In the least surprising outcome ever, Anderson Silva toyed with Stephan Bonnar until he'd had enough of batting the yarn around. And thank goodness that's the way it went down. I don't have a rooting interest, but it occurred to me while watching Zuffa's pay-per-view commercials for UFC 153 that if the marketed miracle actually happened, it would have been horrible for mixed martial arts and the UFC.
Bonnar beating Silva would have been a stunning, shocking, unbelievable outcome. Moreover, it would have cemented MMA as a sport in which anything can happen at any time, and that's bad news. The greatest of all time does not lose to a markedly inferior opponent. That's not how things are supposed to happen. The greatest of all time exposes mediocrity for what it is and dances on its head.
We need the Dream Team to lay the wood on Angola, 116-48. We need Division I football powerhouses covering 50-point spreads. And we need Anderson Silva making mincemeat of Stephan Bonnar. All is right with the world when events play out this way, as was the case Saturday in Rio.
As for the rest of UFC 153, a quality card in Rio, contenders emerged and prospects were knocked down a peg. An exciting evening overall, lending itself to fighter grades ranging from A+ to F.
