It has only been 3 days since UFC 168 and already I have heard the same questions asked time and time again. Let me be the first to acknowledge my great respect for Anderson, if this is in fact his final chapter in a brilliant fighting career. The point of this article is not to explain the injury that took place on Saturday night; it is merely to shed light on a few misconceptions about checking kicks in general. First things first a fighter and or a camp can take every precaution to insure the safety of their fighter yet fall short. Combat sports are unpredictable, and so is the human body, injuries will take place from time to time.

Did Anderson Silva make a mistake? Could the break have been preventable?

It seems almost blasphemous to say Anderson did infarct make a mistake; however plainly put in my humble opinion Yes he did. Set ups, whether with strikes or movement are essential to safely land power kicks. Ask any good coach and they’ll tell you to set up your strikes especially those that can be blocked or checked. Numerous times I have heard of body manipulation / sway to set up power leg kicks. I am a firm believer in forcing your opponent off balance at every chance you get. This not only allows for the kick to go unchecked (opponent has to use the side being attacked to gain balance and there for is defenseless) it also diminishes any chance of an efficient counter. Anderson’s lack of setups may in fact have helped Weidman to turn his knee toward the oncoming shin. This alongside other factors we will discuss may have lead to the gruesome injury.

Leg breaks as severe as the one that took place in Saturday are rare but do take place in all kicking sports. Muay Thai encourages its practitioners to deaden and harden the shin bone for the eminent shin clashes, yet even these fighters are not fully insured an injury free outcome. The UFC has done a great job portraying Silva as an elite Muay Thai fighter, when in reality he was never a great Thai boxer and has been an MMA fighter for nearly a decade. In order to achieve hardened shins able to absorb checks one must be conditioning the shin hundreds of times a day on the heavy bags. No matter how you slice it Anderson does not have the luxury of following these drills on a daily basis. MMA at Silva’s level is too time consuming of a sport to allow for this practice.

Bas Rutten was quick to release a simple yet well thought-out explanation of the technical flaw of Anderson’s kick. The shin bone has two sides: a flat wide side and a thinner sharp side. Opening the hips permits the shin to land on the sharper side; this not only inflicts more damage but allows the shin to absorb a lot more pressure safely. The kick thrown on Saturday night was far from technical.

Finally it is important to acknowledge Weidman’s corner for the game planning. The break did not happen from one kick, and as many have speculated it may have happened due to a fracture caused by the previous check. Whether it was a lack of preparation, lack of technique in the kick, or merely a freak accident one can be sure that it is not the first nor the last time we will witness such an injury in combat sports.