artist has ever put together, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the 2005 fighter of the year, was matched with Coleman. The contest ended in 49 seconds after Coleman drove Rua to the floor and the Brazilian suffered a broken arm. Coleman, however, continued to attack Rua, apparently unaware of what happened, and the Chute Boxe camp, including Wanderlei Silva, stormed the ring. It was wild. Silva was rabid. Phil Baroni, a member of Coleman's corner, responded in kind. It even spilled into the locker room area, with "The Axe Murder" declaring "war" on anyone associated with Hammer House.

Coleman consoles daughters after losing to Fedor

Of all the images Coleman produced over his career, none was more poignant than the sight of his two young daughters sobbing in the ring after their father was armbarred by Fedor Emelianenko. Afterwards the loss he spoke over a house microphone at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, speaking of his love for his daughters. They stepped through the ropes, leading to incredible image of "The Hammer," his left eye horribly swollen, reaching out to his girls who seemed utterly terrified. Pride folded and Coleman returned to the UFC, where he lost a rematch to "Shogun," beat Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100, and fell to Couture.

As a sports analyst, sometimes you need to know when to just get out of the way.

In the spirit of that, below are straight highlights from Thursday's national media call featuring UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and No. 1 contender Nick Diaz, who will meet at UFC 158 on March 16 in Montreal.

Diaz (26-8) has long lobbied for a fight against St-Pierre (26-8). He vacated the Strikeforce title to fight St-Pierre in 2011, but a series of circumstances have delayed the fight until now.

There were media members on Thursday's call (as well as other fighters), but it mostly came down to a conversation between the two headliners.

Diaz: I just think I should be given the credit I deserve. Georges St-Pierre should be given the sort of decorated opponent he deserves and I'm hardly that from the fans' perspective. That makes me pretty angry. He can talk about disrespect, but I'm disrespectful only because I would like the acknowledgement I've got over the last month. I'm not out here trying to make friends. Disrespectful, what? I think it's disrespectful for people to act like I'm not important.

St-Pierre: [On if he's seen the #GSPDarkPlace tweets] I have not seen it. I never tweet once in my life. I have people doing it for me. I'm not into social media at all.

Diaz: I don't know what he's going through with the whole "dark side" or whatever. I know where the f--- I come from. I don't have to like, dredge up some bull--- to get everybody excited, or whatever ... [to St-Pierre] You've got to wonder how the f--- you're coming off if you never pay attention to the Internet. Now you're over here doing, 'I'm from the dark side' mode. I don't know.

Me and Georges St-Pierre are different. I'm always looking past my opponent ... I look past every opponent to get to the No. 1 spot in the welterweight division, then I look past that. If it were up to me, I would take that fight against Anderson Silva. I would say, 'Yeah, of course.' ... I would gratefully accept a fight against the 185-pound champion or the 155-pound champion. I would take either fight and I think I could beat either guy.

My life's a mess. I'm not afraid to admit it. I work through this s---. I don't have people toweling me off and handing me water bottles left and right. I got to do all that s--- on my own. I don't have people sending tweets out for me.

[St-Pierre is asked if he is "pampered" and Diaz interrupts ...]

Diaz: I hope so motherf---er! If I had that much money I'd be pampering myself the f--- up! I'd be having motherf---er pampering my s--- left and f---ing right! Every hour on the hour, showing up to pamper me out.

St-Pierre: Let me tell you something, you uneducated fool. Listen to me.

Diaz: Uneducated? Right, OK. I do a great job explaning and making things real for what they are, motherf---er. I'm not stupid. I can tell what's what.

St-Pierre: Yeah, you look pretty smart right now.

Diaz: No, I'll listen. Say what you're going to say. I can understand you the way the rest of the people in this world should understand you.

St-Pierre: I've not always been like this: rich. I started at the bottom and I've worked very hard to make myself where I am right now. I know you don't believe this because you didn't succeed yet and maybe you will never succeed in your life because I don’t think you're smart enough to understand how you should reach that point. When you talk about stuff people do for me, when you reach a point for your business you need a team to work for you, to make the money rolling.

Diaz: That sounds nice, Georges. If I wore tight shorts up there and got a f---ing haircut and had somebody butter me up halfway through with this bulls---, maybe it would have worked out.

St-Pierre: You don't know anything about me, man. You think I'm born rich. I am not, my friend. You're not the only jealous guy trying to take my place ... If you are where you are and I'm where I am, it's not my fault.

Diaz: I was never placing any blame or pointing any fingers at you. You're the one f---ing rapping about how you're not pampered, you are pampered -- whatever. Answer the question.

St-Pierre: I don't even know what that means. I don't understand half the words you are saying because of your English -- I speak English better than you.

Diaz: You're out of line, bro. Straight up. You understand that, right?

St-Pierre: You seriously believe I'm afraid of you, man?

Diaz: I seriously believe you told that to the cameras [that] I deserve to be beat down. To get in this position, I deserve to be beat down? You're making those statements to the whole world? You let Dana [White] talk like I'm the most disrespectful person you've ever met? Check it out, I pull up to a stoplight the other day and some f---ing 40-year-old lady, some soccer mom, sticks her head out the window and goes, 'I hope GSP beats your ass!' We're in [Lodi, Calif.], are you serious? You hope Georges beats my ass, that's wonderful. You know what? When you say something, everybody believes it. Everybody wants to know what Georges think and what Georges says. They want to wear tight shorts like Georges.

St-Pierre: Are you listening to yourself, Nick?

Diaz: Fine, fine, for the fans. I'm some crazy motherf---er, but you know where I'm coming from, bro. You understand every word I'm saying right now. You're over here trying to talk s---, why don't you just drop it. We're going to out and have a fight.

St-Pierre: You are the right guy. We're fighting each other because you're the No. 1 guy. The fact there is animosity is good for the fight. I don't wish you a bad life. It's a fight. I want to win. We all want to be champion. There can only be one guy. We could die out there. It's a dangerous sport we do and that's why there is a lot of tension. The best man will win and that's it.

A funny thing happened while Chris Weidman was in Albany, N.Y., lobbying for the legalization of MMA in his home Empire State -- he landed that long-coveted title fight against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 161 on July 6 in Las Vegas.

Now he can exhale. At least for a few minutes.

“Everybody’s excited for me, and I’m getting blown up like crazy,” the Long Island native told ESPN.com. “But it’s time to get organized and time to get working. I didn’t get this title shot just to be happy with that. I got this title shot to win and win in spectacular fashion, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Good news converged all over Weidman this week. For one, he was told his shoulder, which he’d injured while training in Arizona a few months back in preparation for a fight with Tim Boetsch, was coming along ahead of schedule. Now he’s got the green light to train.

“I just spoke to my doctor on Tuesday, and he just said he was very happy at where my shoulder was at, and that he was surprised at how fast it healed,” he says. “So I’m back into the thick of things, and honestly, my shoulder feels 100 percent right now. It feels great.”

Better yet, Weidman’s path to Silva -- which has had nearly as many obstacles as the UFC’s ongoing efforts to get MMA sanctioned in New York -- finally opened up. And what an ordeal that’s been.

Back in July, after both Silva and Weidman had come off of impressive victories over Chael Sonnen and Mark Munoz, respectively, Silva was reluctant to take the fight at that time. Sensing this, Weidman agreed to fight Boetsch at UFC 155. Silva then took a makeshift fight against Stephan Bonnar to rescue UFC 153, and shortly thereafter Weidman got injured and was scrapped from his card. Meanwhile, as Weidman healed, fresh contenders like Michael Bisping lost.

Which brings everything right back to the undefeated Weidman (9-0, 5-0 in the UFC), who took a scenic detour only to end up essentially back where to he started. The difference is he's coming off a prolonged layoff after surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff -- not to mention fix a separated AC joint in his right shoulder.

It will be a year between fights, but Weidman is finally in the challenger’s seat.

Now it’s a question of whether the layoff and recovery will leave him that much more susceptible heading into a fight with the greatest mixed martial artist ever. Las Vegas oddsmakers are already lengthening his odds. And given the circumstances, a lot of people in the media and on Twitter think that Silva’s catching Weidman at the exact right time. Weidman has heard it.

“Listen, you come off a layoff people are going to think you’re rusty and all that, but I’ve been in the gym every single day,” he says. “I haven’t taken time off. I’ve had more than a year off before, coming off of hand surgery, and my first fight back I fought Urijah Hall. He’s doing good on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ show right now, and I ended up getting a first round knockout over him.

“So I’ve had that scenario before, and I won’t let ring rust or coming off an injury like that stop me. I think that’s more of a mental thing, anyway. I’m pretty good mentally. I have a psychology degree, and I think that helps me just keep my mentally strong -- and making sure I don’t beat myself.

"That’s ultimately who you’re really fighting against, is yourself. I feel like if I don’t beat myself, I’m winning the fight.”

It doesn’t hurt that he was an All-American wrestler at Hofstra while earning his psychology degree, or that Silva’s known vulnerability is in the wrestling department. Weidman knows these things, and he’ll undoubtedly use whatever edges he can (psychological and otherwise) leading up to UFC 161.

But right now, Weidman talks like a man who is thrilled with so many happy convergences. He’s healthy, he’s in a title fight, and MMA in his home state of New York is close to becoming a reality. Not a bad week.

“I feel like this is just the beginning of my career, and it’s a great opportunity to fight who I think is the greatest of all time,” he says. “My main goal right now is to be UFC champion -- but my ultimate goal is to be considered one of the greatest of all time.”

The old cliché “to be the best, you must beat the best” only works if you get the chance to beat the best. This July, there's a very happy New Yorker who's getting his chance.

The best mixed martial artist ever to enter the Octagon is always willing to fight whomever Zuffa puts in front of him, said Jorge Guimaraes, Anderson Silva's representative and longtime friend.

However, Silva’s management team -- namely Guimaraes and Ed Soares -- have their own thoughts from time to time.

Just last summer, for instance, Guimaraes and Soares -- partners in Blackhouse, where Silva primarily trains -- thought Chris Weidman hadn't done enough to earn a spot challenging Silva. Their biggest concern, at least the one they were most vocal about, was that the fight wouldn’t appeal to fans because, you know, who was Weidman really? Some unbeaten prospect with fewer than 10 fights who made an ailing Mark Munoz look bad. Pfft. Big deal.

At this stage of Silva's illustrious career, if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense -- and Blackhouse didn’t see Weidman as a moneymaker.

A year later, the situation remains largely unchanged. Yet it turns out that Silva has agreed to step into the cage with Weidman. Before returning to Los Angeles on Wednesday from New York, where he helped promote UFC’s partnership with Fox, the UFC middleweight champion verbally agreed to fight the American wrestler this summer. Weidman was the only choice Zuffa put in front of “The Spider,” which was the case last year as well. But that didn't mean he had to accept.

“Now I have the opportunity to seize my dream,” Weidman, 28, tweeted late Wednesday night.

So why give in to the strong grappler now when that proposal registered a clear-cut "no" in 2012?

Timing would seem to have a lot to do with it.

Blackhouse’s critique of Weidman as a challenger (he isn’t bankable, they said last year), came after the middleweight contender earned the best win of his career. That’s when it was proposed that he was next in line to take on Silva. Perhaps he couldn’t sell a pay-per-view, but he absolutely looked dangerous enough to upend the champion. After Silva said “no” last summer (opting instead to embarrass Stephan Bonnar), the UFC slotted Weidman into a Dec. 29 fight against Tim Boetsch. It never happened because Weidman tore a labrum in his shoulder while training.

Weidman -- 9-0 record, tall, big, athletic and gifted as a fighter -- was hobbled for the first time in the UFC. A young stud with a weak link.

If there was ever a proper time for Silva to meet Weidman in the cage, it seemed that that moment, as he recuperated from surgery, was as soon as possible. The first available date on UFC’s calendar was July 6.

Weidman is unquestionably talented, so much so that fans and media simply (probably smartly) expect him to make big strides with each fight camp. That’s not a presumptuous leap considering Weidman’s immense drive, talent and relative inexperience in MMA. Fresh off the shoulder injury, however, Weidman is a recuperating young buck, presumably nowhere near as good as he’ll be with a little more time to heal.

He hasn't fought since beating Munoz, "So why not catch him now?” was Blackhouse's thinking.

Of course, “The Spider” could have waited and pushed for a huge-money catch-weight contest against welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

But he hasn't. Instead, Silva chose to go after Weidman at the most uncertain time of the young challenger's career. Feel free to criticize Silva's decision, but tactically speaking there’s not a whole lot to quibble with. Silva realized that unless he retired soon he’d need to fight Weidman, so he decided to go ahead with it now because, on the surface at least, the advantage remains his.

At the age of 37, Silva’s reflexes and timing continue to be remarkable. There’s no guarantee, though, that those physical traits will stick with him. In fact, it’s assured they won’t.

So he made the smart play. Silva will return to face down a young lion who may not be mature enough (physically, yes, but in terms of experience and mental readiness, who can say for sure?). As an example, when they step in the cage, Weidman will have been out of action for almost a full year.

Those factors led to an easy decision. Silva was going to fight. He chose a guy who, by all rights, deserves to be in the cage with him.

But he did so plausibly contemplating that Weidman couldn’t be as good in July as he would be by the end of the year.

The UFC middleweight champion's decision to let Weidman challenge him comes off as a pre-emptive strike. A smart one.

On July 11, 2012, Chris Weidman defeated top middleweight contender Mark Munoz without so much as absorbing a single significant strike in six and a half minutes of fight time. It was a headlining spot, and he made the most of it. The “Strong Island” native slipped a punch and landed a ridiculous elbow in the second round, and won via TKO seconds later.

And that’s how you make a statement.

That same night, with a perfect 5-0 record in the UFC (9-0 overall), he called out the champion, Anderson Silva, who four days earlier defeated Chael Sonnen with a TKO of his own.

“I want Anderson Silva,” Weidman said, in the most polite callout in the history of callouts. “Every time I’ve had a full training camp, I’ve gotten a finish. Give me a full training camp, and I’d love a shot at the man, Anderson Silva. I really think I could do pretty good. So give me a shot, please.”

Just 239 days later, Silva-Weidman has finally been made. Weidman will get a full training camp, and so will Silva. The clash of styles and experience is on. And after all that time, and through all that haze and speculation, the question becomes: What took so long to make this fight?

It’s complicated. Depending on whom you listen to, it was either because Weidman was too green, too threatening, too unknown, too audacious, or too ... eh. It was because of Weidman’s shoulder injury, and that little Stephan Bonnar thing that Silva handled in October. It was Silva’s contract being up. It was because Silva wanted Georges St-Pierre (unrequited), and then wanted Cung Le (fun fantasy), and then wanted Luke Rockhold (posturing?).

Officially, Silva’s camp said Weidman was too low profile. They wanted big fights, with big-name opponents and equal-sized pay-per-view dollars. Unofficially, Weidman’s camp thought that excuse looked like timidity. Weidman, with his All-American wrestling pedigree from his days at Hofstra University, looked like a nightmare matchup for Silva. In seven rounds of Sonnen-Silva, Sonnen won five by wrestling before making critical errors.

Weidman, at 28 years old, is a fluid submission grappler with better stand-up skills than Sonnen. He’s not likely to try a spinning backfist against Silva. There’s been a lot of optimism at the Ray Longo-Matt Serra Fight Team that a title could soon return to Long Island, if the fight would only be made.

Two-thirds of a year later, the UFC made the right call by booking it. In that time, Weidman’s intrigue has become a lot of fans' intrigue. And given his skill set, he does present interesting challenges to Silva. He beat Munoz, who at the time was a top contender. He beat Demian Maia before that, who’d had a title shot in 2010. Those are fine credentials.

But really, it's all about simple deduction -- there’s nobody else at 185 pounds who deserves it more.

Le was a Silva pipe dream. Hector Lombard hasn’t panned out. Tim Boetsch got done in by Costas Philippou (Weidman's teammate who replaced him on the UFC 155 card after a shoulder injury forced Weidman out of the event). It’s too soon for a Silva-Vitor Belfort rematch. Rockhold was willing, but his merit (and star power) didn’t trump Weidman's. Yushin Okami? No way -- not again. Michael Bisping, who was supposed to get the shot, lost in the penultimate spot against Belfort. St-Pierre didn’t want to mess around with his weight, among other concerns. Jon Jones is booked with Sonnen in April, and he has his own contenders at 205 pounds to deal with after that.

That leaves Weidman, who realistically felt like the guy all along. If a superfight wasn’t going to materialize for Silva, the UFC needed to take the next legitimate contender within the weight class. That was, and remains, Chris Weidman.

He’s healthy, and he’s ready. Silva needs an opponent. Boom. The pecking order wins out. Rev up the hype machine.

It might have taken a long time for everyone to get on the same page, but the bottom line is everybody finally did. Come July 6 in Las Vegas, almost a year to the day since Silva’s record 10th title defense at UFC 148, it’s on.

The whole thing feels so old-fashioned. Weidman gets his wish. And it’s for all of us to see what he’s able to do with it.

In 2013, the year of the “superfight” and new-fashioned division jumping in the UFC, anything is possible.

How possible? A simple, timely text can shake up an entire division for the better part of a year. Ask Ricardo Lamas, who should have been the next featherweight for Jose Aldo if Anthony Pettis, ten pounds and 1,000 decibels his superior, wasn’t the quickest Blackberry draw in the Midwest.

When Dana White got the buzz that night, it played out like this: Merit, shmerit. This game deals in duckets.

Imagine that: Diaz-Ellenberger is the potential title fight nobody is talking about.

Now Pettis-Aldo is slated to take place in far-off August. Jon Jones versus Anderson Silva has been speculated about for New York (or Brazil [or Dallas]) in November (or December), even though Silva is fighting Chris Weidman in July, and Jones has a fight with Chael Sonnen in April. Apparently Sonnen can be looked right past to the “superfight” everybody wants. In fact, Jones/Silva is the only true superfight right now that is super enough to make rational people superstitious. Nobody wants to jinx it, except a couple of pesky wrestlers who stand in their way.

Then there’s UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who is talking about bouncing up to welterweight to face Georges St-Pierre, even though he has a fight with reigning Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez this spring, and GSP fights Nick Diaz next weekend.

That idea has since been shot down by White but, what, is Melendez a hologram? It used to be that media and fans were always thinking two steps ahead. Now the fighters are, too? This is fantastic. (I have to admit -- it’s fun to align in such foolish behavior!).

At least the scenarios get simpler from here, so let's look ahead. On March 16, at UFC 158, the welterweights will come into focus. It’s really black and white. The three top fights on the card are 170-pounders. St-Pierre, who we are assured has a dark chamber in his psyche that nobody (especially that inconsiderate Nick Diaz!) can possibly fathom, headlines the event.

All revolves around him beating Diaz. If he defeats Diaz he could fight anyone from Johny Hendricks to Carlos Condit to Jake Ellenberger to Silva, this summer, this fall, or this winter. The line snakes around the block. Hendricks more than deserves the shot, particularly if he beats Condit that same night. He has been deserving for what feels like years. If Hendricks and St-Pierre both win, that fight seems obvious.

In 2011, maybe. In 2013, not so fast.

That’s because people like Silva and Henderson happen to exist. Though Silva is now booked to fight Weidman at UFC 162, he can't help but still hover over St-Pierre in 2013. Now with a new contract, it's possible he courts that St-Pierre fight sooner rather than later. St-Pierre would have to be coaxed into agreeing, of course, which is never a given.

In other words, even if all goes to plan and both GSP and Hendricks win, Hendricks could find himself on the outside looking in. Yet again. If that were the case, maybe Hendricks could fight Rory MacDonald next, who was scrapped from the card when he got injured. He was supposed to face Condit.

And speaking of Condit, he could emerge as a dark horse in the St-Pierre sweepstakes. If he takes care of No. 1 contender Hendricks, he has some ammo. After all, the first fight had that fleeting moment when Condit came unnervingly close. And if Diaz pulls the upset over St-Pierre and somehow makes it out of Montreal in one piece, same thing -- Diaz-Condit II is viable (unless the fight results in a scorecard nightmare and St-Pierre/Diaz II has to be played back immediately). If Condit wins and somebody texts Dana White to jump the line to GSP, you’ve still got the Condit-MacDonald vendetta to sort out. No scenario is without a silver lining.

There are other factors. Ellenberger is on the card fighting Nate Marquardt, who two years after trying to debut at 170 pounds in the UFC finally gets his chance. One of them -- namely Ellenberger -- could factor into this title discussion, too. Much like an 8-7 NFL team heading into the final regular season game in a tight Wild Card race -- Ellenberger is mathematically alive, but needs help. He needs an emphatic showing and some smiling fortune, such as Johny Hendricks losing. The UFC might jump him to the top to avoid rolling back Condit-GSP II too soon in that case (even though Ellenberger lost to Condit narrowly in 2009). Unless Diaz wins, that is, and Condit faces a long medical suspension in victory.

Imagine that: Diaz-Ellenberger is the potential title fight nobody is talking about.

What’s at stake come March 16 in this makeshift welterweight grand prix? Feels like plenty. But in 2013, “what’s at stake” has turned into a versatile question. There is no obvious answer. And if you ask White beforehand, you’re likely to get his go-to response for most things yon: We’ll see what happens.

Winnipeg, hello.

For the first time, UFC announced Tuesday, it will roll into the Canadian province of Manitoba, bringing all the makings of a quality card. On Wednesday ESPN.com reported that interim UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao will fight tough Eddie Wineland in the main event. With Dan Henderson meeting Rashad Evans and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua rematching a spectacular Pride contest against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Zuffa will have no problem filling the MTS Centre on June 15. Also, Tyron Woodley is slated to fight Jake Shields at welterweight, which should draw some intrigue considering Woodley's impressive UFC debut.

Winnipeg is the fifth Canadian city to welcome the UFC, and it should probably tip its cap to westerly neighbor Vancouver. Or, more precisely, the Vancouver City Council. Last year around this time, UFC president Dana White said the Octagon wouldn't head back to Vancouver until 2014 at the earliest. In addition to the fact that the council let a two-year trial period for MMA expire, the reality of promoting the sport in Vancouver, even though UFC made money for its two events there, was ridiculous because of indemnification and insurance costs. The powers that be didn't want UFC in town, which they made clear.

Fair to say, as UFC's head for Canada Tom Wright did, Vancouver seemed to think UFC supporters might act a lot like Canucks fans.

Whoops.

Well, Winnipeg's gain.

Barao's summer booking against Wineland signals that bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is nowhere near being ready to return to the cage. Cruz's trainer, Eric Del Fierro, confirmed as much. In the champ's place, Barao has been an admirable temp. Wineland's speed and power could present challenges for the defensive-minded Brazilian. It's a solid fight.

Even with a title bout on the card, Henderson-Evans may carry the most intrigue. Both men are coming off less than impressive losses. Evans was convincingly worse, and he has a lot to answer for. Is the man mentally broken after Jon Jones? There are people who know him that think he is. Based on Evans' performance -- lack thereof, really -- against Nogueira, something has to give. Henderson is definitely the wrong guy to be timid against, though the 42-year-old wrestler might finally be old. Henderson wasn't sharp or active against Lyoto Machida, but that could have been a symptom of the Brazilian's quickness and countering ability. Henderson matches up well with Evans and I'd peg him the early favorite.

Building up Rua's second fight with Nogueira should be as easy as cutting highlights of the first contest. It was that good. Shogun was at the top of his game in 2005, a year in which he went 5-0 and defeated Quinton Jackson, Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona. Of that group, only Nogueira managed to go the distance. This was just a war of attrition, an incredible contest.

Expectations will be high.

Injury bug bites Bellator

It’s official: Bellator has caught the injury bug.

Last week it was Daniel Straus’ hand. This week, Douglas Lima’s. Bellator moved Lima’s welterweight tournament final bout against Ben Saunders off a March 21 event in Maine (the card features lightweights Marcin Held and Dave Jansen after that bout was postponed because of injury after originally being slated for this Thursday) and should have it lined up for sometime this summer. Since Ben Askren already has a waiting contender in unbeaten 22-year-old Andrey Koreshkov, the news about Lima isn’t such a big deal.

It just goes to show, however, that Bellator’s good luck streak with injuries and tournaments was bound to hit a rough patch. So it has.

As for Thursday at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., Bellator offers semifinal bouts at 185 and 145.

The featherweights are where it’s at.

Marlon Sandro takes on Magomedrasul Khasbulaev (everyone just calls him “Frodo”). And on the other side of the bracket, Alexandre Bezerra fights Mike Richman, which should be the best contest on the card.

Middleweights fighting Thursday don’t do much for me. Veteran Doug Marshall meets 9-0 Russian Sultan Aliev. And Brett Cooper should go to war with Dan Cramer.

Still, compared to Bellator 92’s off-TV undercard, the middleweights are world class. Spike.com streams Bellator prelims, and let’s just say up front this set isn’t worth your time. Most of the fighters are local and not very good. Or, worse yet, long washed up if they were decent to begin with. But if guys such as Cleber Luciano and Shad Smith sell tickets, hey, alright.

Fight you most want to see

SportsNation is asking fans to rank the best fight MMA can make right now .

After a day’s worth of voting, Jon Jones against Anderson Silva is ahead by a wide margin. No surprise, really. Silva versus Georges St-Pierre is second. And Cain Velasquez taking on Jones currently ranks third.

Topping my group was Silva-GSP. I guess I’m just tired of all the talk. It’s been four years since this was first discussed and if GSP beats Nick Diaz on March 16 and if Silva handles Chris Weidman in July, it really needs to happen.

Silva-Jones, second as I ranked 'em, requires no embellishment. It’s a surefire spectacle. But as tremendous as it would be for the fighters, fans and UFC, Jones has work remaining at 205 before he needs to concern himself with Silva.

No. 3 on my list: St-Pierre against Johny Hendricks. I love this at 170. If Hendricks and the UFC champion take care of business in Montreal in less than two weeks, I think fans will be clamoring for this contest. They should, but SportsNation suggests it’s the sixth most appealing fight behind Jones-Daniel Cormier, Benson Henderson-Jose Aldo and the three previously mentioned.

Curious was the lack of interest in Dominick Cruz against Renan Barao at 135. Maybe Cruz has been on the shelf too long? I don’t know. I like that fight a lot. Barao has been top notch, and possesses everything he needs to beat Cruz. Least interesting to me, for a variety of reasons, is GSP and Rory MacDonald.

Zuffa, make ‘em happen.

In case you missed it: Diego Sanchez returned to the cage last weekend.

He missed weight in his first attempt to cut to 155 since 2009. He edged Takanori Gomi via split decision, looking just OK in the process (ESPN.com writer Josh Gross graded Sanchez's performance a C+, which sounds right). Then he called out Nate Diaz.

So, what is there to really take from Sanchez's return? Does Diaz make sense next?

Sanchez (24-5) is an interesting subject, especially when viewing him through a matchmaker's eye. Fans love him. He's one of the originals; a cast member of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter." He's given us five fight of the nights, some spectacular UFC walkouts and the single greatest moment of any MMA Awards show to date.

In terms of being an elite fighter at this point in his career, that's up for debate. He's 3-1 in his last four, but is he a title contender? Respectfully, no. He's only 31, but hasn't always taken the best care of his body. He gets hit often. He's too small for the welterweight division and too slow for the best lightweights.

Seeing him take on Diaz (whether Diaz defeats Josh Thomson in April or not), I have to say, doesn't excite me too much. Sanchez made a good sell. The fight would deliver action (although, likely one-sided action) and it was a smart move to bring up the win he earned over Nate's older brother in 2005.

My problem is we can pretty much guess the outcome of that fight. Kind of like how we could somewhat guess the outcome of this fight against Gomi. Regardless of who won, we knew the two were evenly matched. We knew neither one is really a title contender. We didn't learn much.

To me, the best way to look at Sanchez now is this: Let's say you've found yourself a good walking stick, but you want to test out its strength before hiking through the mountains with it. So, you go ahead and bash that stick against a rock a few times.

In this scenario, Sanchez is the rock. He's a tough, durable, stationery object. You get a prospect you think is good, but you're not quite sure yet and you bash him against Sanchez. And I'm not saying make him a stepping stone to bolster a younger fighter's career, because I still believe Sanchez wins his share of those fights.

Here are several opponents I'd rather see Sanchez fight next, over Diaz: Edson Barboza, Michael Chiesa, Daron Cruickshank, Tony Ferguson, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

It's probably not a popular list. Generally, fans like to see two guys they're familiar with. If the UFC truly needs to cut close to half the lightweights on its roster though, I'd rather see Sanchez test these guys (and himself) than get lit up by Diaz, who holds such a stylistic advantage over him.

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