Wanderlei Silva fades retirement rumours as he trounces Cung Le at UFC 139 – MMA News
Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter Wanderlei Silva was the last man standing in his Middleweight bout on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139 hosted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in San Jose, California. Silva fought against
Vietnamese mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Cung Le, better known by his nickname The Human Highlight Reel.
Ever since the 39-year old Cung Le and 35-year old Silva, nicknamed The Axe Murderer, scheduled their fight at UFC 139, Le was the favourite. But Silva made a devastating impact in the second round when he won the match through
a technical knockout (TKO) after he used a series of punches and knee attacks on Le.
Le’s kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Sanshou techniques, his assets in the ring, could have helped him win the fight but Silva had other plans. Silva had to win this fight to remove the gloomy past, which he had in 2011, a
year when he fought Chris Leben at UFC 132 in July 2011 but lost in just twenty-seven minutes.
Silva’s last win was in February 2010 when he defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 110, which also marked Silva’s Middleweight debut in the UFC. On Saturday at UFC 139, Le dominated in the first round of the fight when he was able to
keep Silva on the offensive. Silva, too, was looking shaky, as his aggressive nature was not showing up. Le used his wheel kicks to put an end to Silva but his kicks were off target and did not do much damage. Silva kept standing and thought of his counter
moves.
For Cung Le, this fight marked his UFC debut and that is why he was the favourite, for he would bring in his fighting style backed up by his motivation to win at debut. Le was impressive with his San Shou kicks, a style first developed
by the Chinese military. Le was confident in the early rounds of the match when he gave Silva a blow with his back fist in spinning style. Le was overpowering Silva with his swift kicks but he was unsuccessful in putting Silva down permanently.
Silva, who won his debut Pride Middleweight Championship in November 2001 at Pride 17: Championship Chaos event in Tokyo, made a successful comeback in the second round against Le. Unlike in the first round, where Silva was looking
out of touch from his inner fighter, in the second round Silva was back in his fighting stance and repaying Le with interest.
Silva grappled Le and finally held the Vietnamese in his chokehold, followed by his series of kicks on Le’s face. One of the knee strikes by Silva broke Le’s nose and gave an upper hand to Silva in continuing his attack. The critics
and spectators thought that Silva should bid farewell to UFC for his less wins and a winless 2011. By winning his bout against Le, all rumours of Silva’s retirements have faded away as Silva stands with a great win, which will give him fuel to stay in UFC
for some more time.
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