On Saturday night at UFC 148, Anderson Silva defeated his most challenging opponent, battling back from a first round in which he was dominated by Chael Sonnen to stun the "Gangster From America" with a second round TKO.
Now, it appears that the real greatest challenge for Silva may yet lay ahead.
No, it's not from Chris Weidman - at least not necessarily.
It's not from Michael Bisping or Hector Lombard, either, although either could find himself in the Octagon with the UFC Middleweight Champion at some point in the near future.
Rather, the challenge that Silva faces is from himself and his own ego, as he enters the next (and possibly final) stage of his career after fending of the challenge of Sonnen.
Two years ago, Silva was in the UFC's doghouse, with Dana White threatening to cut "the Spider," despite his greatness, if Silva ever delivered a reprise of his UFC 112 performance against Demian Maia. On that night, at the UFC's first event in Abu Dhabi, Silva used the early rounds to show his dominance against Maia, but then coasted to the victory while showing Maia up in the later rounds. It echoed UFC 97 and a similar defense against Thales Leites, and Silva seemed bored by his own brilliance.
Then, along came Chael Sonnen. The brash Oregon native said anything and everything he could to get under Silva's skin, then delivered a stunning performance at UFC 117, pushing Silva further than he's ever been pushed before eventually succumbing to a triangle choke in the fifth round, when he was less than two minutes away from taking Silva's title.
Silva clearly wasn't bored anymore.
At UFC 126, he faced another top name in Vitor Belfort, and whether or not you credit the move to Steven Seagal's inspiration, the front kick that Silva used to stop "The Phenom" was one of the most memorable knockouts in UFC history. Then, at UFC 134, there was Yushin Okami, the last fighter to get a win over Silva, albeit by disqualification. Silva left no doubt, outclassing Okami en route to a second round finish.
Saturday night, there was the rematch with Sonnen. Silva promised violence on a grand scale to make Sonnen pay for his trash talk, and while all four of Sonnen's limbs remain intact, Silva took advantage of an inexplicable and indefensible spinning backfist attempt to deliver a stunning finish.
Now, the question remains: what's next?
Chris Weidman looks to have put himself into the running for a title shot on Wednesday night with his win over Mark Muñoz, but with just nine pro fights on his résumé, it might be too early for the former NCAA All-American in the eyes of the UFC brass. The UFC has expressed interest in having Lombard challenge for the title if the former Bellator champ gets past Tim Boetsch next weekend at UFC 149, but that idea hasn't been well received by others in the middleweight division, including Muñoz and Michael Bisping. Despite Lombard's 25-fight unbeaten streak, the fact that he wasn't doing it in the UFC works against him in the eyes of his fellow middleweights.
There's also Bisping himself, but given the fact that the TUF 3 winner has never beaten an elite-level fighter in his MMA career (unless you count his controversial decision loss to Sonnen in January), that fight may not hold Silva's interest. The same could be said of Lombard and his questionable credentials, and we know what a disinterested Silva looks like.
Over the past two years, while remaining as masterful as ever inside the Octagon, Silva has rebuilt his reputation from that of an enigmatic fighter, more interested in embarrassing inferior opponents than in building a legacy of greatness, into a great fighting champion who delivers memorable moments every time he steps into the Octagon. If his next opponent doesn't have the same kind of cache as Sonnen or Belfort, it will be interesting to see if Silva can avoid backsliding into his former demeanor.
For now, though, we'll have to wait and see who will be next to face "the Spider."
