Anderson Silva says Chris Weidman "has no weapons" to threaten Lyoto Machida with at UFC 173

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"Lyoto has a good team. I believe a lot in Lyoto. We are close friends. This belt needs to be in Brazil. Weidman is a great athlete but there isn't too much secret about fighting him. Lyoto has great chances of winning because Weidman is a normal guy, he has no weapons to threaten Lyoto. Weidman is good in the game that he trains, very good. But Lyoto has a game that's hard to deal with, he moves very well."

-Anderson Silva talks to Brazil's Combate about the matchup between his friend Lyoto Machida, and the man who took the UFC Title from him, Chris Weidman, at UFC 173 (translated by Fernando Arbex at BloodyElbow.com).

Penick's Analysis: Machida does have a unique style that has been difficult for most to figure out, but Weidman's aggressive enough with his striking and wrestling to give the challenger problems. That said, Machida's absolutely a deserving title contender, and may very well win that fight in May. It's going to be a very good title matchup in Las Vegas for this one, and Silva could be absolutely correct about how Machida matches up against Weidman. It makes for an excellent matchup, and it makes this event one of the more anticipated of the year.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_20751.shtml

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